Despite huge investment in recent years there is a strong case for more, and that Crossrail 2 is vital if London is to continue to succeed as a global city.

Crossrail 2 will address the transport and housing challenges generated by London’s rapidly rising population.. It will unlock sites for up to 200,000 new homes in key opportunity areas, support increased employment, and address severe congestion and crowding pressures on the tube and national rail networks. Significant transport benefits will be felt across key rail corridors across the SE region, generating a very positive ratio of benefits to cost (2.1 to and 2.6). 

Getting Crossrail 2 off the ground has its challenges, as does any major infrastructure scheme:

Michele Dix is speaking the London First Infrastructure Summit 2015 on 25 March. The event “A manifesto for London” will focus on London’s infrastructure needs from the next government to support continued economic growth. www.londonfirstevents.co.uk/events/london-infrastructure-summit-2015

A strong business case is needed

Crossrail 2 will  not only relieve overcrowding on national rail and the underground that will arise with growth, it will also enable growth, creating new housing and employment areas, which in turn will boost the economy.

Many jobs and homes will be supported by Crossrail 2’s, beyond London, and it’s positive impact on GDP will be key in the case for its inclusion in the next comprehensive spending review this summer.

Public support is vital

Crossrail 2 has cross party political support in London.  There has been overwhelming public support for the scheme. As we get into more detail design this year of exactly where the tunnel portals, stations, ventilation shafts, worksites etc will go, we need to fully engage with the public over any concerns of local impacts,  refining designs to minimise these and ensuring that local areas are enhanced.

Securing funding support

Given the competing demands for funds and the criticism that London has had it’s fare share of investment we need to find ways to fund the scheme as much as possible from London sources. Public transport users, businesses, and land owners who assets will increase in value will all benefit, as will the Exchequer from the resulting uplift in the economy. 

An independent  study by PWC has shown that, on cautious assumptions, over half the cost can be met through local London sources. Our task is to seek to increase this further, thus garnering wider non London support.

Learning lessons from others and getting the design right

The design not only needs to provide for  a safe, reliable, high frequency railway service but also needs to enable the economic development potential of Crossrail 2 to be realised. New development will provide a source for its funding. 

We also need to ensure we can readily build the scheme in the minimum time and with minimum construction impacts. There are many lessons we are learning from other major schemes – Crossrail 1, HS2, the Northern Line Extension – that we are applying to ensure we can meet our challenges and get to a single preferred scheme design by 2016! 

Michele Dix is chief executive of Crossrail 2