Clive's UndergrounD Line Guides

"It's your kingdom."
"Was," Pluto reminded her. "I sold out to an Anglo-French consortium, remember? They were going to try and link it up with the Paris metro. Bloody silly idea if you ask me, but ..."

- Ye Gods!
Tom Holt

Future proposals

[last modified 2009-05-22]

Introduction

This page attempts to describe future proposals for the lines covered by these pages. Predicting the future is always a risky business, especially in such a politically-charged area as London's transport. It is often hard to distinguish rumour from fact, speculation from serious proposal. But the projects described here all have a "fighting chance" of becoming reality (where projects are definitely going ahead, they get a brief mention here with full details on that line's page). A few abandoned proposals are also included where they are both significant and met the "fighting chance" test at some point in the past.

In late 2008 a number of projects were cancelled until further notice because of funding shortfalls - these are labelled ‡ to show their status, with the the detailed description left unchanged.

This page is divided into four separate topics:

• Changes to existing lines
• New rail lines
• New tram lines
• RTonRT

Changes to existing lines

Subsurface lines

Circle Line

There are proposals to replace the Circle Line service with a "T-Cup" service that would be part of the Hammersmith & City Line (q.v.).

District Line

If the Chelsea-Hackney Line is ever built, it would use part of the Wimbledon branch. Proposals vary as to whether the District would withdraw from the section south of the new junction (variously proposed as East Putney or Parsons Green), or whether the line would be shared.

One of the Crossrail proposals would involve withdrawing service from the Richmond branch, with passengers changing at Chiswick Park.

There are proposals to rebuild Whitechapel station as three island platforms and improve capacity from there to Barking.

East London Line

Major changes are currently in progress. Details are given on the Line's page.

Hammersmith & City Line

There are proposals to rebuild Whitechapel station as three island platforms and improve capacity from there to Barking.

There are proposals to replace the Circle Line by a "T-Cup" service that would run from Hammersmith to Edgware Road and then make a complete loop of the Circle, terminating when it reached Edgware Road a second time (and similarly in reverse).

Metropolitan Line

There are currently two separate proposals that affect the Metropolitan.

Photo [471kb] and info

First is the Croxley Link. This involves diverting the Watford branch at Croxley on to a new viaduct over road, river, and canal, and thence on to the NR Croxley Green branch to Watford High Street and Watford Junction (see the Bakerloo Line). The existing Watford station would probably close completely, though it has been suggested that it be kept open for special services.

key to notation

Northbound is up the page and southbound is downwards.

110973		79=60	[T=TT=4T =6ns=ns=^ =b]			{Watford Junction}
113960		78=21	[CP#]			{Watford High Street}
111958		77.98				[Watford High Street Junction]
103954		76.83	[ns=]			(Watford Stadium)
098956		76.33	[OP#]			{(Watford West)}
091958		75.60	[OP#]			{{Ascot Road}}
090958		75.51				[end of deviation]
085959		74.91				[start of deviation]
079954		74.10	[OP]			Croxley

Secondly, Chiltern Railways are proposing rebuilding West Hampstead station as a major interchange, including platforms on the Metropolitan. At this stage it is unclear whether or not Finchley Road would become a Jubilee Line only station.

At one time Crossrail was being planned to take over some or all of the route from Moor Park to Amersham (en route to Aylesbury) and Chesham. There was also a proposal to exchange the eastern termini of the Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Lines, with the former running to Barking. Both of these have now been abandoned.

Tube lines

Bakerloo Line

There are recent murmurings of reactivating the powers to extend to Camberwell.

There are plans to reuse the former Croxley Green branch; see the Metropolitan Line above.

Transport for London plans to restore the service to Watford Junction, removing Silverlink trains from the line north of Queen's Park, around 2010.

Central Line

There are proposals for a new station at Park Royal (location 190825) to provide interchange with the Piccadilly Line.

If the Chelsea-Hackney Line is ever built, it would probably take over one of the eastern arms, leaving the Central with the other. The latest proposals see the Central running only to Hainault via Newbury Park, but previous suggestions were the reverse, with Epping retaining the Central Line service and Chelsea-Hackney running via Hainault to terminate at Woodford.

Jubilee Line

There are proposals for a future branch from North Greenwich to London City Airport or to Thamesmead, and provisions have been made at the east end of the former to allow such an extension to be built without disrupting service.

Northern Line

Part of the Northern Heights proposals have come back to life. One set of proposals for the Chelsea-Hackney Line have suggested connecting it to a reinstated line from Finsbury Park to East Finchley, with trains then continuing on to High Barnet (it's not clear how the Mill Hill East branch would be treated).

There have been suggestions to split the line into two, one taking trains from Morden via Bank to one of the northern branches and the other from Kennington via Charing Cross to the other northern branch. However, this will not be practical without major reconstruction at platform level at Camden Town, in order to cope with the increased number of interchanging passengers.

Piccadilly Line

As part of the plans to increase the frequency of trains on the line, which requires the ability to turn round trains more easily at the eastern end, it is proposed to add another platform on the eastern side of Cockfosters and another on the west side of Oakwood (using an existing siding), plus an extra track and flyover to avoid conflicts. There are also proposals to build platforms on the Central Line at Park Royal station (apparently this will be 200m from the Piccadilly Line platforms because the Railway Inspectorate will not allow the latter to be moved).

Victoria Line

There was a proposal to extend the depot branch to Northumberland Park to serve the Picketts Lock area for an athletics championship in 2005 or Olympic games at some later date. However, since the plans for a stadium were abandoned, this is effectively dead.

The track arrangement at Brixton is one of the bottlenecks in operating the line and there is a proposal to extend it in a large single-track loop to a new station at Herne Hill (location 319744).

Waterloo & City Line

There are no known plans to extend or change this line.

Other lines

Croydon Tramlink

For some reason Tramlink has attracted the attention of planners, and there are a number of proposals. One is now out for consultation:

• ‡ A fourth eastern branch from Harrington Road to Crystal Palace Bus Station (location 338709). This would run alongside the same National Rail line as the Beckenham Junction branch as far as Anerley Road, then on one of three routes to the corner of Crystal Palace Park (338707), and finally through the park to the bus station. There would be intermediate stations at Penge Road (344689), Anerley Road (341702), and somewhere in the vicinity of Crystal Palace station (340705). The three options are:
  1. along Anerley Road and Anerley Hill to 338707, then turning into the park;
  2. continuing alongside the railway line to the station, then along Ledrington Road and into the park at about 339707;
  3. along Anerley Road to 340704, then a dogleg into Ledrington Road and as with the previous option.

Three more can be considered as likely if further extensions are done:

• A new branch southwards from the central loop to South Croydon (location 234644), Purley (312616), and possibly Coulsdon (297594), mostly running on-street along the Brighton Road. Southbound trams would leave the loop at Wellesley Road Junction and northbound ones would re-enter it at one end of Crown Hill.
• A new branch northwards from the central loop just west of West Croydon to Thornton Heath Pond (location 312678), Norbury station (306697), and Streatham station (300713). This would also be on-street, along the London Road (A235 and A23).
• A new route from Tooting Broadway station on the Northern Line (location 274714), via Tooting NR station (279705) and Mitcham tram stop to Sutton NR station (261638).

Other proposals, in no particular order, are

• Extension of the Wimbledon branch in a long loop back to Mitcham Junction, serving Haydons Road (location 260711), Colliers Wood (Northern Line, 268704), Tandem Works (268697), Lavender Avenue (272695), and Mitcham Fair Green (280688). The route would follow the rail line to Haydons Road, then cross-country to Colliers Wood, along roads to Mitcham Fair Green, then once again alongside a rail line.
• A loop west of the existing line between Therapia Lane and Wandle Park to serve the development area around Commerce Way and Valley Park.
• A takeover of the existing National Rail line from Wimbledon to Sutton (location 261638), which would extend the Tooting Broadway to Sutton route.
• Extension of the New Addington Branch, initially to Vulcan Way (location 390621) and in the longer term to Biggin Hill airport (414612).
• A triangular junction at Arena tram stop to allow service from Elmers End to the proposed Crystal Palace branch.
• A possible new station at Wandle Way (278677).

Docklands Light Railway

The DLR has already had four successful extensions, with a fifth to Stratford International under construction. This latter may be further extended to Temple Mills (384852) at a later date.

‡ The most likely sixth extension would take the Beckton branch to the Barking Reach area and Dagenham Dock NR station (location 490830). It would be 5.5km long (or possibly longer, depending on the choice of routes to cross the River Roding), starting just east of Gallions Reach and with intermediate stations at Beckton Riverside (445813), Creekmouth (464818), Barking Riverside (471822), and Dagenham Vale (477827). It would open in early 2016.

Tower Gateway station might be moved west about 200m to bring it closer to Tower Hill station. This would require bridging Minories and reconstructing part of Guildhall University.

Finally, the City Airport branch could gain a station some time in the future at Thames Wharf (around location 399804).

New rail lines

Crossrail

Crossrail is a proposed new line across the centre of London, designed to relieve the burden on the Circle and Central Lines. The new section would run in 6m (19'8") diameter tubes (large enough to accommodate full-size trains), but at both ends it would emerge and run along existing lines (both NR and LU). It appears unlikely that this will be an LU service.

Photo [336kb] and info

The proposed central section runs in tube. At the east end it splits into two routes, one to Stratford and one via the Isle of Dogs to Abbey Wood. Four of the stations have two separate entrances feeding the platforms from opposite ends. Distances are approximate and taken from an arbitrary zero point.

key to notation

Westbound is up the page and eastbound is downwards.

257815		10.50				[tunnel mouth]
265813		11.4	[CP#]			{{Paddington}}
285811						west entrance
285810		13.8	[CP#]			{{Bond Street}}
288810						east entrance
295813						west entrance
297813		14.9	[CP#]			{{Tottenham Court Road}}
298813						east entrance
315818						west entrance
317818		17.1	[CP#]			{{Farringdon and Barbican}}
319818						east entrance
327816						west entrance
327817		18.3	[CP#]			{{Moorgate and Liverpool Street}}
331815						east entrance
346819		20.4	[CP#]			Whitechapel
357815		21.37				[junction]
378836		24.65				[tunnel mouth]
382839		25.05				[junction with main line]
385844						Stratford
357815		21.37				[junction]
377805		23.9				Isle of Dogs
404808		26.73				[tunnel mouth]
407809		27.0				Custom House
422802						[diverge from NLL alignment]
428799		29.48				[Thames tunnel mouth]
438797?		39.5?				Woolwich
451788		32.38				[Thames tunnel mouth]
473790		34.7				Abbey Wood
483791		35.69				[end of new line]

The line will be electrified at 25kV AC (like many National Rail lines, including those it connects to at each end) and will probably be operated by a new fleet of 5-car EMUs coupled into 10 car trains. Current plans will not have the trains running on existing third-rail National Rail lines, and so the trains will not need to be dual-voltage.

The routes beyond this core tunnel are still being planned but the following gives the latest status. Construction would start in 2010 (though some preparatory work is underway already) with the line opening in 2017. Descriptions are partly based on the latest information on the Crossrail web site and on the Bill going through Parliament.

At the west end the line will connect to the National Rail lines out of Paddington. Some trains would run to Heathrow Airport (there would be two airport stations, one at terminals 1, 2, & 3 and the other at terminal 5), stopping intermediately only at Ealing Broadway and Hayes & Harlington, while others would call at all stops to West Drayton or to Maidenhead (requiring electrification to the latter from Airport Junction).

Four other possibilities have now been rejected:

• Six-tracking the line from Paddington to Airport Junction and electrifying from there to Reading; some trains would have run to Heathrow Airport and others to Reading.
• A new tunnel - or a surface line through Old Oak Depot - to meet the Metropolitan Line around Neasden, where it would have taken over the present Chiltern Trains route to Aylesbury. It would have used the fast lines from Harrow-on-the-Hill northwards and taken over all services from Rickmansworth northwards (including Chesham), leaving the Metropolitan to serve only Uxbridge and Watford. There would also have been new platforms to allow trains to serve Wembley Park and Northwood.
• A new tunnel to Willesden Junction, where it would have taken over the present "New Lines" services to Watford Junction; the Bakerloo Line would have been cut back to Willesden and a new depot would have been required to replace Stonebridge Park. An alternative approach would have been to use existing and disused tracks to allow Crossrail to connect to the New Lines at Wembley Central and the Bakerloo to terminate in disused platforms there; this would have eliminated the need for a new Bakerloo depot.
• A new 5.3km tunnel to Gunnersbury, from a portal (at location 231822) west of a new Canal Way Junction (235822), via an intermediate station at Turnham Green, to a portal beside Chiswick Common (around 206787). It would then use the National Rail lines through Kew Gardens, Richmond (where some terminate), Twickenham, Strawberry Hill, Teddington, and Hampton Wick to terminate at Kingston. An underpass would be built at Richmond to link the westbound North London Line to the Kingston Loop. District Line service would be withdrawn on the Richmond branch. An alternative route for the first part of the branch would have started with a grade separated junction and new 1.5km viaduct from the Old Oak area to Acton Central, after which it would take over the NR North London Line to Richmond; North London Line service would be diverted to Hounslow.

The second and third options would have required converting the relevant lines to overhead electrification, replacing the third and fourth rails where present. Because they run relatively near to each other, it is unlikely that both would have be built.

At the east end the Stratford branch emerges at Pudding Mill Lane station on the DLR (the station being relocated to the south), after which trains would call at all stations from Stratford to Shenfield.

After surfacing, the Isle of Dogs branch will run on the surface (and through Connaught Tunnel) on the former alignment of the North London Line, which will be closed as part of the DLR extension from Canning Town to Stratford, before descending into a new tunnel under the river and then beside the existing line to Abbey Wood. Previous plans to continue to Dartford, Swanscombe, and then on a new connection to a station at Ebbsfleet (around 615735) on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, have been abandoned; so too has an alternative route emerging south of the river at 394795 and then continuing to meet the existing line further west, at Charlton station (471809).

The proposed peak schedule sees 24tph each way through the central section. At the east end, 12 would go to Shenfield and 12 to Abbey Wood. At the west end, 8 would go to Heathrow, 4 to Maidenhead, and 4 to West Drayton, while the remaining 8 would terminate at Paddington (though reversing in the open air west of the station).

Chelsea-Hackney Line

The idea of a tube line from the City to the Hackney area appeared as long ago as 1901 but, as part of the "Morgan Tube", it was abandoned in 1906 following political manoeuvring by the Yerkes group. In the next 70 years the concept evolved into a "Chelsea-Hackney tube" connecting the Putney and Chelsea area in the southwest to the relatively poorly served Hackney area in the northeast; the idea of linking the District and Central Lines was first introduced in 1974.

Proposed routes varied over the years, but in 1991 a tube route was formally safeguarded (against any other developments that would make it harder to build):

The route also took over the District Line from Wimbledon to Parsons Green and the Central Line from Leytonstone to Epping ^[1]. District trains would terminate at Parsons Green while Central Line trains would all run to Woodford via Hainault. A version of the official line diagram appeared with this route on in 1994; this omitted Essex Road and showed Chelsea-Hackney running from Leytonstone to Hainault via Newbury Park, leaving the Central Line with both Epping and Hainault via Woodford. The currently safeguarded route omits the Sloane Square stop and reverts to Epping as its northern destination.

In 1995 a new concept - the Express Metro - appeared. This would save costs by increased use of existing lines and by omitting some of the stations, though it would be built to accommodate main-line trains. With three options in the southwest (only one of which would be used) and two branches in the northeast, it looked like this:

All stations from Wimbledon to East Putney 244748 Putney Bridge 245759 Parsons Green 250766 Wandsworth Town 259751 Clapham Junction 271756 Battersea 287770 Chelsea Harbour 264766 Kings Road 272781 Victoria 288791 Tottenham Court Road 298813 King's Cross St. Pancras 302829 Highbury & Islington 315847 Dalston Kingsland 335850 Hackney Central 349849
Leytonstone 392874 then all stations to Epping		Stratford 385843 West Ham 391829 Canning Town 394814 Custom House 407809 Silvertown 420801 Woolwich Arsenal 438788

Once again the District and Central Lines would be cut back to accommodate the new line (though there are suggestions that the former would continue to share the route), but this time the line also takes over the NR North London Line from just east of Highbury and Islington as far as Silvertown, with North Woolwich station at the east end and the intermediate stations of Homerton and Hackney Wick all closing. As the East London Line is also taking over part of the North London Line, the latter would presumably be cut back to run only between Richmond and Willesden Junction.

In 2001 a third version of the proposal was published, this time in the form of main-line tunnels connecting the main lines in the Wimbledon area to both the Central Line and the NR East Coast Main Line. This version has far fewer stations:

These proposals allowed for the route to be either a "Metro" line or an "Express" one, with greatly differing routes beyond the tunnels.

In the southwest the "Metro" would serve the Kingston, Hounslow, Shepperton, Hampton Court, Chessington South, and Epson Down branches, while the "Express" would serve Southampton, Portsmouth, Alton, and Heathrow airport via a new line from Feltham.

The northeast, with two separate branches, is more interesting. In both cases the eastern arm would once again take over part of the Central Line, both to Epping and - this time - to Hainault via Woodford. The Central would be left with only Leytonstone to Hainault via Newbury Park; to avoid a bottleneck between Leyton and Leytonstone there would need to be new tracks, and the chosen split leads to some interesting track layout issues. The western arm involves a climb from Drayton Park to the main lines at Finsbury Park, after which the two versions diverge widely.

The "Metro" proposal involves reinstating part of the Northern Heights proposals. The line from Finsbury Park to East Finchley would be reinstated, after which trains from High Barnet would run this way instead of on the Northern Line (it is not clear what would happen to Mill Hill East). The "Express" proposal, on the other hand, takes over some of the WAGN services to Cambridge and Peterborough.

Finally, this proposal also appears on the Crossrail web site under the name Crossrail line 2. This might also involve restoring the Piccadilly Circus station. However, it looks unlikely to open before 2016.

^[1] All references to Epping up to 1994 should be taken to include the section from there to Ongar.

New tram lines

The success of Croydon Tramlink, as well as new trams in other cities, has sparked new interest in tram lines in London. At present there are two serious proposals and two more speculative ones.

Uxbridge Road

The Uxbridge Road tramway would extend for about 22km from Shepherd's Bush Green to Uxbridge. It would 41 tram stops and for most of its length would run along the Uxbridge Road (A4020), though at the Uxbridge end it would follow the original, now pedestrianized, High Street and not the present-day road. If built, construction would start in 2009 and the line would open in 2013. However, current indications are that the plans are likely to be abandoned following the approval of Crossrail.

The following list of stations and locations comes from a 2004 public consultation. Locations marked ± are estimated from landmarks on small-scale maps; those marked § are even rougher estimates. SPN and SPS indicate a single platform on the north and south sides of the line respectively.

‡ Cross River

Cross River Tram is a tramway running north-south through the very centre of London. Operation would start in 2016. There will be a single central section with two branches at each end. At this point there are a number of possible route variations being consulted on; station locations are not gien in the current consultation, but are either copied from previous documents or estimated where the route deviates from that suggested previously. The † symbol indicates that there is a terminal loop. Alternative routes are shown with and ; note that each alternative applies only to the next common station (thus there are three sets of alternatives - and 8 possibilities in total - for the branch to Brixton).

Camden Town station † 287840 Mornington Crescent station 292833		King's Cross station 302831 British Library / St. Pancras station 299831 St. Pancras hospital 296835 Mornington Crescent station 292833
Euston 297826 Tavistock Square 299822 Russell Square 301820 Holborn station 305815 Aldwych 306809 South Bank 308803 Waterloo 311799
St George's Circus 315794 Elephant & Castle North 319791 Elephant & Castle Interchange 319788 Kennington station 316178 Lambeth North station 311794 Imperial War Museum 312791 Kennington Cross 312783 Oval station 311775 Albert Square 308770 Stockwell station 305764 Stockwell Green 307761 Vassall Road 311770 Slade Gardens 311763 Brixton Academy 310757 Brixton station 310755 Brixton town centre † 309750 Brixton Popes Road 312755		St George's Circus 315794 Elephant & Castle North 319791 Elephant & Castle Interchange 319788 Elephant & Castle South 321788 Catesby Street 328786 East Street 329784 Albany Road 332780 Burgess Park 333778 Chandlers Way 334776 Kelly Avenue 337770 Burgess Park 330777 Rainbow Street 330772 Commercial Way 335770 Melon Road 340768 Peckham Arch 341766 Peckham Library 343768 Peckham Bus Station 344766

City Tram

City Tram is a proposal for a tram line from Battersea to Hackney, crossing the Thames over London Bridge. Intermediate stations would be at Vauxhall, Elephant & Castle, Borough, Bishopsgate, and Shoreditch, and there is the possibility of an extension to Stratford.

‡ Oxford Street

In 2006 the Mayor of London proposed a tram line running along Oxford Street between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road stations, a distance of about 1.8km. No further details have been published so far, but there would probably be 5 or 6 intermediate stations.

RTonRT

Introduction

Rapid Transit on Rubber Tyres (RTonRT) is the term for the latest proposals for routes requiring more capacity or better facilities than can be provided by buses, but that do not yet justify tram or rail lines.

The key features of RTonRT are:

• 18m (59') articulated trolleybuses
• fixed stops with shelters, shown individually on maps
• ticket sales made off-vehicle, including from machines at each stop
• a mix of on-street running, dedicated lanes, and separate alignments
• traffic pre-emption measures
• easy conversion to tramway at a later date.

The use of trolleybuses means that street work is limited to putting up overhead wires but, with this exception, the idea is to provide as much as possible of the "tram experience" at lower cost. Conversion to tramway, when traffic justifies it, would then mean laying rails and replacing the double wire overhead with single. In order to provide a predictable "swept path" in pedestrian areas, electronic guidance using a buried cable is being suggested; this might apply only in such areas or might cover the entire system.

Two proposals are currently being considered, but with no specific start date. There are also suggestions that they could be linked by a ‡ road bridge across the Thames from near Gallions Canal to Gallions Reach, which would imply that compatible vechicles would be necessary.

All locations in these descriptions are approximate.

‡ Greenwich Waterfront Transit

This is a single line from Greenwich via North Greenwich and Woolwich to Abbey Wood, 16km in length. The original plans were based around a "reference alignment" with a fair amount of off-street running. For this scheme, trams would have a slightly better cost-benefit ratio than trolleybuses, but neither were very attractive financially. Therefore a "reduced cost alignment" was also laid out. This omits the section west of North Greenwich (this section is now described as a "potential further phase") and deviates from the reference alignment in three places, in each case following existing roads rather than dedicated right of way. No details of stops have been published for these deviations, and therefore the following table gives indicative locations rather than definite sites (note also that the names apply only to the reference alignment).

‡ East London Transit

This is a network of three lines in East London, north of the river and centred on the Barking-Romford axis. The system would total about 53km. Unnamed stops have been determined from a small-scale map of the proposals.

Proposed frequencies in each direction are as follows.

More recently descriptions of the proposals show a smaller network. Phase 1 involves line 1 running from just north of Ilford Station to Dagenham Dock station via Barking station, with line 2 branching off in the Barking Reach area to a temporary terminus. At a later date line 2 would be extended via Barking Riverside and Dagenham Vale DLR stations to meet line 1, with an intermediate link allowing some line 1 services to also serve the latter (shown in italics in the table below). Another future phase would involve a separate line 3 running from Barking to Gallions Reach (and thence over the bridge to link with the Greenwich Waterfront Transit).

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