Crossrail 2 needs ‘eastern phase’ through Hackney, claims Mayor
On track: Chancellor George Osborne committed spending for Crossrail 2 in last week’s budget announcement
Failure to extend Crossrail 2 through East London would undermine the region’s potential for growth, Hackney Mayor Jules Pipe has claimed.
Hackney Council is urging transport chiefs to commit to an ‘eastern phase’ for the rail-link, which would see a line pass through Hackney Central and on to Essex.
The National Infrastructure Commission, an independent body set up by Chancellor George Osbourne, this month urged ministers to take forward “as a priority” plans for a £27 billion north-south line linking Surrey to Hertfordshire via central London.
Mayor Pipe said: “We now look forward to working with the government, the National Infrastructure Commission and Transport for London on making the eastern phase a reality.”
The plea follows a new study into growth and transport in East London and Essex by transport consultancy firm GHD, which was commissioned jointly by Hackney, Barking and Dagenham, Essex and Newham Councils.
According to the report, due to be made public in the next few weeks, the new line would halve journey times from Hackney Central to Victoria and from Hackney Wick to Tottenham Court Road.
The study claims that an ‘eastern phase’ to the rail-link would support a population growth of 89,800 new borough residents, as well as 34,000 new jobs and 40,800 new homes.
Mayor Pipe said: “This new research which demonstrates the huge potential it would unlock for growth, and the threat to these aspirations by expecting the existing transport infrastructure to cope.”
Eastern phase: proposals for an extension of Crossrail 2 eastwards
‘Historic failure’
Crossrail 2 is expected to focus initially on a single line heading northwards from Angel, via Dalston Junction and Tottenham Hale, to Hertfordshire.
But the study recommends that the track split after Angel station, with a new branch travelling east to Hackney Central, before heading on to Hackney Wick and out through Newham, Barking and Dagenham.
The eastern line would link to the existing Essex Thameside network, with the services terminating at Basildon and Grays.
Robin Wales, Mayor of Newham, accused central government of failing to provide transport links in East London: “The government has historically failed to fund infrastructure in East London and have held this part of the city back for too long,” he said.
“Investing in Crossrail 2 with an eastern phase would help deliver further economic benefits to the capital and deliver the huge potential of the area. The government must not miss this opportunity.”
Mayor Wales added: “Over the next 25 years London’s population growth will be concentrated in the east and Thames Gateway. Newham is already home to the largest regeneration projects in the country, alongside this and developments taking place in the surrounding areas, vital infrastructure is needed to accommodate the projected jobs and growth.
Please Hackney Citizens, please do NOT be fooled by
plugs by the sophisticated PROPAGANDA outfits run
for Big Biz Agenda.
The word “Crossrail” is a fakery.
See more below on why.
As Boris Johnson has already exposed his and his
Big Biz mates’ propensities to mislead the PUBLIC by
‘re-naming’ the Crossrail line after Brenda
(“Private Eye” magazine calls QE2 “Brenda”)
so the “Crossrail” label is false.
Logically therefore there is no “Crossrail 2”.
Unless it is “accepted” that Boris was faking it with that re-naming.
They should drop the “Crossrail 2” as well and start to think about
transport needs and transport provisions that do exist and use a
suitably factually representative version of the generic name that
accurately and sustainably reflects the transport
needs of the relevant parts of London and the other parts of the Country.
The promotions for the former Crossrail was over-stuffed with
plugs ranging from the
skeletons found near Bishopsgate to all kinds of other plausible sounding
“benefits” that have utterly nothing to do with a railway route or line.
I think the “Hackney Mayor” needs to get to know the realities of
Hackney Community and the neighbouring areas.
It is not good enough to use stock phrases created by Big Biz contractors
who could not care less about the needs of Hackney people let alone
do anything that ends the Educational, economic, social and cultural apartheid that
the pushers of the “Big Infrastructure” “projects” in effect and without any exception promote and want to further entrench and consolidate.
That movement is a Social Cleansing Move UNLESS the “hackney Mayor” and his
“tam” come out with the evidence of what Hackney Council is actually doing to support the dire Educational, Social and Cultural denials most ordinary people in the
Community in Hackney experience and can see no immediate way out of.
REPOSTING paragraph:
That movement is a Social Cleansing Move UNLESS the “hackney Mayor” and his
“Team” come out with the evidence of what Hackney Council is actually doing to support the Community in Hackney to end the dire Educational, Social and Cultural denials most ordinary people in Hackney experience and can see no immediate way out of.
do we need another 89000 people in Hackney? already one of the most densely populated areas in the UK, high rise from border to border? is that Jules’ vision for the future?
This proposed tunnel to Barking is over 11km. As far as from Tottenham Hale to London Victoria, adding literally tens of billions to a scheme that the government is already starting to look for savings on. It will never happen and so Jules Pike is simply playing politics. Hopefully TFL recognise that and do not let these politicians delay this project for vanity.
C2C services on the Thames Estuary can be relieved far cheaper by adapting the Barking Riverside extension with a link to Plumstead via Thamesmead. With this extension, that line can take the additional six trains per hour that will likely have to go via Canary Wharf for when the Elizabeth Line eventually gets 30 trains per hour.
The route to Upminster can also be relieved at a far lower cost by adding a second track between Romford and Upminster on the existing London Overground route. This line could send four to six additional trains per hour if Crossrail 2 residual services are diverted there from Gidea Park.
Thus, with a bit of sensible planning, I found twelve trains per hour for C2C services at a cost of less than £1bn, vs this ridiculous 11km tunnel idea that would cost tens of billions.
The most sensible “project” is ALWAYS one that is first based on sound considerations of SUSTAINABILITY as defined by the least costly but most beneficial resources: the environment; the people; the Community.
TfL has NOT been actively making use of these resources.
Nor has the UK DAFT – the so-called DfT – the stooged Department of or for Transport at/in “Whitehall”.
Successive appointees as Securer of State at DAFT have shown their lack of basic understanding of the three factors.
As has Andrew Adonis, the one that has now brazenly converted to the cause of Big Biz Contractors as the over-paid and over-promoted agent for Gideon Osborne as the absurdly falsely titled “transport Commission” boss!
Adonis’ Mission is doomed to come apart like Osborne’s Northern Poor House
scam.
Across inner London and outer London zones and areas, the EXISTING transport infrastructures have NEVER been added up either by TfL or by DAFT.
Nor indeed by the over-sold “railway” “experts”, within the “Media” or at the “Imperial College”.
London Local Councils, including Hackney, have been politically and economically mis-led by self-serving personnel, persons, groups and batches of shockingly comprehensively ignorant tick-boxed careerists.
Both Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson have shown total alienation from the three factors – the environment; the people; the Community.
Their so-called London Plans – or the so-called ‘different’ versions of those, contained absolutely no recognition of the People, the Environment or the Communities.
The result is that we, the little people across London, are now faced with
the destruction, degeneration and deprivation of the targeted parts which will be swallowed up via giant slogans by Big Business mounting s sugar-worded assaults on the targeted spots with the callousness that only corrupt Big Money can power and perpetrate.
Whatever “London” is, deserves Democratic Accountable and Honest REPRESENTATIONS at all “elected” levels that must be brought to account to all parts of all London Boroughs, Communities and the ordinary London Population.
That has never happened.
It is time that it happened.
That overdue start must be with every Community in every London Borough demanding the Truth from its local, London and Parliamentary tiers of “voted” “post-holders” and careerists.
Now!
1722 GMT (1822 London) Sunday 27 March 2016
If they add the crossrail 2 to Hackney central, they should probably make a bus and train hub there