London First has campaigned for Crossrail since it was formed in 1992. On 5 October 2007, the Government gave the go-ahead for the vital east-west rail route – a move met with applause and relief by London’s business community.

Here’s why:

Crossrail is one of the two most vital pieces of publicly funded infrastructure London needs, along continued improvements to the quality, reliability and capacity of the Tube. Together, they will play a critical role in supporting London’s growth and economic success.

Scheduled to open in 2018, Crossrail will:

• Add 10% to London’s rail capacity;
• Bring 1.5 million people within a 60-minute commute of the city, from outer London and beyond;
• Link Heathrow, the West End, the City and Docklands, providing extra capacity where it is needed most – to get people to work;
• Help to create an estimated 30,000 high value jobs which would not otherwise exist.

The benefits of Crossrail to the UK economy are calculated at £42bn, resulting in a £17bn tax boost for the Treasury. Direct benefits include shorter journey times and reduced overcrowding on other transport, in particular the Tube. Wider benefits include more productive jobs, an increase in productivity and increased labour force participation.

The total cost of Crossrail is £15.9bn. Central government, through the Department for Transport’s grant to Transport for London, accounts for just £5.1bn of this total, paid over the lifetime of the project. Over two-thirds of the costs come from other sources, including future fare revenue, a range of private sector contributions and a supplement on business rates (BRS) paid by London’s larger businesses.

Given the pressures on public finances, the business community strongly supports robust action to drive down Crossrail project costs and ensure value for money. But cuts to the scope of Crossrail would be a false economy. The benefits of Crossrail far outweigh the costs.

Crossrail route map

Crossrail 2

In February 2013 London First published the findings of it’s Crossrail 2 task force, chaired by former Transport Secretary, Lord Adonis, recommending a major new rail link connecting south-west and north-east London, via a tunnel beneath central London. A copy of the report can be found here.

The new line, Crossrail 2, would transform journeys for commuters from the south-west and the north-east, including Wimbledon, Kingston, Twickenham, Hackney, Islington, Tottenham, Cheshunt and Hertford East. It would also provide essential relief to major London interchanges, including Euston, Victoria and Clapham Junction, and reduce pressure on congested Tube lines. In some cases, journey times would be more than halved.

Rapid population and central London employment growth will create the need for significant additional capacity on London’s transport networks from the mid 2020s onwards. Over the next 20 years, employment in London – mostly in central London – is projected to rise by 700,000 and the capital’s population is expected to rise by 1.5 million to almost 10 million, its highest level ever.

If the necessary planning and consultation for Crossrail 2 were to begin now, the new line could be open by the early 2030s.

Consultation

TfL and Network Rail have launched a consultation in May 2013 for Crossrail 2. The consultation will seek the views of people in London and the south east of England and will run from 14 May to 2 August 2013. It aims to establish what level of support there is for the project and where the public and stakeholders would like Crossrail 2 to serve.

The public are encouraged to respond and share their views at www.crossrail2.co.uk