Does Islington need Crossrail 2?

You might have noticed that the Government are currently consulting on certain aspects of Crossrail 2.  (See the plan above showing the proposed route - zoom in if you need to.)  What you may not realise is that irreversible decisions are being made NOW about the type of railway this will be, where it will go, and which buildings will have to be demolished to make way for it. 

The railway was originally planned about 20 years ago as a new tube line, called the ‘Chelsea-Hackney’ line.  Since planning for HS2 was commenced, it was realised that existing rail connections at Euston are very poor for connections to the proposed new high speed regional service when it arrives at Euston.  It was therefore decided to divert the Chelsea-Hackney line to stop at Euston.  Then it was decided to make the Chelsea-Hackney line a ‘Regional’ type service, not a metro Tube type service, connecting to the whole East of England rail network.  This means longer trains, more vent shafts, much more major infrastructure both above and below ground, far more major disruption at surface level to construct the railway, and far less flexibility in terms of where the train stops, and how many stops there can be.

The current consultation is called the “safeguarding” consultation.  What this actually means is final decisions being made now on the type of railway, the route of the railway, where the stations will be, and which buildings will be lost.  In Islington this means a single stop at Angel, with all the buildings on the west side of Upper street from Angel to White Lion street being demolished, including the CO-OP bank, to make way for the station entrance, and the whole of Torrens Street being lost for vent shafts.  There will also be a major construction site at Penton street on the site of the public carriage office.  The platforms will run all the way from Angel to Penton Street.

Crossrail claim on their web site that “over 80% of respondents favour a regional option”.  However,  I very much doubt that a survey of areas such as Islington, which will be most disrupted by the construction and most poorly served by the resulting railway, would return a response in favour of regional trains.  It’s a bit like asking all the people that live outside London whether they would like a new motorway through Islington to help them get into town more quickly.  A metro Tube type train service would, in my view, serve the needs of Londoners much better, and would allow for much-needed new stops at Essex Road, and Old Street, both areas which would actually benefit from improved connections.

I would urge everyone to respond to the consultation, which is available on the internet at 

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/crossrail-2-safeguarding-directions 

The consultation closes on 29^th January.   There is also a public meeting being held at the Town Hall on Tuesday 13^th January at 5.30pm to discuss the consultation, and I would urge as many people as possible to attend and express their views.