Brockley's Crossrail connection completed

Whitechapel station, which will provide an interchange between the East London Line and the Elizabeth Line, is now ready to take five-car ELL trains.

Gary Stevens, Operational Task Manager, Whitechapel said: "Customers using Whitechapel station via London Overground will now be able to use full lengths of platforms 5 & 6 as there is no need for customers to walk through car 5 to car 4 of the train to depart the train. This should ease congestion on the platforms."

The Shenfield to Liverpool Street service opens in May using existing rail lines, and the new route comes online in a phased roll-out from 2018. Thanks to Monkeyboy for the update.

Central Line interchange for ELL could come as part of new Shoreditch terminus

Shoreditch's continued growth as a major employment cluster and the arrival of Crossrail in 2018 could provide the motivation and means for the transport authorities to create a new interchange between the East London Line and the Central Line.

Citymetric reports that Network Rail has proposed a major new rail terminus at Shoreditch - the first new London terminus since 1899 - to enable more people to access the area and take some of the strain off Liverpool Street, which is bursting at the seams.

The new terminus would serve developments like Bishopsgate Goods Yard

With major Shoreditch schemes like the redevelopment of Bishopsgate Goods Yard (pictured) at an advanced stage, new transport capacity is required.

As Citymetric point out, a new terminal served only by the East London Line won't work, so they will need to create an interchange with the Central Line, which many people argued should have been included in the original scheme, but the lack of capacity on the Central Line was a major factor that counted against the idea. Crossrail, however, should address that problem, alleviating the overcrowding.

The ELL is already getting a Crossrail interchange at Whitechapel in 2018. A Central Line interchange in the 2020s would be another useful new connection. But a Terminus at Shoreditch would pose even more questions about the long-term future of the ELL, which is already struggling to meet the demand of South East Londoners for good connections.

More capacity on the ELL and an accelerated Bakerloo Line extension might be needed, to unlock the potential of the City's eastern fringes.

South East London gets second Crossrail station

South East London will get a second Crossrail Station. The plans for an Abbey Wood station were approved this week by Greenwich and Bexley Councils. The station will join one in Woolwich as one of only two Crossrail stations south of the river.

Click to enlarge the route

Crossrail for Woolwich approved

London Reconnections reports that the planned Crossrail station for Woolwich will now be built, following a long period of wrangling and doubt. This looked inevitable after funding was agreed for preliminary work, but it's nice to have it confirmed. LR says:

Woolwich Crossrail station did not feature in the original Crossrail bill, and it is this which has resulted in a more torturous path to funding and prospective completion.

Finally in July this year a final agreement was reached. Yesterday on 25th July, Lord Attlee announced to Parliament that a compromise between all parties had been agreed. A legally binding agreement was now in place and Crossrail had been instructed to complete the station works. 

The full breakdown of that compromise has yet to emerge. Based on the details available, however, it seems that Crossrail will receive fixed additional funding of £54m to cover the cost of completing the station works. This £54m is made up of contributions from Greenwich Council, additional local developer contributions, funding from Berkeley Homes [full disclosure: a client of BC's employer] and contributions from both the Greater London Authority (GLA) and TfL.

The more transport connections for South East London the better and this project should accelerate the much-needed regeneration of Woolwich. With thanks to Richard on the South East London forum.

Crossrail levy for Lewisham developments

From April 1st, developers in Lewisham have to pay £35 per square metre of new build in a levy for TfL to raise money for Crossrail. Exemptions include domestic extensions and social housing projects. As a zone two borough, Lewisham is in the mid-price bracket for developers, with zone one developments having to cough up £50 per square metre.

Thanks to Monkeyboy for the heads up.

Woolwich Crossrail has 6 days to secure its future

One of only two Crossrail stations planned for South East London is in danger of being cancelled, according to a report in The FT today.

The paper says that if the Dft and TfL don't sign off on the plans to build a new station at Woolwich in the next week then the station could be mothballed or even scrapped.

Brockley Central has previously speculated that the bit of Crossrail most likely to face cutbacks was the Abbey Wood spur.

East London Line's Crossrail interchange - construction begins

The East London Advertiser reports that work on the new interchange between the East London Line and Crossrail got underway today. They report:

Building works around Whitechapel station start today, as engineers lay the groundwork for the capital’s huge Crossrail project...

Actual building works at Whitechapel station – which is connected to both the District and Hammersmith and City Tube lines as well as the Overground’s East London Line – will not start until later this year.

Crossrail safe, Thameslink uncertain

The Government's Comprehensive Spending Review today confirmed that the Crossrail project will go ahead as planned, giving Brockley commuters a new link at Whitechapel by 2017 and securing the long-term future of Canary Wharf. Tube upgrades will also be funded, removing any lingering doubts that the ill-fated Jubilee Line expansion would be scrapped.

However, the CSR contained no mention of Thameslink, leading to speculation that the project, which includes improvements to London Bridge and Blackfriars Stations, could be scaled back. Further announcements on transport investment are expected in the coming days.

Crossrail set to survive Comprehensive Spending Review

On October 20th, the government will reveal its spending plans in the Comprehensive Spending Review. Crossrail's future had been in some doubt (although not on this blog) but the BBC now reports that all the stations and branches will be built.

The decision makes absolute sense, not only because Crossrail is vital to London's long-term development, but because a large chunk of the public money has already been spent on several large holes in the capital and once these funds have been spent, they will unlock a lot of private investment in the project.

However, the report suggests that two of the most ambitious stations in the project are likely to undergo value engineering and possible redesign to reduce costs. One of these is the gorgeous Whitechapel station design - Brockley's Crossrail interchange via the East London Line - we hope they don't butcher it too much.

[Full disclosure: the company I work for, Edelman, works for a company with a commercial interest in Crossrail]

New images of Brockley's Crossrail link released

Brockley will be connected with Crossrail via a brand new interchange at Whitechapel, to which we're directly connected by the East London Line.

The new station looks absolutely fantastic and will also improve the interchange with the District Line.

When completed, Crossrail will provide Brockley residents with better routes to destinations like Tottenham Court Road, Paddington and Heathrow. It will also support the long-term growth of Canary Wharf and continue to drag London's economic and cultural gravity eastwards, which is why people like Simon Jenkins hate it - they'd rather spend the money improving existing infrastructure for the parts of London already well-served by public transport, rather than creating new capacity to spread London's growth. Fortunately, they seem to have lost the argument.

Columbus Tower approval signals further Canary Wharf growth

Mayor Johnson has approved plans for another major expansion of the Canary Wharf business district, according to Building.co.uk.

The 63-floor Columbus Tower will include hotel, office, retail and residential space. Although not in the same league as the Riverside South development, currently under construction, it would be another important step forward for the area, increasing Canary Wharf's pull as a business and leisure destination.

It also strengthens the case for proceeding with Crossrail, partly because of the (admittedly tiny amount of) extra funding it will provide but also because it underlines the potential for further expansion of the area.

With major development pipelines at both London Bridge and Canary Wharf, Brockley is well-positioned as London's economic centre of gravity continues to shift east.

Crossrail secures billion-Euro loan

Crossrail has been awarded a 1 billion Euro loan by the European Investment Bank, representing another important step for the project.

Although construction work in Canary Wharf started four months ago and there is another large hole at Tottenham Court Road, the project's future is still the source of speculation, with large capital investment projects considered relatively easy to cull in the event of an anticipated cut in government expenditure following the next election. Securing this funding will make it harder to put the brakes on Crossrail.

With the growth of Canary Wharf and other parts of East and South East London constrained by the relative lack of public transport infrastructure, Crossrail will benefit this side of London disproportionately and turn Whitechapel (connected to Brockley via the East London Line) in to a major transport hub.

Mayor Boris said:

"Our good friends at the EIB have provided us with a billion more reasons to proceed with the unstoppable force that is Crossrail.

"It is one of the largest loans ever secured for a transport project and I am especially pleased to have this backing for our drive to provide London with the facilities required to keep the capital one of the world's leading cities."

[Full disclosure: the company I work for, Edelman, works for a company with a commercial interest in Crossrail]

Whitechapel's £250m transport interchange

While Brockley struggles to install a handrail for the new steps leading to the station ticket office, Whitechapel Station is being remodelled as part of a £250m project, which will create a new interchange between the East London Line, the District Line, the Hammersmith and City Line and Crossrail, when it opens in 2017.

Aedas and Mott MacDonald are working on the design solutions, but these are the concept visuals they have released. The project highlights the fact that the East London Line will connect directly with Crossrail, creating an important new transport hub and a host of new public transport options for Brockley commuters.

Crossrail funding fears

The Guardian is reporting that a £30 billion funding gap in Britain's transport budget could delay Crossrail:

A leaked industry memo seen by the Guardian warned of "looming spending cuts" on major transport projects after Department for Transport officials described the consequences of restoring order to public finances. There are now fears that major schemes could be delayed, reduced or scrapped in an expenditure freeze. They include the £16bn Crossrail scheme linking Heathrow Airport to Canary Wharf and Essex, which could be delayed.

Although work has already begun on the project in locations including Canary Wharf and Tottenham Court Road, there have been fears for some time that the project's funding might still be reviewed; suspicions fuelled by articles such as this one by Simon Jenkins.

Crossrail will create a new interchange with the East London Line at Whitechapel, providing Brockley residents with a much faster route to west London and Heathrow than at present. More importantly, it's vital to the growth of Canary Wharf and other business districts in east London, currently constrained by the limits of the Jubilee Line. Crossrail will help to drag the centre of London's gravity eastwards and - in this respect - is important for the long-term prosperity of south east London (not to mention the fact that it will serve Woolwich and Abbey Wood).

Its delay, therefore, would constitute a serious setback for this part of the city.

[Brockley Nick here: While I hope I've done enough over the last 3 years of blogging about Brockley to demonstrate that my motives are pure and true, in the interests of transparency, I should note that the company I work for provides public relations support for a company with a commercial interest in Crossrail]