Sadiq Khan is pushing forward with his new £900million London Overground line which to connect suburbs – despite Transport for London‘s £450million bad debts.
The ‘West London Orbital’ scheme is an 11-mile rail proposal to take trains from Hounslow to Hendon via Brentford, Acton, Harlesden, Neasden and Brent Cross.
There would also be a station at Old Oak Common linking with the planned HS2 line to Birmingham, and a branch after Neasden off to West Hampstead via Cricklewood.
Plans have now taken a major step forward after Mr Khan revealed ‘feasible solutions for all elements of the project’ had been identified – with the current development stage ‘now nearing completion, including confirmation of the costs of the scheme’.
It comes after Mr Khan sparked backlash over his £6.3million Overground rebrand ‘vanity project’ with six new names and colours which launched last Thursday.
The lines were renamed Lioness, Mildmay, Windrush, Weaver, Suffragette and Liberty and given new colours – but it was branded ‘predictable woke liberal nonsense’.
The announcement of the changes in February was greeted with bemusement and disbelief at the cost of the project, with critics saying it was a ‘word cloud of virtue’ and TfL should instead focus on improving the reliability of Overground services.
TfL received a series of Government bailouts during the pandemic amid fears it could go bankrupt after passenger journey numbers plummeted during lockdown.
Its levels of bad debt – is a debt that is unlikely to be paid and is written off by the creditor – have roughly tripled in three years to £450million. And Mr Khan also still faces anger over last year’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (Ulez) expansion.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan on a London Overground train in Barking in July 2022
The proposed 11-mile West London Orbital rail project would run from Hounslow to Hendon, stopping at Isleworth, Brentford, Acton, Harlesden, Neasden and Brent Cross
The latest projected cost from TfL for the West Orbital Line is up to £900million, a 48 per cent rise on the previous estimate of up to £610million given in 2021. And it is more than triple the anticipated capital cost of £273million given in 2017/18.
TfL hopes that construction on the line will begin in 2030 and it will open in 2033 – but Mr Khan has conceded that the scheme is ‘not definite’, and he will be lobbying the Government for the required funding ahead of the next Spending Review.
Among those responding to the Overground rebrand announcement in February was Susan Hall, Mr Khan’s Conservative opponent in May’s mayoral election.
She told MailOnline at the time: ‘A thousand people have been killed under his Mayoralty, and yet Sadiq Khan is only interested in this virtue signalling nonsense. The only surprise from today’s announcement is that he hasn’t named one of them the Sadiq line.’
Tory MP Bob Blackman added at the time that it was ‘another woke idea from a mayor who becomes more ridiculous every day.’
But TfL insisted ‘stakeholders, customers, staff, historians, industry experts and communities’ played a ‘key role’ in deciding the names, which were chosen to honour and celebrate different aspects of London’s history and culture.
The new West London Orbital network, which has been in the planning phase since 2017, would form part of the existing Overground system which was launched by Ken Livingstone in 2007.
The line would cut journey times from Hounslow to Hendon to 37 minutes – instead of the estimated 90 minutes it currently takes, which involves going via Central London.
The scheme involves using a little-known freight route called the Dudding Hill Line which has not been used for a scheduled passenger service since 1902.
Previous decades have seen a series of proposals for the line, including using it for a Crossrail extension or a light railway between Finchley and Ealing. It also still carries the occasional passenger charter train.
But the most recent proposals suggest a future for regular passenger trains on the line, which runs for four miles between North Acton and the Midland Main Line but has no stations.
Further south, a station would be built at Lionel Road next to Brentford Football Club’s Gtech Community Stadium, near the site of disused Kew station, which shut in 1862.
And there would be a spur from South Acton connecting with Kew Bridge, where services could start or finish.
An update on the scheme was given by Mr Khan last week in response to a recent written question from Gareth Roberts, a Liberal Democrat on the London Assembly.
Mr Roberts asked: ‘It has been reported that TfL is close to completing a feasibility study for its proposed 11-mile West London Orbital project. It is also reported that an estimated £300million needs to be raised for this project.
The line would cut journey times from Hounslow to Hendon to 37 minutes – instead of the estimated 90 minutes currently, which involves going into Central London and back out again
A graphic shows where users of the new line could interchange with different rail services
‘What conversations have you had so far with the Government and private investors on this important project for West London?’
Mr Khan replied: ‘Transport for London continues to work in partnership with the west London boroughs on developing the West London Orbital project.
‘The current stage of development is now nearing completion, including confirmation of the costs of the scheme. This work has confirmed there are feasible solutions for all elements of the project. The partners are now looking at progressing to the next phase of design, subject to availability of funding.’
The Mayor added that funding would be needed from ‘local sources and national Government’ as well as TfL and the Greater London Authority to deliver the scheme.
He continued: ‘The Government is aware that West London Orbital is one of my priorities for expansion of London’s transport network.
‘There are limited opportunities for private investors given the nature of this project. However, I expect contributions from commercial developments that would benefit from the project to be secured to assist with funding its delivery.’
It comes after Mr Khan spoke to the Ham and High about the project while launching six new lines and colours for the London Overground last Thursday.
He said: ‘It’s not definite, we need the funding from the Government. We are going to be lobbying the Government in advance of the Spending Review.
‘The point we are making is that actually these new lines will enable more homes, more jobs and growth.’
Aside from getting the required funding, design work will be the next stage for the project, which has been delayed by the financial hit suffered by TfL during the pandemic.
Last month, TfL major projects and urban design manager Matthew Rheinberg told New Civil Engineer that ‘it is not by any means a committed scheme at this stage – the funding is not all in place’.
There would also be a station on the new line at Old Oak Common in West London, linking with the planned HS2 line to Birmingham. The site is pictured under construction last year
A new station would be built at Lionel Road next to Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium
He added that TfL was currently ‘looking to get all the bits of the jigsaw together to move it forward into the next design stage’ amid hopes this will take place before the end of next year.
Mr Rheinberg also said: ‘You’ve got this section of West and North West London where there are some orbital roads, like the North Circular, but to get anywhere by public transport you need several buses on a congested road network – it’s slow going.’
While the route would run entirely on existing rail lines, there are still major upgrades required such as new track works and resignalling efforts.
And he said the anticipated cost of the scheme is ‘in the £800-£900million type range’ in current prices.
TfL wants to get a public consultation on its plans out next year, with the application for a Transport and Works Act Order submitted by the start of 2028 at the latest.
Mr Rheinberg added: ‘Assuming we successfully get through the consent, we’re then looking at construction starting around 2030 and services starting in 2033.’
The route would provide the Overground network with interchanges with Thameslink rail services in North London, as well as the Underground’s Jubilee line and existing Overground services on the Richmond/Clapham Junction to Stratford line.
The Mayor launched six new lines and colours for the London Overground last Thursday
Overground lines were given individual colours and names including Lioness and Windrush
There would also be an interchange with the Bakerloo line and Overground services on the Euston to Watford Junction line at Harlesden.
Old Oak Common would provide a future interchange with the Elizabeth line, where a station is being built between Acton Main Line and Paddington, as well as the proposed HS2 and the nearby Central line at North Acton.
Further interchanges would be available with South Western Railway services at stations along the southern part of the route, as well as interchanges with existing Overground services on the Richmond to Stratford line at Acton Central and South Acton.
While train frequency has not been confirmed, a proposed service would include four trains an hour from Kew Bridge to Hendon, and a further four every hour from Hounslow to West Hampstead.
This would provide a total of eight per hour on the main section between South Acton and Neasden.
