Network Rail; "Planning for the future of railways in London, the South East and beyond"

"The London and South East market study just published represents a new style of research designed to look 10 to 30 years into the future, looking at the wider role rail travel plays in Britain’s economic life."

Link to web site

"Currently, more than 70 per cent of all rail journeys in England and Wales take place in London and the South East. Open to consultation from 25 April 2013, the final version of the study will help form the basis of where the region’s rail travel will go, in the 2019 – 2024 period and beyond.

"Richard Eccles, director of network strategy and planning, said:

"This is part of our new approach to planning, which looks at the role that rail plays in the economic life of Britain.

What we need to decide is how the network should develop to achieve economic growth, help reduce carbon emissions from transport and improve quality of life for people.

This approach allows greater freedom of thought, and is not constrained by current service patterns or cost and deliverability, though of course we will look at these issues in subsequent planning stages."

HS2 Ltd recommends tunnel under Ealing and Northolt - "Tunnel would be quicker to build and less disruptive"

23 April 2013

"Britain’s high speed rail network could be tunnelled under Ealing and Northolt, in a move that would be 15 months quicker to build and minimise disruption to residents and traffic in north-west London.

"HS2 Ltd will recommend that High Speed Two (HS2) be tunnelled between Old Oak Common and Northolt after HS2 Ltd investigated this suggestion from local residents and Ealing Council. A study has recommended a tunnel as the best option for this specific section of the route because a surface route would have caused more disruption to traffic, cost as much or more than a tunnel, and would have taken longer to build.

"HS2 Ltd commissioned a study to look at the possibility of building a tunnel, rather than a route on the surface. This was suggested by residents in Ealing and Northolt, along with Ealing Council and the Mayor of London. Following the results of the study, HS2 Ltd is now recommending – and the Secretary of State for Transport is minded to take the option forward – a 9km bored tunnel between North Acton (near Old Oak Common) and Northolt.

"If adopted, this would mean the proposed route for HS2 would be in continuous bored twin tunnels from Old Oak Common to West Ruislip – making it the longest tunnel on the route at 14km. This would make the tunnel longer than any of the tunnels currently being built under London for Crossrail.

HS2 Ltd Community and Stakeholder Manager for London, Peter Fry, said:

“The recommendation to build a tunnel through Ealing and Northolt shows what can be achieved by working with local people, and that we value their input and suggestions.

“The study we commissioned found that for this specific section of the line, the cost of tunnel would be comparable with a route on the surface, without the need to replace bridges and divert associated utilities.

“The proposed tunnel will be included as the preferred option in the draft Environmental Statement for the first phase of HS2, so the community and stakeholders will have the opportunity to respond to this proposal as part of the consultation in coming months.”

"The original route of HS2 through north west London, as announced in January 2012, proposed following the little used, existing railway line along the Northolt corridor.

"However, a comprehensive study has been completed looking at the effects of building a 9km tunnel through Ealing and Northolt compared with using the existing rail alignment next to the Central Line - taking into account bridge replacements needed for a surface route compared to the infrastructure required to accompany a tunnel, such as shafts. 

"It found, following more detailed work undertaken by HS2 Ltd, the surface option involved greater design complexity, including replacing both spans of the Hanger Lane gyratory. A tunnel would also be an estimated 15 months quicker to build than a surface route.

"The proposed tunnel under Ealing and Northolt will be consulted on as alongside the draft Environmental Statement, due to be published in coming months.

"If the route is tunnelled, vent shafts would be needed between North Acton and Northolt; their proposed locations will be consulted on alongside the draft Environmental Statement."

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Listen to BBC interview on LonelyBoo.

"New images show Crossrail’s 'London tunnelling marathon' making good progress"

Link to Crossrail web site

"The new Crossrail route includes a 26-mile (42km) section of tunnels beneath London. Five huge tunnelling machines are now in operation in west, east and south-east London, with over 5½ miles (9km) of tunnels now built.

"Tunnelling is also well underway beneath central London station sites using Sprayed Concrete Lining ‘mining’ techniques to create a further 7.5 miles (12km) of platform tunnels and cross passages."

BBC: "HS2 scraps Euston station rebuild plans"

Link to web site
or here for larger image

"Plans to demolish and rebuild the UK's sixth busiest railway station for the HS2 high-speed project have been dropped.

"Euston station in London will now be developed by improving the existing station. Eleven new platforms for high-speed trains will be built around the current platforms.

"The £16.3bn London to Birmingham section of the rail project is aimed to be running by 2026. The updated proposals were announced by the HS2 company, responsible for developing and promoting the first phase of the project."

Boris's "Legacy planners play it safe and snub science." (Now, where's there another site?)

Link to Evening Standard

"Pictured is Wellcome Trust’s planned new home for 7000 scientists on the Olympic Park. The £14 billion charity had Fred Pilbrow, then of PLP Architects, draw up plans to rebuild the 900-foot-long tin shed, turning it into what was to be the London Life Sciences Centre.

"Wellcome made the bid to take over and manage the entire Olympic Park and athlete’s village, and turn the whole place into a huge science park. This was thought to be a particularly silly idea by the Olympic Park Legacy Company."

Camden New Journal: "New 'cheapskate' HS2 Euston Station: years of disruption, but what benefits?"

Link to web site

"A RADICALLY scaled-back version of the HS2 railway station planned for Euston was presented to councillors in a 'private meeting' at the Town Hall last night (Wednesday).

"The new set of proposals will be sent for government ministers to digest in the next few weeks.

"The New Journal revealed last month how the government-funded HS2 Ltd was changing direction over its massive demolition plan after realising the £33billion project was running late and already around 30 per cent over budget."

LB of Hammersmith & Fulham: "Old Oak Common: Opportunity Area Planning Framework"

"In January 2012 the Government announced its decision to proceed with proposals for High Speed 2 rail service, connecting London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds via a new 250mph rail line.

The proposals include a station at Old Oak Common in the north of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which may be known as Park Royal City International.

As well as providing a connection to High Speed 2, the station will be connected to Crossrail and the Great Western Main Line.

This will make Park Royal City one of the nations best connected locations, under 40 minutes from Birmingham, 1¼ hours from Manchester, 2¼ hours from Paris and 10 minutes from Heathrow and the West End.

As a consequence, the station, in attracting both international and domestic passengers, is anticipated to be one of the UK’s top 5 stations in terms of usage.

In recognition of the areas potential for regeneration off the back of the High Speed 2 proposals, the Greater London Authority has designated the area as an Opportunity Area, which identifies the area as having substantial capacity for new homes and jobs.

Hammersmith and Fulham, along with the Greater London Authority, Transport for London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and London Boroughs of Brent and Ealing have started to produce an Opportunity Area Planning Framework for the area, which will provide planning guidance for the future development of the area.

The Opportunity Areas core development area stretches from North Acton to the west, to Wormwood Scrubs to the south, to Kensal Gasworks to the east and to Willesden Junction to the north.

Early work on this planning framework has shown that with a coordinated approach to the design of Park Royal City International station, the area has the potential to accommodate 19,000 homes and 100,000 jobs, phased over a 30 year period, unlocking over £50 billion of gross value added to the UK economy.

This would make Park Royal City London’s biggest Opportunity Area in terms of its capacity for development and potential regeneration benefits.

The council plans to consult on this emerging framework later in the year, which will be made available to view and comment on."

"... As part of this work, consideration is being given to future delivery vehicles for regeneration of the area and a 'Mayoral Development Corporation' is one option under consideration.

The Opportunity Area Planning Framework has been circulated to a small number of parties, to fact-check the information included within it, before a public consultation."
 

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

H&F: "Auntie waves goodbye to BBC dream factory"

Link to LB of Hammersmith & Fulham

"Broadcasting from BBC TV Centre will make way for regeneration after 53 years of informing and entertaining the Great British public from White City.

"BBC TV Centre, which was nicknamed ‘the dream factory’, will finally close its doors on Easter Sunday (March 31).

"... The BBC sold the 14-acre site for £200million last year and there are now emerging proposals to build a hotel, flats, a cinema and offices on the site. The three main television studios will be refitted and leased out to production companies, including the BBC, from 2014. The site will also be home to the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. If planning approval is granted, the redevelopment is set to see the forecourt opened up to the public."

Questions to the World King, Boris Johnson

Mayor answers to London

Light Rail at Old Oak Common

Question number	0950/2013
Meeting date	20/03/2013

Question by Andrew Boff

Will you support London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and Sir Terry Farrell’s proposal for light-rail (DLR) at Old Oak Common.

Answer by Boris Johnson

When I outlined my support for investing in a high speed rail network for the UK it was conditional upon a number of issues being adequately addressed. This included integrating the HS2 station at Old Oak Common with the rest of London’s transport network and it being planned to support the redevelopment of the surrounding area.

Whilst early HS2 designs include proposals for connections to Crossrail and the Great West Main Line, they do not include a connection to the Overground network, which is essential for connecting this new transport hub and major development zone to the rest of southwest and northwest London.

Reminder of the 14-platform station (even without London Overground and light-rail!) at Old Oak Common

(Click to enlarge)

(Source)

"Earls Court: relocation, complication and delay"

"Transport for London's interests in a controversial west London redevelopment plan illustrate the scheme's costly complexities"

Link to The Guardian

"What seems fairly plain is that TfL is in the handy position of having things that Earls Court developer Capco wants. And while it acknowledges a duty towards the opportunity area - TfL is, after all, part of the GLA group, and Boris Johnson chairs its board - it also needs to extract the best value it can from selling or leasing its land, given its own financial uncertainties. As a public body it needs to be seen to be doing that too.

Complicated, isn't it? Complicated in the way these big regeneration schemes tend to be. Complicated and costly too. Meanwhile, the events industry is up in arms about the threat to the Earls Court centre, and a large majority of residents of the two housing estates Capco and Hammersmith and Fulham want demolished would sooner be left alone. What a very messy business it all is.

Regeneration+Renewal: "Boris poised to launch Old Oak Common Development Corporation"

Link to Regeneration+Renewal

"The 2011 Localism Act gave the mayor the ability to create mayoral development corporations (MDCs), with powers including planning controls. ...

Yesterday, Sir Edward Lister, his chief of staff and deputy mayor for planning, told Planning that the possibility of creating a special delivery vehicle for the Old Oak Common area was being 'actively discussed' with the four boroughs that it falls into: Kensington & Chelsea, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Brent.

"Speaking at the Mipim property conference in the south of France, Lister said that, although the possibility of the sort of partnership structure employed in Nine Elms was also being considered, 'it was all pointing towards a development corporation'.

"In addition to an MDC’s planning powers, he said the vehicle would also need enterprise zone status, so that it could collect business rates to fund infrastructure investment. He said that the boroughs were 'all up for the discussion' about an MDC.

"The plan is that Old Oak Common station will act as an interchange between the new Crossrail line linking east and west London, and the High Speed 2 line linking London to the north.

Lister said that it would 'be as busy as Waterloo station'. He said that 'a new city' of 20,000 homes and bringing 50,000 jobs could be built on the site, which was roughly the same size as the Olympic Park and largely in public ownership." [Let's have a MDC at Brent Cross Cricklewood as well, then.]

"Revealed: HS2's £33bn budget already derailed before a track is laid"

Link to Independent on Sunday

"High Speed Two (HS2), the controversial rail link that will carve through hundreds of miles of countryside from London to Manchester and Leeds, is in crisis over its £33bn budget four years before construction even starts.

"Ahead of a judicial review decision expected this Friday – which could result in the whole project being re-examined – an IoS investigation can reveal that HS2 is plagued by flawed IT systems, rising construction costs and huge design rethinks.

"The Government's flagship transport project has already cost more than £250m, new figures have revealed. The cost is expected to soar beyond its existing budget, forcing a Department for Transport-backed team in charge of preparatory work – HS2 Ltd and its private sector partner, London Olympics programme manager CH2M Hill – to set up a committee to slash costs, as they scramble to keep the project under control.

"Yesterday, the HS2 chief executive, Alison Munro, conceded:

"We are seeking to design HS2 within the published estimates, but we know that construction here is more expensive than in other countries. We have set up an Efficiency Challenge group that is working with Infrastructure UK to explore ways of reducing the cost of delivering a high-speed rail network that will provide an engine for growth."

RTM: "Lords submit alternative route for HS2"

Link to web site

"An alternative proposal for how HS2 connects to Euston and HS1 could create better links within London with less local impact, Lords Bill Bradshaw and Tony Berkeley have argued.

"The pair have submitted an alternative option, which they have urged transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin to investigate as “a matter of urgency”.

"The route would include an east-west deep level tunnel with platforms, extending between Euston, St Pancras and Kings Cross. Fewer platforms would be needed and the route could use existing adapted Euston terminus, diverting WCML local suburban services into Crossrail near Old Oak Common."

Crossrail: New photographs

Link to web site

"New images released by Crossrail today show the tunnelling marathon taking place beneath the capital, with round-the-clock work on-track to create 26 miles (42km) of tunnels beneath London.

"The new Crossrail route from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east includes a marathon-equivalent 26 mile (42km) section of tunnels. Following the aerial images of Crossrail construction sites released last month, new tunnelling images released today show how Europe’s biggest construction project is also making its mark beneath the capital."

Nicky Gavron AM: "Euston: destruction or opportunity?"

Link to web site
(image is from the area plan)

"In Euston, HS2 means major change. The station itself will need to expand in size, either vertically or horizontally, to accomodate high-speed trains in addition to current traffic. This new station will also have new track leading to it, requiring demolition of much of the neighbourhood to the north/northwest of the station. The area will lose hundreds of homes, at least 20 businesses, listed buildings and open spaces, and the historic Leslie Green underground station building.

"But with such change comes opportunity. Euston will now be even more connected, and even more of a centre for business and higher education. The Greater London Authority is working with Camden council to develop a Euston Area Plan to ensure that, if HS2 goes ahead, Euston:

“get[s] the best possible results for local people and businesses, and to make the most of any potential benefits a new station and rail link could present.”

"This means the homes, jobs, and open spaces affected by HS2 must be replaced with more and better ones, with local people in mind."

"Boris targets Arab states in bid to raise £80bn for a new airport"

Link to Evening Standard

"Boris Johnson is to embark on a week-long tour of the Gulf states to drum up financial backing for his plans for a new international airport.

"The Mayor plans to visit Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait in mid-April to raise up to £80 billion for a new 180 million- passenger-a-year super-hub. City Hall’s preferred option remains a new four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary, but senior aides view expansion of Stansted as a more realistic option."

Evening Standard: "British Land banks on Crossrail in £142m Ealing buy"

Link to web site

"Property giant British Land took a £142.5 million bet on Crossrail today, as it snapped up a major shopping centre in west London from its Dutch owner.

"... Ealing’s centre is almost 30 years old, and British Land thinks the deal will unlock redevelopment potential and shift its retail portfolio to London and the South-East. British Land retail head Charles Maudsley said:

“We believe there are opportunities to develop the shopping centre as a retail destination, both as we improve the retail mix and increase the leisure offer, and as the area benefits from residential development and the completion of Crossrail."

Terry Farrell: on the London housing crisis (and Old Oak Common)

Link to Evening Standard

"There are lots of myths and misconceptions about many big ideas. 

"With housing, there is the idea that planning and land availability are the biggest barriers. That’s just not true. Planners give consent for lots of things, which then get stalled because of fear of the market.

"There are a lot of developers sitting on their hands because of uncertainty over the market. I got planning for 10,000 homes in Greenwich Peninsula, for example, and for 1,000 in Chelsea. So that proves it isn’t lack of land, or a planning problem. There must be huge other factors.

"If houses are needed on one side, and planning has been granted on the other, then what’s in the middle, stopping it? It must be to do with finance. Finance, and a muddled marketplace. 

"There have been claims that we need to build on green belt land. But you don’t need to. There is a huge amount of suitable land without doing that. At Old Oak Common [in west London, proposed site of an HS2 interchange] you could get 10-15,000 homes; another 10-15,000 at White City; 3,000 at Convoys Wharf in Deptford and 3,000 at Wood Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. 

"Look east from Canary Wharf tower, to the Royal Docks. I reckon if you build at central London density you could get 30-40,000 homes there."

Join our debate:
The Future of London's Property Market
20 March, 6.45pm until 8pm
Emmanuel Centre, Westminster

Free tickets available from: standardevents.co.uk/housing

The Guardian: "Earls Court project: the deep commitment of Stephen Greenhalgh"

Link to web site

"As the police watchdog considers whether to investigate Boris Johnson's policing deputy Stephen Greenhalgh over alleged illegal conduct by public officers of Hammersmith and Fulham council when he was its leader, it is instructive to consider the passion with which Greenhalgh supported the ambitious redevelopment scheme at the heart of the affair - the Earls Court project. 

"As regular readers will know, the project envisages the destruction of 760 homes on two adjoining housing estates against the wishes of the great majority of the people living there. This is despite Greenhalgh's commitment to the scheme extending to appealing in person to some estate residents at their homes - the very homes that will be demolished if the scheme goes ahead."