The London Assembly has reiterated its support for the Crossrail 2 project but and has called for all land proposed for the route to be protected.
The line will stretch from south west London to Hertfordshire.
Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, who proposed the motion said: “Without Crossrail 2 a large number of tube stations on the Northern Line will face such severe overcrowding that they will have to regularly close to passengers to control crowds. Even more pressure will also be put upon Clapham Junction and Waterloo.
“Safeguarding the Crossrail 2 route in planning terms is an immediate priority to stop other developments taking up land that will be needed for this vital line.
“The failure to take these steps will just build up huge problems for the future, adding further to costs and delays to building of this much-needed line.”
Florence Eshalomi AM, who seconded the motion said: “With London’s population growing, and our infrastructure under increasing pressure, Crossrail 2 is essential if we’re to keep the capital moving in the coming years.
“It’s vital the Government give this project the support and attention it needs, and that must include ensuring the necessary land is safeguarded. Whilst our concerns stretch beyond London to the safeguarding of land in Hertfordshire and Surrey, I’d urge the Mayor to put pressure on the Government to ensure the successful delivery of Crossrail 2, because their failure to do so would have unthinkable ramifications for the capital’s transport infrastructure in the future.”
The full text of the motion is: This Assembly reiterates its support for Crossrail 2 noting that TfL modelling shows that the capital’s transport network will grind to a halt without the project. Furthermore, this Assembly notes that without Crossrail 2, at least 17 Underground stations will buckle under crowding pressures and thousands of passengers arriving at Euston on HS2 Phase 2 could lose times saved on their journeys queuing to board onward Tube trains.
This Assembly further notes that no other infrastructure project tackles so many local and regional challenges while boosting overall capacity on such a scale. Crossrail 2 would increase London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent and support 200,000 additional new homes and 200,000 new jobs. This Assembly believes Crossrail 2 would contribute to bringing forward the new homes this city needs.
This Assembly however expresses its concern at present that there are insufficient safeguarding directions for Crossrail 2 with only 35% of the current preferred alignment safeguarded.
This Assembly recognises the importance of the need to update the directions to reflect the new preferred alignment in the central section and to include the areas of land that are needed to build the railway in Hertfordshire and Surrey that are currently not safeguarded. This Assembly also recognises that at present there are more than 30 known sites being promoted or brought forward by developers outside the current limits of safeguarding with planning permissions being granted that would directly conflict with the ability to deliver Crossrail 2.
This Assembly calls upon the Mayor to immediately write to the Secretary of State for Transport urging that new and extended safeguarding directions are provided across London, Hertfordshire and Surrey to ensure the successful delivery of Crossrail 2 in the future.