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The West London Orbital is a proposed extension to the
London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
railway system in London, UK. The extension would make use of a combination of existing freight and passenger lines including the Dudding Hill Line,
North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...
and Hounslow Loop. The route would run for approximately 11 miles (17 km) from and at the northern end to at the western end via ,
Neasden Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 ( Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Har ...
,
Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards ...
, , South Acton and . If the extension were opened, it would improve rail connectivity across West and North-West London and establish a number of new connections to existing radial rail infrastructure including
Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...
, the
Jubilee line The Jubilee line is a London Underground line that runs between in east London and in the suburban north-west, via the Docklands, South Bank and West End. Opened in 1979, it is the newest line on the Underground network, although some secti ...
, the
Bakerloo line The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...
,
High Speed 2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
,
Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...
and the
Piccadilly line The Piccadilly line is a deep-level London Underground line running from the north to the west of London. It has two branches, which split at Acton Town, and serves 53 stations. The line serves Heathrow Airport, and some of its stations are n ...
. It is anticipated the line would be operational by the mid-2020s, due to the fact that it makes use of existing underused rail infrastructure rather than requiring significant lengths of new track or tunnels to be built. The planned line would follow a portion of the route of the former
Super Outer Circle The Outer Circle was a London & North Western Railway service in London that operated from 1872 to 1908. The route was from the District Railway station at Mansion House to Earl's Court, then via the West London Railway to Willesden Junction and ...
that was operated by the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
from 1878 to 1880. The scheme is supported by the Mayor and Transport for London's Transport Strategy; it is still at the proposal stage, although TfL published a business case for the plans in August 2019.


Detail of the scheme

The West London Orbital line consists of a number of distinct sections: The Dudding Hill Line, the North London Line and the Hounslow Loop. The Dudding Hill line itself has had no scheduled passenger service for over a century. It has no stations, no electrification and a speed limit with semaphore signalling, and is lightly used by freight and very occasional passenger charter trains. It is roughly long. Near the site of the West London Orbital would connect to the existing
North London Line The North London line (NLL) is a railway line which passes through the inner suburbs of west, north-west, north, and east London, England between Richmond in the south-west and Stratford in the east, avoiding central London. Its route is a rou ...
, and then further south at Acton, use the link down to the Hounslow Loop to reach and . Taken together, this set of routes would be known as the “West London Orbital” railway. In March 2017 the West London Alliance group of local authorities commissioned a study to assess the feasibility of the line so that a decision could be taken as to whether it merited pursuing further. This study found that: * The route is technically feasible. * The scheme represents a high value for money, with a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 2.2. * Peak three-hour demand at 3,000 passengers southbound and 2,500 passengers northbound in 2031. This suggests that the level of passenger demand may be able to sustain a regular four-trains-per-hour or more service along the line. * The line would enable significant new development to be undertaken along its length, supporting the creation of new homes and jobs. * It would drastically improve orbital travel times around West London compared with the equivalent journey by car. For example, a journey from Barnet to Park Royal (enabling a change on to Crossrail or HS2 services) would take approximately minutes. A trip from Acton to Cricklewood or Brent Cross would take approximately minutes. A journey along the whole line from Barnet to Hounslow would take approximately 39 minutes (times the same for reverse journeys). * Eight trains per hour in each direction would be achievable given existing traffic along the length of the route. * It would connect town centres and regeneration areas, including the 45,000 new homes and 86,000 new jobs that will be created at
Old Oak Common Old Oak Common is an area of Hammersmith, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London. Together with neighbouring Park Royal, the area is intended to become the UK's largest regeneration scheme, the scale of which has led to ...
,
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
and
Brent Cross Brent Cross is originally the name of a crossroads that today forms a major interchange for traffic in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Located a mile from the centres of Hendon and Golders Green, the area also contains the Brent Cross ...
regeneration areas, putting a greater number of jobs and homes within easy reach of one another and supporting intensification in growth areas. * It would remove a significant number of cars from the road, reducing congestion and improving journey times, particularly along the
North Circular Road The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...
, as the population of London approaches 10 million over the next 20 years. * It would allow passengers in outer London to access new services on Crossrail and HS2 via an interchange at . * Potential to unlock significant amount of new housing. * It would help to reduce passenger demand for central London stations such as King's Cross and for orbital journeys that currently require travellers to go into central London before then travelling back out to reach their destination. In June 2017 Transport for London published the Mayor's Transport Strategy, which stated that London government would work with the relevant boroughs to explore the feasibility of the proposed service, that would become the West London Orbital. In March 2018 the Mayor's Transport Strategy was published, which includes a proposal for this orbital connection to Old Oak between Hounslow and Brent Cross.


Current position

The London Mayor's Transport Strategy (MTS), published on 28 February 2018 and ratified by the London Assembly on 8 March 2018, includes plans for a West London Orbital railway line under Proposal 88. The mayor's proposal for the service highlights that utilising new and existing orbital connections in west London could also improve public transport connections in the city centre. The West London Alliance group of local authorities have expressed support for the West London Orbital Scheme, and have confirmed that it will be incorporated in to all Local Plans. Discussions are currently underway between West London councils and London government on the future of the scheme. A number of independent analyses of the scheme have been published, including by ''
Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a British monthly magazine covering the rail transport industry which was published by Ian Allan until March 2012, and Key Publishing since then. It has been published since 1962. The magazine was originally based in She ...
'' magazine and the independent blogging community In April 2019, £320 million of funding was approved for a new
Brent Cross West railway station Brent Cross West (formerly Brent Cross South / Thameslink / Parkway) is a railway station under construction on the Thameslink route on the Midland Main Line. It will serve Brent Cross and the northern parts of Cricklewood and Dollis Hill area ...
, that would also serve the potential new service. In June 2019, Transport for London published the Strategic Outline Business Case for the scheme and concluded that there was a strong case for the scheme as it had a medium to high benefit-cost ratio. TfL found that for 8 trains per hour in the core the BCR was between 1.4 and 1.8 and for 4 trains per hour it would be 1.7 to 2.0. As the scheme was found to have a strong business case, TfL stated that it intended to proceed to the next stage which will look at how the scheme can be funded. A more detailed business case is expected to be developed in the next 18 months.


Earlier proposals

A number of routes have previously been examined for new orbital tube lines and improved connectivity across West and North London. It was considered that the most likely route of the previous proposal would be a north–south route running from
Brent Cross Brent Cross is originally the name of a crossroads that today forms a major interchange for traffic in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Located a mile from the centres of Hendon and Golders Green, the area also contains the Brent Cross ...
to
Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
, via
Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broadest ...
,
Ealing Broadway Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...
,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
and Kingston fully underground, connecting several
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
and
National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, an unincorporated association whose membership consists of the passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the p ...
lines, including the forthcoming Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) at Ealing Broadway. The proposal envisaged an underground driverless light rail train system similar to the
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Londo ...
, and updated "to the most modern standards". The transit time from Brent Cross to
Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...
was quoted as 28 minutes, with a maximum train speed of . The promoters cited a number of reasons why they believed an underground scheme would be cost-effective at £1.75 billion: with lower tunnelling costs as the tunnel diameter would be smaller than for a
heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid accelerati ...
scheme; there are no other rail tunnels to avoid (as in central London); and the subsoil strata are suitable for modern
tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...
s. An unrelated scheme of the same name was previously proposed in June 2008 by the West London Business group. That proposal involved the construction of a new underground line across West and South West London and did not progress beyond concept stage. Additionally,
Regional Eurostar Regional Eurostar was a planned Eurostar train service from Paris and Brussels to locations in the United Kingdom beyond London. The services would have been run using a fleet of seven ''North of London'', 14-coach British Rail Class 373/3 trai ...
proposals meant to send trains from Eurostar lines into
Waterloo International station Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 to its closure on 13 November 2007, when it was replaced by St Pancras railway station, London St Pancras In ...
to
London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...
used parts of the orbital between Willesden Junction and Acton.


Alternative orbital schemes

A number of other notable orbital rail schemes for London have been previously proposed: *
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railway orbital around the Zone 3 area of London. First proposed in the Mayor of London's £1.3trn London Infrastructure 2050 plan, the line would use some existing National Rail and London Overground lines, linked by stretches of new railway. *
Orbirail Orbirail was a name for a suggested orbital railway route around London. It would have connected the extended North London Line, East London Line, the South London Line and the West London Line, possibly including the Gospel Oak to Barkin ...
was a 2012 proposal for an outer "super loop" service roughy equivalent to a M25 for rail. The West London Orbital proposal makes use of some elements of this concept. * The Park Royal Partnership promoted a 'FastBus' scheme of branded, limited-stop buses, between and stations and possibly beyond. * The '
North and West London Light Railway The North and West London Light Railway (NWLLR), formerly known as the ''Brent Cross Railway'', was a proposal for a light rail system in North and West London in the UK. It was put forward by the London group of the Campaign for Better Transp ...
' (or the 'Brent Cross Railway') is a proposed
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
network. The scheme was originally developed by the London group of the Campaign for Better Transport, and mainly uses existing or abandoned surface railway corridors.


References


External links

* {{UK light rail __FORCETOC__ Proposed rail infrastructure in London Proposed railway lines in London