Crossrail 2 consultation – Should Crossrail come to Teddington?
Crossrail 2 is a proposed new railway line which would serve London and the wider South East by connecting existing Network Rail networks from Wimbledon in the South and Tottenham Hale in the North, bringing new connections to Central London and Crossrail 1.
A new public consultation released today (October 27th) allows you to have your say on the new plans including the proposed services between Norbiton and Shepperton (including Teddington station). The South West Main Line is one of the busiest in the country and the services provided by South West Trains regularly provoke angst from customers, who do not feel they are getting a good service for the price they pay.
Much of the congestion is due to the fact that inner London is becoming an increasingly expensive place to live which is forcing many London workers to live further out and commute to work. Services into Waterloo are expected to increase by at least 40% by 2043 and extra capacity will be needed to support this growth. Some would argue they are already unacceptably overcrowded.
TFL and Network Rail hope that Crossrail 2 will alleviate some of these congestion problems with new trains and infrastructure, whilst diverting customers to stations away from the current London Terminals.
The proposals could allow an extra four trains an hour running to London via Kingston, doubling the current capacity. However, the proposals are likely to have a detrimental effect on those wishing to travel on the existing service to Vauxhall and Waterloo despite reassurances that all stations between Norbiton and Shepperton would retain at least 2 trains per hour into Waterloo station. Connections to Kingston, Richmond and Twickenham would be retained.
Make your voice heard via the consultation by clicking here, and share your views with the local community on our Facebook and Twitter pages.