West London Orbital Railway - A measure of Sadiq Khan's failure?

Almost since this blog first started in October 2008, we've followed and supported proposals for the development of a lightly used freight railway between Cricklewood and Acton as a passenger railway to releive pressure on the North Circular and to open up access to West London. 

The first blog on the subject was posted in January 2009, when local transport campaigner contacted me to see if I supported the Brent Cross light railway scheme. This was an ambitious scheme to convert several disused and freight lines into a tram network. I thought the scheme warranted serious investigation. Needless to say, the local Tory regime of Mike Freer and Brian Coleman had no interest at all. Although it was pretty clear to me that elements of the scheme were, shall we say, a tad overambitious, I thought it was a genuine attempt to crystalise the options for public transport in North West London. The more I researched the subject, the clearer it was that there was one part of the scheme that was an absolute no brainer. That was what has become the West London Orbital Railway proposal from Acton to Brent Cross. When Richard Cornelius became Tory leader of Barnet Council, I discussed this with him. To my surprise, he agreed and informed me that there was a forum called the 'West London Alliance', which formed local councils. Richard was committed to pushing the scheme through. He informed me that the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson was also broadly supportive, if the scheme could be demonstrated to be viable and technically feasable.

In 2016, Sadiq Khan became Mayor of London and in 2017 TFL adopted the West London Orbital Scheme as one of the higher priority schemes on the table for London. Studies were done to assess the feasability and in laymans terms ( I don't write blogs for industry insiders who know all of the technical language), it was a complete no brainer. It met all of the criteria for a public infrastructure project in terms of cost benefits and technical feasability and could be delivered quickly. It opened up opportunites for over 12,000 new homes and would make getting from across the West of London far easier by public transport. Just to illustrate, I went to watch Brentford FC play at home recently. The journey took nearly 90 minutes. With WLO, it would take 19 minutes from Hendon to the nearest station. 

The only fly in the ointment is that there is no funding for the project. We have seen, with the Elizabeth line, what happens when you provide good quality public transport. However despite such lessons being there for all to see, the plans languish at the bottom of a pile of papers with the treasury and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. It seems to me to be incomprehesible that any competent chancellero cannot understand that investment in infrastructure makes you money. A competent Mayor would be banging the drum loudly, pointing out the huge return on investment such projects deliver. We were promised that when we had a Labour Mayor and a Labour government, such things would be delivered. The opposite has happened. We have a situation where the Mayor is unwilling to critise or put pressure on the chancellor. My biggest issue with Sadiq Khan is that he is clueless when it comes to business and money. He doesn't seem to understand that the way to make money is to invest and so all he does is sit on his hands. If we had a dynamic Mayor, the scheme could have been delivered, in some form by now and be delivering benefits to the TFL budget. Instead, we hear that it is 'behind a DLR extension in the queue for cash'. It is ridiculous to manage infrastructure schemes in such a manner. There is a massive difference between borrowing money to build projects that make you money, as opposed to borrowing simply to shore up budgets that you have mismanaged. 

I suspect that part of the reason that Rachel Reeve is scared of making such commitments, is that she's seen how badly HS2 has been mismanaged and doesn't want scuh a cock up on her watch. This is misguided. WLO is a completely different beast. There is very little building required, apart from a few new stations. Some works to change track layouts and a major resignalling of the line will be needed. These will add beenfits for the existing freight channels as well as the new passenger service. There is also the cost of new trains. Unlike a brand new railway, all of these are very uch known quantities. 

In fact the only real unknown in the whole WLO process is what is going on in the brain of the Mayor and the Chancellor.I was foolish enough to believe local Labour politicians when they said that Labour would deliver such things. The Mayor seems to have no idea on how to bring London behind the scheme. Yesterday, the Evening Standard reported that the line would be renamed in line with other Overground lines. This has launched the usual deluge of 'anti woke' nonsense from right wing pundits on Twitter, who are more concerned about what the line is called thah whether it is actually built.  What they miss is that renaming the scheme now actually costs nothing as no signage and maps need replacing. A similar thing happened when they decided Crossrail would be called the Elizabeth line. It only costs money when the thing has been built and the maps and signage rolled out, but personally, I'd rather we didn't have announcements that make it a political football before its been delivered. 

A scheme that costs £6-700 million and delivers a billion pounds in benefits and revenues is a no brainer. If the scheme isn't underway with a set opening date by the time Sadiq Khan stands again for Mayor, then as far as I am concerned, his legacy will be one of demonstrable failure. Of all the thoughts that horrify me, the idea that in sixteen years I might still be writing blogs about how it should be built and what a no brianer it is. CAn you imagine, in 2039, a 30th anniversary blog of campaigning for a project that is a real no brainer?

Oh and just in case you wanted to know my suggestion for a name? I'd call it the Brent Line. This is because it goes from Brent Cross to Brentford, linking two ends of the river Brent. The fact that it seems to be managed rather like a project run by David Brent in the Office is purely a coincidence.

Environment Monday - WIll Brent Cross West make a difference?

 Yesterday, Brent Cross West station opened. I was quite tempted to go down for a mosey, but thought the better of it. I felt that there would be a little bit too much back slapping and people saying what a marvellous job they were doing fopr my tastes. The station is a mere six minutes down the line from Mill Hill Broadwayand so at some point, when things are quieter, I will deffo have a look. The main problem for me at the moment, is that it is a station without a point. There is a rather grotty and run down adjacent retail park and an enormous building site. There are few houses. It is not really very near Brent Cross shopping Centre at all. If there was a rapid transport link between the station, the shopping centre and the tube station, it would transform public transport in the locality, but that was never part of the scheme.

However, the station hasn't been built for today, it's been built for 10 years time when tens of thousands of people move into the flats. For once, TFL and Barnet Cuncil have planned ahead and put infrastructure in first, which is a very good thing. For me, the real game changer will come when the West London Orbital rail link is built, linking Brent Cross West with Old Oak Common, HS2 and The Elizabeth line. When this opens, a rapid transport link would be even more significant and useful. 

As this feature looks at the environmental benefits of such schemes, the question is whether Brent Cross West will make a major difference to Barnet's CO2 emissions. Of course, anything that removes car journeys, will have a beneficial effect. The Thameslink line is in situ and the station will offer fast journeys to central London for the residents of the area. One could point out that the whole Brent Cross development will generate millions of tons of CO2, but as there is a housing crisis, we really have little choice. 

In truth, the big game changer is not the station, but the Thameslink project, that delivered a high capacity rail link, and took the best part of 35 years from it's opening in the late 80's as a rather ramshackle link, to the current, high capacity railway. I believe it is now the busiest main line railway in the country. That it took so long to deliver the benefits is a lesson just how bad the UK are at doing infrastructure. The West London Orbital is another example, the blog link above is to a blog written in 2018. Thus far, we are still at the study and planning stage. 

If the UK is to succeed as a nation, we need a rethink on how we deliver projects like Thameslink and the West London Orbital line. The Elizabeth Line is now exceeding projections and is packed. This brings economic opportunities without creating pollution. So yes, I welcome Brent Cross West. I suspect though, that until the West London Orbital link is delivered, it will be rather more grand than the paassenger numbers require. One thing that demonstrates just how badly we plan things is that Mill Hill Broadway, that had over 2 million passengers a year in 2019, still doesn't have step free access. 

I don't really understand why politicians are always more keen to deliver shiny new projects, than to get the existing infrastructure, that is needed now, not in ten years time, working properly.

The strange tale of the West London Orbital Railway debacle

Last week, the Mayor of London has announced that the West London Orbital Railway has moved a step closer to being built and an article in the Evening Standard detailed progress that has been made to date. This blog has been following this scheme since it was first proposed, The first mention in this blog was in 2017, although John Cox had been promoting a far more ambitious scheme for nearly a decade before the plans were announced in around 2017. 

Unlike Crossrail or HS2, the West London Orbital line already exists. I have even travelled down much of the route, when I took a special train from Mill Hill Broadway to Bristol a few years back. The line is not open to regular passenger trains and there are no stations. It is largely used for freight and stock movements, but is perfectly functional.  The financial benefits of the scheme are extremely sound, the railway exists and as much of the work is based around resignalling and track upgrades, it will add a huge improvement to existing freight timetables, as well as making public transport around the crowded North Circular corridor far more practical. 

When it was first announced, I had a tea with the then Barnet Council leader, Richard Cornelius, who was a champion of the scheme. He expressed a firm desire to work with Mayor Sadiq Khan, stating that this sort of thing should be above politics and should be a top priority for TFL once Crossrail was done. Sadly, TFL has become a football, with the Tory government seeking a good excuse to put the boot into Khan. A coalition of West London Boroughs of all manner of politucal persuasions have championed the scheme, pushing forward feasability studies etc. The case is proven, but Mayor Khan is still talking about 'developing a firm business case'. It seems that now they are talking about services starting in the early 2030's. This is ridiculous. Such schemes, where the infrastructure exists should be fast tracked. They are not sexy, super high speed lines. They are just simple suburban services, that make thousands of people's commute to work better. By removing car journeys, people using cars and buses will also benefit. 

In truth, the fact that it has taken six years to get to the point where a robust business case can be prepared, to open an existiong line to passengers, is crazy. It demonstrates what a complete debacle infrastructure planning is in the UK. What is even more crazy, is that the Mayor, having spent the last few years berating us owners of diesel cars, introducing a ULEZ to make it even more expensive, is planning for the line to use old fashioned diesel units. Whilst I understand that this is cheaper than an electric line, why not use hydrogen or battery technology? some of the line is electrified and making the whole line electric would mean that freight from the Midlands to the West Country could do away with diesel. A friend with a knowledge of such things has suggested that there are former Thameslink trains, which have been fitted with diesel back up generators that could open a service tomorrow, albiet without most of the stations being completed, but a service from Hendon or West Hampstead to Acton and Old Oak Common and Acton could be opened almost immediately, with stations added along the route as needed. There is a precedent for this. When the Thameslink service was first opened in 1988, it was a rather ramshackle service, with far less trains and lower speeds through London than we see today. The final upgrades to make it the service we see today were completed 30 years later.  In the meantime, I used it on a nearly daily basis for work. It isn't perfect but transport in London never is and even one or two trains an hour travelling at 30mph max over clapped out old routes, would make a huge difference to many people who need to commute.

A virtual tour of the West London Orbital Railway

I know many readers of the Barnet Eye are interested in Transport issues. Did you know that a new Railway line is being planned from Hendon to Hounslow? It will link with HS2 at Old Oak Common and will slash journey times across West London, with a journey taking 38 minutes. If you are interested, here is a rather interesting presentation detailing the route and the benefits. I am pleased to report that Barnet Council is fully supportive of the scheme, which hopes to see trains running by the end of the decade.

The Barnet Eye has supported this scheme since its inception and we hope that the government looks beyond the short term and plans for the future.

The track is in place, much of it over little used freight transfer lines. The WLO would also see an upgrade to this capacity, allowing more Lorries to be removed from the roads.

It will serve three stations in the Borough, Hendon, Brent Cross West and Cricklewood. 

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