View source for West London Orbital

{{Short description|Proposed rail line in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox future infrastructure project
|image = File:West_London_Orbital_Route_Map.png
|caption = Route map of the proposed West London Orbital extension of the London Overground network
|property_name = West London Orbital
|location = [[London borough]]s of [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]], [[London Borough of Barnet|Barnet]], [[London Borough of Brent|Brent]], [[London Borough of Ealing|Ealing]], [[London Borough of Hounslow|Hounslow]], United Kingdom
|proposer = West London Alliance group of local authorities
|official website ={{url|https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/planning-for-the-future/west-london-orbital|tfl.gov.uk}}
|status = Proposal
|type = London Overground extension
|estimated cost = £264M
|planned finish =2020s
|stakeholders =[[Greater London Authority]], [[Transport for London]], [[Network Rail]]
}}

The '''West London Orbital''' is a proposed extension to the [[London Overground]] railway system. The extension would make use of a combination of existing freight and passenger lines including the [[Dudding Hill Line]], [[North London line|North London Line]] and [[Hounslow Loop Line|Hounslow Loop]]. The route would run for approximately 11 miles (17&nbsp;km) from {{rws|West Hampstead|Thameslink}} and {{rws|Hendon}} at the northern end to {{rws|Hounslow}} at the western end via {{rws|Brent Cross West}}, [[Neasden tube station|Neasden]], [[Harlesden station|Harlesden]], {{rws|Old Oak Common}}, [[South Acton railway station (England)|South Acton]] and {{rws|Brentford}}.

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]], the [[Jubilee line]], the [[Bakerloo line]], [[High Speed 2]], [[Crossrail]] and the [[Piccadilly line]]. It was anticipated the line would be operational by the mid-2020s because 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]] that was operated by the [[Midland Railway]] from 1878 to 1880.

The scheme is supported by the Mayor and [[Transport for London]]'s Transport Strategy;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/16070770.amp/|title=Mayor Sadiq Khan backs West London Orbital Rail in draft transport strategy &#124; Daily Echo|website=www.dailyecho.co.uk}}</ref> it is still at the proposal stage, although TfL published a business case for the plans in August 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.keymodernrailways.com/article/west-london-orbital-case-set-out|title=WEST LONDON ORBITAL CASE SET OUT|website=www.keymodernrailways.com|date=22 August 2019 }}</ref>

==Detail of the scheme==
[[File:Cricklewood- Dudding Hill Junction and signalbox (geograph 1828526).jpg|thumb|The Dudding Hill freight line, which may be re-opened to passenger services]]
{{West London Orbital RDT}}
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 {{cvt|30|mph}} speed limit with semaphore signalling, and is lightly used by freight and very occasional passenger charter trains. It is roughly {{convert|4|mi}} long.

Near the site of {{rws|Old Oak Common}} the West London Orbital would connect to the existing [[North London Line]], and then further south at Acton, use the link down to the [[Hounslow Loop Line|Hounslow Loop]] to reach {{rws|Brentford}} and {{rws|Hounslow}}. 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:<ref name="wla-report">{{cite web |title=The Beginnings |url=https://www.wla.london/our-programmes/growth-employment-and-skills/west-london-orbital/the-beginnings/ |publisher=West London Alliance |access-date=26 July 2019}}</ref>

* 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 {{frac|12|1|2}} minutes. A trip from Acton to Cricklewood or Brent Cross would take approximately {{frac|16|1|2}} minutes. A journey along the whole line from Barnet{{clarify|reason=the Midland line doesn't go to Barnet|date=September 2019}} 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]], [[Wembley]] and [[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]], 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 {{rws|Old Oak Common Lane}}.
* Potential to unlock significant amount of new housing.
* It would help to reduce passenger demand for central London stations such as [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]] and {{stnlnk|Paddington}} 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayor's Transport Strategy 2018 |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/our-vision-transport/draft-mayors-transport-strategy-2017 |website=London City Hall |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726120407/https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/transport/our-vision-transport/mayors-transport-strategy-2018 |archive-date=26 July 2019 |language=en |date=5 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayor's Transport Strategy |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/b16916/Draft%20Transport%20Strategy%20Thursday%2008-Mar-2018%2010.00%20London%20Assembly%20Plenary.pdf?T=9 |publisher=Greater London Authority |access-date=26 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726120532/https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/b16916/Draft%20Transport%20Strategy%20Thursday%2008-Mar-2018%2010.00%20London%20Assembly%20Plenary.pdf?T=9 |archive-date=26 July 2019 |date=March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Current position ==
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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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mayor's Transport Strategy 2018: Chapter five – New homes and jobs - Proposal 88 |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s69147/PUB18_001_MTS_NewJobsAndHomes_230218-4.pdf |publisher=London Assembly |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621093032/https://www.london.gov.uk/moderngov/documents/s69147/PUB18_001_MTS_NewJobsAndHomes_230218-4.pdf |archive-date=21 June 2018 |page=231 |date=28 February 2018 |quote=xxxxx}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web |title=West London Orbital Rail (WLO) progress and next steps |url=http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s58353/7.%20West%20London%20Orbital%20Rail%20progress%20and%20next%20steps.pdf |publisher=West London Economic Prosperity Board |access-date=28 July 2019 |date=20 September 2017}}</ref> Discussions are currently underway between West London councils and London government on the future of the scheme.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/west-london-orbital-railway-plans-13933633|title=West London Orbital Railway talks gathering momentum|last=Miller|first=Frederica|date=2017-11-23|work=getwestlondon|access-date=2018-02-11}}</ref>

A number of independent analyses of the scheme have been published, including by ''[[Modern Railways]]'' magazine<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pocketmags.com/us/modern-railways-magazine/november-2017|title=Modern Railways - November 2017|website=pocketmags.com|access-date=2018-02-11}}</ref> and the independent blogging community<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://anonw.com/2017/10/08/new-railway-line-for-west-london-proposed/|title=New Railway Line For West London Proposed|date=2017-10-08|work=The Anonymous Widower|access-date=2018-02-11|language=en-US}}</ref>

In April 2019, £320&nbsp;million of funding was approved for a new [[Brent Cross West railway station]], that would also serve the potential new service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/03/15/funding-for-homes-and-a-new-railway-station-in-north-london/|title=Funding for homes and a new railway station in North London|website=www.ianvisits.co.uk|date=15 March 2019 }}</ref>

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.<ref>[http://content.tfl.gov.uk/west-london-orbital-strategic-outline-business-case.pdf West London Orbital – Strategic Outline Business Case] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725161421/http://content.tfl.gov.uk/west-london-orbital-strategic-outline-business-case.pdf |date=25 July 2019 }} Transport for London; June 2019</ref> A more detailed business case is expected to be developed in the next 18 months.<ref>[https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/west-london-trains-new-traffic-16494616 West London could get a £281 million overground line from Hounslow to West Hampstead] My London; 28 June 2019</ref>

In March 2023, Mayor Sadiq Khan said that plans were progressing for the link and that timetable assessment by Network Rail was nearly complete. He also said that he hoped a business case for the scheme would be created shortly, allowing strategic decisions to be taken in early 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/west-london-orbital-rail-link-plans-progress-b1073662.html | title=Sadiq Khan: Plans progressing for new 'West London Orbital' rail link | date=12 April 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/west-london-orbital | title=West London Orbital &#124; London City Hall }}</ref>

== 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 tube station|Brent Cross]] to [[Surbiton railway station|Surbiton]], via [[Wembley Park tube station|Wembley Park]], [[Ealing Broadway station|Ealing Broadway]], [[Richmond station (London)|Richmond]] and [[Kingston railway station (London)|Kingston]] fully underground, connecting several [[London Underground]] and [[National Rail]] lines, including the  [[Elizabeth line]] at Ealing Broadway.

The proposal envisaged an underground driverless [[light rail]] train system similar to the [[Docklands Light Railway]], and updated "to the most modern standards". The transit time from Brent Cross to [[Surbiton]] was quoted as 28 minutes, with a maximum train speed of {{cvt|50|mph}}.

The promoters cited a number of reasons why they believed an underground scheme would be cost-effective at £1.75&nbsp;billion: with lower tunnelling costs as the tunnel diameter would be smaller than for a [[heavy rail]] scheme; there are no other rail tunnels to avoid (as in central London); and the subsoil strata are suitable for modern [[tunnel boring machine]]s.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

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 [[London|West and South West London]] and did not progress beyond concept stage.

Additionally, [[Regional Eurostar]] proposals meant to send trains from Eurostar lines into [[Waterloo International station]] to [[London Heathrow Airport]] used parts of the orbital between Willesden Junction and Acton.<ref>{{cite Hansard |jurisdiction=Parliament of the United Kingdom |house=House of Commons (Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs) |date=26 January 1999 |page=Appendices Section 4 |title=Memorandum by Inter-Capital and Regional Rail Ltd (RES 4) |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmenvtra/89/89ap07.htm}}</ref>

==Alternative orbital schemes==
A number of other notable orbital rail schemes for London have been previously proposed:
*[[R25 (London)|R25]] railway orbital around the [[List of stations in London fare zone 3|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]] 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.parkroyal.org/assets/files/Fastbus.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809193810/http://www.parkroyal.org/assets/files/Fastbus.pdf|url-status=dead|title=FastBus rapid transit scheme proposed|archivedate=9 August 2012}}</ref> of branded, limited-stop buses, between {{stl|LUL|Wembley Park}} and {{stl|LUL|North Acton}} stations and possibly beyond.
* The '[[North and West London Light Railway (proposal)|North and West London Light Railway]]' (or the 'Brent Cross Railway') is a proposed [[rapid transit]] network. The scheme was originally developed by the London group of the [[Campaign for Better Transport (United Kingdom)|Campaign for Better Transport]], and mainly uses existing or abandoned surface railway corridors.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commonscatinline}}

{{Proposed rail infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom}}
{{London Overground navbox}}
{{UK light rail}}

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[[Category:Proposed rail infrastructure in London]]
[[Category:Proposed railway lines in London]]