Consultation opens on west London Overground plan

Residents are being asked for their views on plans for a new London Overground service on freight lines in west London, although the money to build it has not yet been found.

Transport for London (TfL) has opened an eight-week consultation on the West London Orbital, which would run passenger trains between Hendon and Hounslow.

TfL said services could start in the mid-2030s, but only if funding from the government and other sources was secured and the scheme received all the approvals it needed.

The consultation closes on 18 November.

The 18.5km (11.5-mile) route would largely use existing lines, including the Dudding Hill line through Brent and Barnet, which is used by freight trains and has had no regular passenger service for more than a century.

Four new stations are proposed at Neasden, Harlesden, Old Oak Common Lane and Lionel Road, with additional platforms at Hendon and Brent Cross West.

A summary business case published alongside the consultation sets out TfL's preferred option of four trains an hour between Hounslow and Hendon, rising to six an hour between Old Oak Common Lane and Hendon, with the full journey taking 37 minutes.

Earlier plans included a branch to West Hampstead Thameslink. TfL said it had instead developed a more frequent service between Hounslow and Hendon, but that this would not rule out trains running to West Hampstead in future.

TfL estimates the line could support 11,500 jobs and more than 25,000 new homes, and take about 650,000 car journeys off the roads each year. It said some journeys by public transport could be more than half an hour quicker.

In March, TfL and its partners agreed to spend £6.65m on design, modelling and consultation work, with TfL paying half and the rest shared between the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and Barnet, Brent, Ealing and Hounslow councils. But at the moment only the development of the scheme is funded.

The business case dossier estimates the line would cost between £810m and £920m to build at late 2023 prices, or between £1bn and £1.2bn once inflation is taken into account. It said TfL, the government and local partners would all need to contribute.

The document said construction could begin in the early 2030s if funding was secured in time.

David Rowe, TfL's director of investment planning, said: "This consultation is an important opportunity for people to shape the future of this new London Overground route.

"By making better use of existing rail infrastructure, we can improve connections between communities and support growth across west and north-west London."

Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, said the scheme would use "a line currently only used for freight to transform travel in north and north-west London".

Erin Walsh, director of the West London Alliance, a partnership of seven west London councils, said: "This could unlock west London's economic potential, connecting people and places across the sub-region."

Matthew Carpen, chief executive of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, called it "an exciting step towards a new rail link that could transform journeys across west London".

TfL said further consultations would take place if the scheme progressed.

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