UK: Transport for London has appointed four consultancy teams to develop plans for Crossrail 2 and help to make the case for funding.
Each team would be responsible for a specific area. These are:
- Engineering and technical: Arcadis Hyder, Weston Williamson, Vinci Construction, Interfleet, First Class Partnerships, Dr Sauer & Partners.
- Strategic modelling, route development, planning, appraisal and evaluation: CH2M Hill, Atkins.
- Environment and sustainability: Mott MacDonald, Temple Group, ERM, WSP.
- Town planning, economic development, socio-economic and urban design: AECOM, Weston Williamson, Turkington Martin.
The second Crossrail route is being developed jointly by TfL and national rail infrastructure manager Network Rail. It would run northeast-southwest to complement the east-west Crossrail 1, currently under construction. The central section requires 36 km of new railway, mostly in tunnel, and 15 stations, including 13 underground. When it opens, no earlier than 2030, it would carry up to 90 000 passengers in the morning peak.
An initial public consultation took place between May and August 2013, and there will be further public consultations before an application for powers to build the new railway is submitted in 2017.
