Whilst most people have heard of the Crossrail High Speed rail project currently underway in London, not many will be familiar with its sister project, Crossrail 2. The other Crossrail scheme was first proposed more than fifty years ago as a way of linking the south west and north east boroughs of London. A potential route was identified in 1991, and the project was given serious consideration in 1995, but it was then placed on a back burner due to costs.

However, with plans for a new high speed rail terminal at Euston, it looks like increasing passenger numbers will place ever increasing pressure on the London transport network. Even though the Chelsea to Hackney rail route appeared to be the favourable option as little as five years ago, Crossrail 2 now appears to be an attractive choice and a public consultation will be going ahead this month

The new Euston station is set to receive up to eighteen trains per hour once the High Speed 2 rail link is fully operational. This means that there could be as many as twenty thousand passengers per hour passing through the doors, which will severely test the capacity of the station to cope and transport lines departing from Euston are likely to be stretched to the limit.

The Crossrail 2 scheme is considered to be a viable solution to the problem of increasing commuter numbers in London. If the project is given the go ahead at a later date, it will involve the construction of a 7.3 km tunnel between the Central Line in south west of London and the District Line. There will also be a connection between Euston and Kings Cross St Pancras, plus several new underground stations along the route.

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