Stopping mad: Council calls on TfL to give Hackney two Crossrail 2 stations

The 2013 plans for the Crossrail route. Photograph: TfL

Hackney Council is calling on TfL to implement the original 2013 plans for the route of Crossrail 2 and build two stations in the borough, one in Dalston and one in Hackney Central.

In a recent online consultation, TfL asked the public to indicate whether the single tunnel should stop at either Hackney Central or Dalston, or at both as was proposed in 2013.

While no decisions have yet been made, TfL has raised the possibility of reducing Hackney’s Crossrail 2 stations to one and has estimated that if this plan was implemented up to £1bn could be saved.

The council is keen to see the original Chelsea to Hackney scheme safeguarded, which would connect both Hackney Central and Dalston, both “key growth areas”, to central London in just eight or nine minutes.

Cllr Guy Nicholson, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said that Crossrail 2 could be of great benefit to Hackney and London as a whole and could “unlock” regeneration sites in the Upper Lee Valley.

But he said that reducing the number of stations to just one risked “wasting the huge potential of the borough”.

Cllr Nicholson said: “Hackney Central and Dalston are two of the fastest growing areas in London in terms of jobs, housing and visitor economy. To capitalise on this potential and manage the associated increase in travel demand both need a fit-for-purpose public transport network which Crossrail 2 would provide.

“TfL has so far failed to demonstrate a clear business case for why it’s gone back on its original plans for Crossrail 2 stations at both Dalston Junction and Hackney Central. Nor has it explained how the proposed ‘Eastern Branch’ extension would tie in to the project.

“A transparent and detailed discussion of both these elements are crucial to ensure Crossrail 2 unlocks the full potential of north and east London.”

There has also been support for a proposed Eastern Branch that could connect Hackney as far as Hertfordshire in the north and Surrey in the south, however there is little certainty at this stage that such a branch will come forward.

In the council’s response to the Crossrail 2 consultation Paul Bowker, Group Manager of Networks and Transportation for Hackney, said: “We cannot effectively risk a position whereby we accept a Dalston Junction Station on a Northern Branch of the railway with the expectation that Hackney Central would be served by the Eastern Branch.

“To do so could see a situation develop where the borough only has a single station on the line and effectively the access to employment and regeneration opportunities which we would expect to be delivered with Crossrail 2 would pass the borough by.”

Factoring in this risk, the council has stated a preference for a development of the Chelsea-Hackney scheme which would see both Dalston Junction and Hackney Central served on a single alignment.

The project, which is due to start in 2020, has gained overwhelming support from Hackney residents according to Tfl who stated that 96 per cent of public respondents “strongly support or support the principle of Crossrail 2.”

Results of the consultation will be published before the end of the year, according to TfL.