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The route of a north-south Crossrail 2 through central London, creating an extra 100,000 journeys during the morning peak, was unveiled today.

The proposed express service would run from Cheshunt and Alexandra Palace in the north to centres including Epsom, Shepperton, and Twickenham in the south-west.

Much of the route would be via a new tunnel that would be drilled between Wimbledon and Tottenham Hale and Alexandra Palace. The service could be running by the mid-2030s.

The proposal, in a report published today by business lobby group London First, was welcomed by Mayor Boris Johnson and is a significant step forward for a project that has been talked of for decades.

Supporters say it would complement the current Crossrail scheme , which will run east to west through London when it is completed in 2018; help ease overcrowding on transport, with the capital’s population expected to hit 10 million in 2030; and absorb passengers arriving on the High-Speed 2 rail link from the north. Up to 24 per hour would operate along Crossrail 2’s core route, slashing commuting times from six branch lines on the new network, with the trip from Kingston to Tottenham Court Road cut to 22 minutes.

The Mayor said: “The case for Crossrail 2 is incontestable and is made forcibly in this report. Over the next 20 years London’s population is forecast to expand to levels that will clog the Tube and rail arteries of our great city if we do not provide more capacity. There is no time to lose and my team will work closely with London First and others on developing plans for this vital railway.”

The report’s author, former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis, said some major changes had been incorporated into the revised route, learning the lessons from Crossrail 1. It has been extended to include suburban commuter routes, and linked to Euston station to disperse passengers arriving from HS2. Clapham Junction and Wimbledon have been included in the tunnelled section.

The estimated £12 billion cost of Crossrail 2 would be met using a similar formula to Crossrail 1, which is being bankrolled in roughly equal share by a public sector grant, a loan against future fare revenue, and private sector backing.

The proposal for the route is set to be reviewed early next year by the Department for Transport.

London First forecasts construction could start in the early 2020s with the service coming into operation a decade later. Lord Adonis said: “The Mayor’s backing is a decisive moment. Today’s report sets out a compelling plan with strong business support.

“Without Crossrail 2, by 2030, Euston and other Tube stations at mainline termini will be so congested they might have to be closed for parts of each weekday because of the danger to passengers. Waterloo, Victoria, Euston, King’s Cross, St Pancras and Clapham Junction all gain massive congestion relief from Crossrail 2.”

Beneficiaries would include passengers on routes from Wimbledon, Twickenham, Surbiton, Kingston, Islington, Hackney and Tottenham. The Lee Valley development zone would enjoy regeneration benefits. Crossrail 2 would provide extra capacity at Victoria, Euston, King’s Cross and St Pancras, and relieve pressure on the Victoria, Piccadilly and Northern lines.

View from Alexandra Palace

Victoria Jackson, 29

Teacher from Alexandra Palace: “It’d be very convenient. Sometimes you do have to wait for 15 to 20 minutes here. I sometimes go on the Piccadilly line at Bounds Green because it is more reliable.”

Dan Burnham, 46

e-commerce worker “It would be great for me as I work in Richmond. This is perfect. It is OK for public transport here, but it is patchy depending on where you want to get into. It can get very busy.”

Eliot Wykes, 38

Advertising worker from Muswell Hill: “That’s brilliant, it’d definitely help me out. The east-west link has always been weak. I’m heading into Marylebone, I’ve got family who live in Reading so it’d suit me down to the ground.”

Inge Burger

Accounts director, commutes to Liverpool Street: “You don’t know how it would affect the green spaces around here. If I went to visit people in south-west London it would make more of a difference.”

View from Twickenham

Laura Green, 34

Television worker. Commutes to Waterloo or Osterley. “It will make it easier because the routes out of here are quite limited but some local people might be against the expansion of the station.”

Tom Sutton, 39,

A marketing worker who commutes from Richmond to the West End: “We’ve got an old infrastructure that’s creaking at the seams. If this makes it better at a time when the cost of travel is soaring then it’ll be good.”

Kate Moyne, 34

production development associate who commutes to Hammersmith: “It would be good for the area. We’ve got good links into Waterloo but it needs updating. I don’t generally venture east from here.”

Dan Holmes, 37

IT worker who commutes to Putney: “Crossrail 2 is a good idea but if you look at every other country they have double-decker trains. We’re going to end up with platforms as long as London.”