County of London Plan - Rail Services

Rail Services

The authors recommended electrification of all rail routes and removal of viaducts, with the elimination of rail bridges over the Thames a key priority. It was hoped that the removal of the river bridges would enable the redevelopment of the South Bank.

Their proposals included a highly ambitious system of two-track bored rail tunnels in loop-shaped routes beneath the built-up areas of London, large enough to handle mainline trains. These tunnels would serve the purpose of the tube train system without the inefficiency of commuters having to change from a mainline train to a tube train. As a result, some tube routes would be transformed into a freight-only train system. The northern portion of the Circle Line was specifically mentioned in this regard.

The proposed railway tunnels, built to handle standard-size trains entering from the suburbs, would have been as follows:

• North Bank Loop: This tunnel would run along the north bank of the Thames, from Battersea, to Victoria, Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Shadwell (where a segment would run at surface level using existing tracks), and thence by tunnel to Wapping, Surrey Docks, and Deptford. The various mainline stations on the north bank of the Thames would no longer be served by open-air tracks over viaducts and bridges.

• South-east, City and West End Loop: This tunnel was also proposed as a means of eliminating the railway bridges across the Thames and associated viaducts. It would connect Charing Cross, Cannon Street, Waterloo Junction, and London Bridge, rising to the surface in the vicinity of Surrey Canal, where it would connect with existing mainline tracks.

• North-South Tunnel: This would run from Herne Hill in the south, through Blackfriars, connecting with King’s Cross in the north. Blackfriars and Elephant and Castle would be closed in their current form, and replaced with subsurface stations along this tunnel.

• Northern Arc: This mainline tunnel would connect Paddington, Marylebone, Euston, King’s Cross, and Liverpool Street, allowing interchange of trains with each.

For freight traffic, it was proposed to have both an “Inner Ring” and an “Outer Ring” of freight-only railways:

• Inner Goods Ring: The northern segments of the Inner Circle underground line (what is known today as the Circle Line) would be converted to freight-only uses, and a continuation would be built through the southern areas of London (Battersea is mentioned) so as to constitute a freight-only circular line .

• Outer Goods Ring: This would form an arc across the northern parts of London, running substantially to the north of, and parallel to, Euston Road. It’s not clear whether this freight-only railway would be at surface level or in tunnel, although there is mention of a tunnel under the Thames at Greenwich.