Orbirail - History of Orbital Railways in London

History of Orbital Railways in London

London's railway system was largely built in the 19th century, by competing private companies. The benefits of an integrated transport system were unknown at this time and each main-line railway company built its own terminus in central London and operated radial routes from that point. For example, Waterloo railway station in south-west central London is the focus of lines radiating out to the south and west. Meanwhile metropolitan and suburban railways developed also on radial lines.

The first orbital rail service was the Inner Circle, now the Circle line, operated over the central sections of the Metropolitan line and District line. This linked most of the main-line stations and was a commercial success.

This success led to the operation of a number of other semi-orbital routes within the capital, over existing main-line routes and sections of the Inner Circle:

• Middle Circle - Aldgate to Mansion House via Addison Road (now Kensington Olympia)
• Outer Circle - Broad Street to Mansion House via Willesden Junction
• Super Outer Circle - St Pancras to Earl's Court via Cricklewood and South Acton

London was a much smaller city than it is now and most commercial activity was focused at the centre. These outer routes failed to attract the passenger numbers hoped for and were eventually cut back or ended while other, more radial services on the lines continued.

Other semi-orbital routes fared little better. Throughout the 20th century London's railways operated on a radial model and the few remaining semi-orbital passenger routes withered, with the lines used mainly for freight services. The national railway network was privatised with radial franchises. Only the Circle line enjoyed success.

Throughout the 20th century London expanded both in size and population and employment ceased to be as heavily concentrated in the centre. Many more people were travelling through central London by Underground and many of them were travelling in on one radial route only to travel out again on another. Congestion increased and additional Underground lines were built at great expense.

It was at this point that some suggested reviving and expanding the semi-orbital routes. The reasoning was that these routes could relieve the some of the load on central London in a much more cost effective way than the building of new tube lines. People who were travelling via central London could be provided with alternative routes. The idea coalesced around the suggested name "Orbirail", and it was even suggested that a fully orbital route could be operated, something that the outer Circle lines never quite achieved. The idea won few friends in the National Rail network for commercial and operational reasons.

The situation changed drastically with the creation of Transport for London as a single body with overall responsibility for transport in London. During Ken Livingstone's term as Mayor of London, TfL exploited the potential in the neglected peripheral rail routes and started to plan a complete orbital rail system by joining these routes together (albeit with no plan for a single fully orbital service). The new system was eventually launched as the London Overground, and work continues to complete the orbital route as more lines are added to the system. The eventual London Overground network will cover a route which bears a striking resemblance to the Outer Circle line with the East London line extension and Inner South London Line being used to complete the loop.

Political support for the principle of Orbirail continued after the change of leadership following the London mayoral election, 2008. During his election campaign, Boris Johnson published a transport manifesto which highlighted the problems associated with orbital journeys around London:

The manifesto noted that 64% of journeys in outer London were made by cars or vans, and suggested that improved orbital public transport would help to reduce this figure, proposing a trial of orbital express bus routes linking key suburban rail terminals.