Cheapest Possible Crossrail 2?

[43096]

Indeed I think Waterloo could be dispensed with entirely.

How are you working that one out?

 

[edwin_m]

10 meters?

A crude estimate of closing two tracks, assuming you can part-demolish any viaduct sections.

Combined with the massive axing of peak services, and some Waterloo East shenanigans, rather larger cuts than that will be acheivable. Indeed I think Waterloo could be dispensed with entirely.

High density housing.

Trains in and out of Waterloo need six tracks at Clapham Junction, where most of them stop. They aren't all going to fit onto a two-track line through central London. There's a limit to how much frequency can be cut due to the large number of routes that would expect to keep a frequent London service. And if you think commuting is going to drop that much, then it implies London won't be the sort of place where it's worth investing in high-density housing, or indeed in expensive schemes to cater for commuters that aren't there any more.

 

[Bald Rick]

And the real estate that Waterloo sits on is worth, at an educated guess, a billion or two at most with vacant possession.

 

[SussexLad]

And the real estate that Waterloo sits on is worth, at an educated guess, a billion or two at most with vacant possession.

Personally, I think that's too optimistic. If you got rid of Waterloo and the long distance connections it brings, I think property prices would fall. So a weird paradox could exist, where its worth more by being operational than it is being decommissioned and sold.

 

[Bald Rick]

Personally, I think that's too optimistic. If you got rid of Waterloo and the long distance connections it brings, I think property prices would fall. So a weird paradox could exist, where its worth more by being operational than it is being decommissioned and sold.

Fair point, although there would still be a tube station underneath, the SE at Waterloo East, and Westminster just across the river.