Just a thought on this that it would be odd for TfL to put a route to the government, even if it was only for costings, that wasn't their preferred route? Especially given on the Tooting vs Balham point I think it's accepted it's more expensive to go to Tooting, although nowhere near as bad as they were originally suggesting back in 2015 when the Balham route was consulted on. Doesn't stop the gov taking an alternative position I suppose though.

Although if the kings Road station has been dropped, which wouldn't be very surprising given it's very unpopular there and chopping it out saves a lot of money, then it makes even less sense to have Balham as the choice. The next stops would then be Clapham junction, Victoria and Tottenham Court Road - which entirely duplicates the overground and underground Balham already has.

You have to hope the personal animosity between grayling and Khan isn't the thing holding all this up! But stranger things have happened.

Right now there are no real updates. Transport for London (TfL) have put a business case for Crossrail 2 to the Government, but it has not been confirmed/approved. The scheme was missing from the Conservative election manifesto and the Queens Speech, which may or may not mean anything. And the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling rather dislikes mayor Sadiq Khan, which may or may not mean anything.

There was a leak of a document recently in City AM, where the route was via Tooting not Balham and dropped Chelsea, but after querying, it was established that this was a route for the purpose of calculating numbers, not a final decided route.

As such, all everyone can do is wait. At some point, someone will have to make a decision!

Hi all, does anyone have any update on this topic? thanks

I wonder how much influence our new mayor will have?

Khan was very vocal about his preference for Tooting over Balham

TfL will publish a "response to consultation" in June. This will probably be a fairly boring document not of much interest. The next real event will be in late summer (October perhaps) when a new consultation is expected. It is likely that consultation will have TfL's "final" preferred route choice.

If the preferred route choice is Balham, then it may or may not imply a shaft on the common - ie. it is possible that TfL may find a way to route Crossrail via Balham without a shaft on the common (but there would be a shaft somewhere else).

If the preferred route choice is Tooting Broadway, then it is expected that the shaft will be on car parks near the prison, not the common.

If the preferred route is Earlsfield, then there would be no tunnelling anywhere near the common.

Has there been any further updates on this? Does anyone know when TFL are likely to make a decision as to the location of the vent shaft?

Thanks, Goldhawk. Of course, that makes sense (but then sighting a station at Balham at all involves such a detour - who's to know!).

It's Weir Road in Wimbledon

Can I just ask a rather dopey question? The Weir Road mentioned in the Balham-Wimbledon proposal - is it Weir Road, Wimbledon, or our own [close to my home...] Weir Road, Balham? I've looked through some of the pdfs online but they don't put a postcode, and I'm too full of head cold to read it all through! (And don't want to make a fool of myself on the consultation document!)

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/crossr ... sultation/

Just a quick reminder that the consultation closes on Friday

On TfL's move from Tooting Broadway to Balham it is good to look at motivations.

Tooting Broadway has better Northern Line relief, better regeneration effects and better access benefits, notably St.Georges. Of the two, it is the clear winner in transport terms. So, why change? The ground conditions are significant, but it is possible to build the station in engineering terms. Instead, I believe the real problem is the length of the build.

TfL have determined that Crossrail 2 must be open for the second phase of HS2. If it is not then the tube at Euston will be overwhelmed. The date for the opening of HS2 phase 2 is 2033. The date for Crossrail 2 is currently 2030, but that date is very aggressive given previous major project development times. As such, TfL probably believe that the Crossrail 2 date might slip a year or two.

Now consider that Tooting Broadway lengthens the time it takes to construct the whole of Crossrail 2 by 1 to 2 years (as the tunnelling machine is blocked by Tooting Broadway's complex station). Suddenly, getting Crossrail 2 open in time for HS2 phase 2 becomes a real problem. Thus there are limited options in general here. (Just as there are very few options to move the shaft on Wandsworth Common given the chosen alignment parallel to the Northern Line at Balham.)

I've been putting forward Crossrail 2 via Earlsfield, with a branch to serve Balham, Streatham, Tooting and a new station at St.Georges on the A24 (no shaft on Wandsworth common), see Swirl-Max link above. While Swirl-Max remains a long shot, it definitely shares the benefits of Crossrail 2 around Wandsworth Borough while reducing its impact.

Hi MGM
Couple of points:
1 Tooting does have an overland station but it's about 1 mike walk from St George's, Tooting Broadway, Tooting High St. etc point is that Tooting Broadway isn't connected to a mainline service whereas Balham is. So CR2 at Balham is duplicating existing connections. CR2 at Tooting Broadway is creating new connections.

2. TfL can confirm to you that the Tooting Broadway route proposed vent shaft was moved to Wandsworth Prison car park. That was before they made the new proposal to Balham. You can also see this in the report for the recent Wandsworth Council meeting on the subject. See para 12 https://democracy.wandsworth.gov.uk/doc ... il%202.pdf so TB station does not lead to vent on the common/skylark/trinity fields.

Nice video a.dad. However I take issue with a couple of things in it. Tooting does already have a mainline station and the green space of Wandsworth Common and/or other local green spaces won't necessarily be unaffected by choosing Tooting over Balham, given that the original proposals for Tooting would have impacted on Wandsworth Common and Trinity Fields.

I'm beginning to like the Earlsfield alternative being put forward!

Where abouts in Tooting to you live a.dad?
Obviously, not the street!! Just curious where....

have a look at this 5 min video on Crossrail 2 & Tooting v Balham
https://youtu.be/ixLJr69UaDo
takes 5 mins
whichever way you lean make sure you have your say via the TfL consultation:
https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/crossr ... 515468221/
closes 8th Jan 2016