It’s one of the largest and most ambitious rail projects in recent history, so how will CrossRail benefit London?
Getting across London could be about to get even quicker, that’s if CrossRail goes to plan. Due to open in 2018 the project stretches from Reading to Heathrow in the West and across to Shenfield to Abbey Woods in the East. With over 100 km of track it’ll make it easier and quicker to travel across the capital. London needs it; anyone who’s travelled at commuter time at some of the busiest areas knows that the transport infrastructure in the capital needs space to breathe.
As with any major international city commuting hours can prove a challenge. London is no exception. In the planning stages CrossRail’s developers identified key business areas where there were peak time travellers coming in. These included Heathrow, Paddington, the West End, City and Canary Wharf. It’s hoped Cross Rail will help to ease congestion at these critical times and provide better transport links.
One of the issues in London is that it’s a victim of its own success; London is booming, economic growth is rising and more businesses are moving into different areas of London to benefit from the economic strength. The issue with that is that it means the city’s infrastructure needs to cope with much higher demand. It’s always good news when the city is growing but the capital’s transport infrastructure needs to expand and grow to meet that increased demand. If travel across the capital is much easier and smoother it will inevitably lead to a higher footfall in the capital meaning even more visitors.
Demand for housing and places to stay become increasingly important as people staying in London look for places to stay along the route of CrossRail. This might be in terms of housing but it is also for hotels and serviced apartments. There will be 38 stations along the route and at each of those an increased interest in property has been noted. Whitechapel and Woolwich, for example, have seen a surge in demand for future commuters looking to snap up a property close to one of the new stations.
Alongside housing more visitors means more people looking for extended stay accommodation in London. Clarendon has apartments in each of the prime locations highlighted by CrossRail as ripe for increased demand and improved transport links from the City, West End and Canary Wharf.
London is a city that’s constantly renewing itself, growing and developing. At Clarendon we continually work to ensure that we’re not just providing for the customers we have today but also that we’re putting plans in place for the ones who’ll turn to us tomorrow.