Transport for LondonBenefits
These projects, which will be run by local authorities and other organisations including Design for London, will provide better facilities for pedestrians, better traffic circulation and easier access to buildings in the area.
The projects will take place at different times and are still subject to detailed design. They include:
- Creating a public space and enhanced pedestrian routes to the neighbourhoods of Covent Garden, Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury and Soho and improvements for pedestrians at the west end of New Oxford Street
- Proposals for better traffic circulation for Gower Street/Bloomsbury Street
- Plans for the retail area of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street that includes a proposed diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus and wider pavements for the Oxford Street area
- Reducing street clutter and bringing improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes either side of Centre Point.
Some of the street improvements are at an earlier stage of planning and will happen after the construction works are complete.
Tottenham Court Road Tube station
The redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road station will bring many benefits, including:
- An enlarged ticket hall six times the size of the current one
- A 200 per cent increase in station capacity
- New entrances
- Five new lifts to provide step-free access
- Additional escalators
Other benefits will increase safety and security, enhance accessibility and improve passenger information. This will be done through:
- More CCTV cameras
- Improved travel information, including new Help points and a new public address system
- Tactile strips on platforms and stairs, and contrasting handrails to assist partially sighted passengers
- Better station lighting
- Additional access points to the Northern and Central line platforms to reduce congestion
Crossrail
Crossrail will help to underpin the UK economy by ensuring the Capital continues to be a leading world city over the next 20 years and beyond.
Connecting the key centres of Heathrow, the West End, City and Docklands, Crossrail solves the problem of how to transport the large numbers of people who work in these areas, which contain 30 per cent of London's jobs.
Crossrail will increase the public transport network capacity in London by 10 per cent, cut journey times and relieve congestion on rail and on the Underground. This new service will have double the capacity of the Jubilee line and will support regeneration and jobs in many areas of London, including the West End.
For the first time in London, twin bore tunnels will be built that are wide enough to carry mainline passenger trains beneath central London.
