Crossrail 2 plan boosted by Boris Johnson funding claims

Workers at Crossrail’s Whitechapel tunnel. Crossrail 2 would carry 45,000 passengers an hour across the capital in 22 miles of new tunnels.

A second mass-transit Crossrail line under London has come a step closer to fruition as transport authorities announced a preferred route and the mayor claimed the Treasury was prepared to meet half the £20bn costs.

Crossrail 2 would carry 45,000 passengers an hour between south-west and north-east London, in 22 miles (36km) of new tunnels and then in overground lines forking further into the home counties.

The mayor, Boris Johnson, said the new capacity was vital to let London breathe and would give transport links to support 200,000 new homes. The city’s population is set to expand to 10 million by 2030, the earliest the project could be completed.

Johnson said that he “got a bit of a shock to find the tunnel goes directly underneath my house”, but said that the deep-level construction should not affect properties in London.

Crossrail’s proposed regional route in autumn 2014. Photograph: Transport for London

However, the proposed safeguarded route, running underground in the central zone from Wimbledon to Dalston, will now go out to further public consultation.

Firm commitments on funding will not be made until at least after the autumn statement, but the new line is expected to be funded in a similar way to the original Crossrail scheme, with the capital raising half through taxes and business contributions. Johnson suggested funds could be found by “smashing open the jam jars” of public sector pension funds.

Transport for London (TfL) said the new line would be needed to relieve overcrowding on the tube and national rail networks, slashing journey times from suburbs to centre, and freeing up trains for commuters from the south-west into Waterloo. It will also be crucial to avoid bottlenecks at Euston station when the HS2 network is completed. Network Rail has said Crossrail 2 is a priority scheme.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, Johnson proposed that Crossrail 2 be renamed the Winston Churchill line, despite the fate of his previous plan for a Margaret Thatcher international airport in the Thames Estuary. The mayor denied that London was being funded excessively compared to the north – even though the sums earmarked for this proposal far outstrip the £6-7bn for HS3 announced by the prime minister on Monday in Leeds to rebalance the UK economy. Johnson said: “You have got to look at London as the motor of the economy and make sure it fires on all cylinders … This is a brilliant investment for the country, and it should in no way be seen as either-or; you’ve got to do both.”