Rails around London—in search of the railway M25

Abstract

The transport infrastructure of London and the south-east of England is suffering increasing congestion as traffic levels rise, year by year. The traditional response of constructing new roads no longer appears sustainable, and solutions must be found elsewhere. Rail transport is now accepted as the optimum environmentally friendly means of moving large volumes of passengers and freight, and several schemes have been proposed either to enhance existing routes, or to create new ones. This paper outlines the author's vision for a new circumferential railway, around the western side of London, to provide main-line railway links to Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and a freight bypass for Channel Tunnel traffic. Entitled the Grand Junction Link, it would effectively become the ‘railway M25’.