Trains to run on new Overground route by mid 2030s as Mayor set to make West London Orbital ‘major priority’

Detailed summary

The line will connect Hendon in north London with Hounslow in west London, using existing railway freight train tracks

Trains could be running on a new London Overground route by the mid 2030s as Mayor Sadiq Khan is set to make delivering the West London Orbital a “major priority”, a transport minister has said.

The line will connect Hendon in north London with Hounslow in west London, using existing railway freight train tracks.

Plans include up to six trains an hour and four proposed new stations at Neasden, Harlesden, Old Oak Common Lane and Lionel Road.

It will make it easier to travel across west and north-west London, without passengers having to change in a central station, and provide better connections to the Underground, Elizabeth line and other rail services.

Brentford and Isleworth MP Ruth Cadbury, who led a debate on the project in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, said the scheme would also lead to 25,000 new homes, 11,500 new jobs and bring over three million jobs within a 45 minute commute.

The project got a major boost in the Budget after the Chancellor announced transport schemes would be unlocked by new powers for City Hall

John Healey said it would be the “most radical act of decentralisation in a generation”, as part of his fiscal statement’s wider package of economic reforms.

He gave London greater control over transport funding, reducing its reliance on government and helping unlock billions of pounds for infrastructure projects across the capital.

Transport minister Justin Madders told the debate: “We can speak with some confidence that we will be giving the Mayor of London the powers and the tools to make [the West London Orbital] happen.

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