Harlow's addition to London Underground proposed by council

Transport for London (TfL) said it was unaware of any talks with Harlow Council

A campaign to extend the London Underground further into Essex is being proposed by planners.

Harlow Council is looking at adding the town to the Central Line, which at present goes as far as Epping.

The proposals are part of the council's town plan which could go out to public consultation later this year.

Transport for London (TfL), which has overall responsibility for the Underground, said it had not had any talks with Harlow Council yet.

The town plan could see Harlow grow with 19,000 new homes

Portfolio holder for strategic growth at Conservative-run Harlow, Michael Hardware, said: "With Harlow's close proximity to London our plans include investigating the potential for the extension of the Central Line.

"We will be involving the whole town in our vision with full consultation on the plan to be held in the autumn."

The town plan would see Harlow expand by 19,000 homes and to a population of 130,000 people, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Harlow, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of its new town status in 2017, has a population of about 85,500 at present.

At present the Central Line includes five stations in Essex, ending at Epping

Dr James Fowler, lecturer in management at the University of Essex business school and author of London Transport: A Hybrid in History 1905-48, said there was "no doubt" a tube station would be beneficial for Harlow, but residents should "check the small print" over factors like journey times.

He said: "I know that Harlow is very well-served already [by network railway services], so the big question is how fast is that connection once it goes in?

"Your speed of getting into town [London] on the tube is the real convenience, so that's the thing that people in Harlow would want to watch and see what they get at the end of it."

The local authority was also looking at whether Harlow could be linked to the Crossrail 2 railway line, which goes from Surrey to Hertfordshire via London.

Labour group leader on the council Chris Vince said the Conservatives' plans were "a bit of a pipe dream, although we welcome more connectivity for Harlow".

He added Harlow was already "pretty well-connected to London".

A TfL spokeswoman said: "We understand that Harlow Council is considering proposing the extension of the Central Line into Harlow. Whilst we are always keen to talk to local authorities outside of London about possible extensions to our network, we have not been approached by Harlow Council about their proposals and no funding is allocated for any such scheme."

Councillors will consider the town plan at a cabinet meeting in September, before any public consultation begins.

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