Crossrail passenger estimate revised at three stations

An extra 65 million journeys could be made using three Crossrail stations annually by 2026, revised figures show.

The company Arup looked at Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Farringdon stations and found population growth outstripped the original estimates.

In 2004 it was estimated 185 million passengers would use the stations, but that estimate has now increased to 250 million a year.

It includes people using London Underground at the stations.

To accommodate the increase, the New West End Company said it would "consider all the ideas on the table".

'Handle the flow'

Commissioned by organisations including Crossrail, Transport for London and NWEC The impact of Crossrail on visitor numbers in Central London looked at the number of people entering and exiting the stations for all services.

Alexander Jan from Arup said "With London's population growing by 2,000 every eight days, Arup's analysis suggests Crossrail's stations will be somewhat busier sooner than was originally anticipated.

"This is in line with the experience of London Overground improvements and DLR extensions.

"Crossrail stations are designed to handle the flow, but there are going to be significant opportunities - and some challenges."

Crossrail will link Berkshire to Essex via Heathrow and central London from 2018

'Oxford Street roof'

Arup said the projected figures depended on assumptions and business factors which "carry an intrinsic level of uncertainty".

It said: "Without the offices, residential development, entertainment and retail offer to attract and sustain visitors to central London the numbers in question may not materialise."

Sally Eden from NWEC said: "We're going to consider all the ideas on the table, that's from traffic management schemes, possible pedestrianisation.

"There were suggestions of having trams, of having electric buses, of building a roof on Oxford Street, we're going to consider absolutely everything."