environmental impacts of crossrail in london

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Abstract

In order to confront the congestion which disrupts transport and travel in London,

the Crossrail Project has embarked on the creation of a railway through London. It

has been said that this project could significantly reduce the environmental impact of transport in London. With air and noise pollution at the forefront of concerns

nowadays, such a project is welcome. In fact, Crossrail could effectively relieve the

town from congestion, while staying environmentally friendly thanks to

environmental directives. But one must acknowledge that the environmental

consequences due to its construction and the possible effects on climate change,

could threaten this long lifetime project.

« Crossrail can be expected to play a significant role in reducing the environmental

impact of travel and transport in London »

Introduction

It is universally acknowledged that London has confirmed its identity alongside the

most dynamic cities of the world. Its growing population benefits an efficient and

long-ranged transport system, allowing people to commute easily, thus

strengthening its economical growth.

Everyday London faces more than 25 million journeys; 8 million of which are made

on public transport.

In order to tackle congestion due to population immigration and to sustain

economical growth, the project Crossrail has been submitted to the Mayor of

London, and has been adopted after being passed through Parliament. This project

consists in the construction of a 22 km length line linking eastern and western

London under the central area, relieving the core of London from congestion and

increasing the transport capacity.

Travelling and commuting from one place to another through London is one of the

main factors contributing to the economical growth of this city, but it also has an

environmental cost for London. That is why, by relieving London from congestion and

adapting the transport capacity to deal with the urbanisation of the city, it is said

that « Crossrail can be expected to play a significant role in reducing the

environmental impact of travel and transport in London ». In response, it could beasked: to what extent Crossrail project conserves its legitimacy?



The analysis will be firstly made through the assessment of the current

environmental situation concerning travel and transport in London. Following this,

the benefits of Crossrail through its environmentally friendly construction and

operation should be addressed to highlight the problem. To finish, the limits of a

potentially invaluable life-long project will be considered.

I) Assessment of the current situation in London

1) Air pollution and Greenhouse gases due to transport

In London, pollution is a burning issue and over the past decades the government has

enforced numerous bills and projects to deplete the today’s pollution situation.

Burning hydrocarbon fuels is the first cause of air pollution throughout London,

generating Greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons,

etc) and air pollutant (CO, NO2…). According to a survey made in 2009 by the

International Energy Agency- transports in UK are responsible for more than 23% of

global CO2 emissions of which 73% are directly coming from roads. In the same year,

UK carbon dioxide emissions were estimated at 566.3 million tonnes (National

Statistics, 2011). The World Health Organisation (WHO) stated in 2007 that around

1.9 million of people die each year throughout the world from chronic obstructive

respiratory diseases.

Repartition maps in London of certain pollutants such as nitrous dioxide and PM10

(LAEI, 2004).



Figure 1

Figure 2

As shown on Figure 1 and Figure 2 showing the nitrous dioxide concentration in

London in 2004 and 2010, even if there is a clear decrease in the global

concentration of this pollutant, there still remain peaks above the limited values



agreed by the European Union, in Central London and Heathrow sparking therefore

additional mortality. Furthermore the economical impact of air pollution in the UK is

estimated to £15 billion a year (www.defra.gov.uk, 2011).

2) Noise pollution and Urbanisation

Urbanisation involves motorised transport which creates excessive noise for the

environment. Both noise and air pollution are equally destructive to the

environment.

Noise mostly comes from traffic and construction works. Noise creates health

problems such as sleep disturbance, hypertension, tinnitus and especially

cardiovascular diseases. The WHO Global Burden of Disease study stated in 2000 that

cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in developed countries with 22.8%of total deaths. Furthermore, the WHO published Community/Sleep Noise Guidelines

observing the relationship between certain practices and the associated sound

intensity.

Table 1: Selected values from the WHO Community/Night Noise Guidelines

As can be seen in Figure 3, more than 55 million European people were regularly

subjected to road traffic noise exceeding 65 dB(A), which, according to Table 1, can

cause serious long-term health effects. Figure 3 and 4 indicate around 250,000

people affected in Europe in 2000 with ischemic heart disease, 45,000 of whom areprone to lethal heart attacks (L.C den Boer, 2007).



Diagram 1

Diagram 2

Therefore the overall picture seems to be that transport and travel are not harmlessfor health. Taking into account the current growth of population in London which is



expected to increase in 1.19 million people within the next 20 years, and the fact

that the current transport capacity has reached its limit, there has never been a

better time to implement the Crossrail Project .

II) Crossrail and the environmentally friendly tackle of congestion

1) Control mechanisms of the environmental impact

In order to face the current and future environmental impact of travel and transport

in London described above, the project Crossrail has been created. However, such a

project is not free from rules, especially towards the environmental effect of its

construction and operation. There are objective control mechanisms. In fact, when

the Crossrail bill was submitted to Parliament in February 2005, an Environmental

Impact Assessment (EIA) was stated and an Environmental Statement (ES) wasproduced. The role of the ES was to objectively highlight the environmental impacts

which could occur during the construction and the operation of the project.

Furthermore, a strong repertory was developed with local authorities to promote

better understanding and regulation during the construction and operation parts in

the form of the Environmental Minimum Requirements (EMR). This act decides the

actions of CRL, the company managing Crossrail , since the EMR was the link between

the Secretary of State and Parliament when the bill was passed. Even though the

project was been made under numerous assumptions and may have changed since-these statements are still considered as directives and must be followed.

2) Environmentally friendly construction part

It is crystal clear that the construction of Europe’s largest civil engineering project

would pollute. The construction will globally release between 1.4 and 2.2 million

tones of CO2 which represents about

15% of the total CO2 released during

operation and construction.(www.tfl.gov.uk, 2011)

In addition to that, the construction

of Crossrail is expected to produce

more than 8 million cubic meters of

excavated materials and other

wastes (www.crossrail.co.uk, 2007).

The EMR states as well that these

excavated soils must be reused,



reduced and recycled. Around 53% will be

transported by rail and water transport,

which represents more than 4 million cubic

meters of excavated material.

3) Reducing the global overcrowding

A lot of advantages are expected from the settlement of Crossrail , especially towards

the decrease in overcrowding. Every morning, there is an inevitable peak between

7am and 10am in the overall transport network of London. According to the ES, the

overcrowding during the morning peak will be significantly reduced from 30% to 70%

on average on the main lines (www.crossrail.co.uk, 2005). As the capacity on roads

will be enhanced, ensuring 15,000 fewer car journeys in London, the rail capacity will

be increased by 20% in the City, thus cutting carbon emissions.

Crossrail will relieve London from congestion whilst implementing strong control

mechanisms to assess the environmental impact within a relatively environmentally

friendly construction. However, some natural questions remain; what happens to the

environment when tunneling is operating? Is that really an environmental

construction? Are the EMR being effectively matched? Seeing as it is a long lifetime

project, should we consider a better climate change adaptation?

III) Crossrail and its limits

1) Construction part

We need to include society in the equation when considering ‘environmental

impact’.

According to the ES, tunnelling will cause sewer diversions, altering the quality of the

groundwater. Furthermore, land contaminations will be caused as well. Near theproject line of Crossrail , there are 144 sites out 635 which will bring contamination

by moving the ground, consequently releasing contaminants considered to have real

impacts upon human health, groundwater and surface water resources (Crossrail

Information Paper, D4 – Treatment of Contaminated Land, 2007): for instance,

tunnel portal at Royal Oak in Paddington and Arsenal Way shaft in Woolwich are

examples.

In addition to that, Crossrail line passes through three listed properties which must

be demolished alongside 18 non-listed; for example 94 Dean Street for the



construction of Tottenham Court Road Station (www.crossrail.co.uk, 2007). Crossrail

raises the problem of keeping the heritage of old buildings with a historical

relevance. Some bridges must even be demolished due to the excessive cost which

increasing the slope to make the line go beneath them would entail; such as

Middlegreen Road Bridge (www.crossrail.co.uk, 2007).

2) Climate change adaptation

This project is the Europe’s biggest civil engineering project, so it can be expected to

last a long time: 120 years of operation according to the ES. It must be taken into

account that the population in London has grown every year since 1988 and it is

expected to reach 8.61 million in 2026 (GLA, 2008). Therefore, the additional

capacity afforded to transport by Crossrail will be considerably reduced, and

congestion may appear before the end of life of the project.

Furthermore, ground settlements will definitely occur. According to the ES, long-

term impacts will remain at several locations such as Paddington station, Hyde Park

and Bond Street station for example.

Conclusion

Crossrail has certainly been one of the most important civil engineering projects ever

attempted in U.K. Originally created to relieve London from congestion, and strongly

controlled by bills and laws, this project is also expected to crush the environmental

impact of travel and transport such as air and noise pollution which have increasingly

grown in public concern over the past decade. However, the construction of Crossrail

has entailed many damaging consequences for the environment when we look at the

threatened Londoner heritages, soils and water resources. Therefore it may be a long

road before obtaining the environmental rewards of this life-long project.

Nevertheless with a cautious and pro-active approach of the project, the net

environmental impact during construction and operation can be considerably

reduced, therefore granting Crossrail a significant role in reducing the environmental

impact of travel and transport in London.

Furthermore, the 4 million people arriving for the 2012 Olympic Games in London

will be a precious opportunity to assess how to manage a higher population without

witnessing excessive London congestion.



References

National Statistics, Department of Energy & Climate Change, 2011

World Health Organisation, 2007

LAEI, 2004 & 2010

L.C DEN BOER, A. SCHROTEN, Traffic Noise reduction in Europe, 2007

http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/air/air-quality/impacts/, 2011

WHO Global Burden of Disease, 2010

http://www.crossrail.co.uk/railway/getting-approval/crossrail-bill-supporting-

documents/environmental-statement, 2005

Crossrail Information Paper – D2 Control of Environmental Impacts, 2007

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/, 2011

Crossrail Information Paper – D4 Treatment of contaminated lands, 2007

Crossrail Environmental Statement - Non-technical Summary, 2005

Crossrail Information Paper – D18 Listed Buildings, 2007

Greater London Authority, 2008

environmental impacts of crossrail in london

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