Central Line - Future Plans

Future Plans

If and when the Chelsea–Hackney line is built, it is planned that the Epping branch, between Leytonstone and Epping, will transfer to the new line. The section between Leytonstone and Woodford via Hainault would become the main line, with trains that would have terminated at Epping running to Woodford via Hainault. It was originally planned that the Chelsea-Hackney line would take over the Leytonstone to Woodford via Hainault branch, but this was changed because since 2008 it has been planned that the Chelsea-Hackney line will use larger trains than the Central, and the tunnel size between Leytonstone and Newbury Park would be too small for these larger trains, and tunnel enlargement would not be cost effective.

When the London Overground East London line was extended between 2008 and 2010 a new Shoreditch High Street station opened. The Central line runs directly below the station and it has long been proposed to provide an interchange. The station would lie between Liverpool Street and Bethnal Green, which is one of the longest gaps between stations in central London. Although there would be many benefits to this interchange, it was ruled out on grounds of the disruption it would cause to the Central line while being built, creating high levels of overcrowding and heavily increasing journey times. TfL has since stated that the proposal will be re-visited and it could be made possible once Crossrail has been completed in 2018.

The Central line was the first Underground line to receive a complete refurbishment in the early 1990s, including the introduction of new rolling stock. Once the last line to be fully upgraded, the Bakerloo line, is completed in 2018, it is planned that new trains will be start to be introduced on the Central line. TfL has started working with train manufacturers to develop a concept train to run not only on the Central line but also the Bakerloo, Piccadilly and Waterloo & City lines (which will receive new rolling stock before the Central line).

The London Borough of Hillingdon is planning to lobby TfL to extend the line to Uxbridge, linking the Central line to the Metropolitan and Picadilly lines near Ruislip depot. TfL has stated that the link would become viable only when the Metropolitan line's signalling is upgraded near 2017.

The developers of the First Central business park at Park Royal, west London, were planning a new station between North Acton and Hanger Lane. This would have served the business park and provide a walking distance interchange with Park Royal station on the Piccadilly line. This is not being actively pursued. London Underground has said that the transport benefits of a Park Royal station on the Central line are not sufficiently high to justify the costs of construction.