FOI request Windmill Lane Level crossing, Cheshunt
Request ID: FOI-1300-2223 Date published: 20 September 2022
You asked
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am a ____ with many years’ experience of level crossings.
I understand that Crossrail 2 has been investigating the options for closure of Windmill Lane Level crossing at Cheshunt.
I would be grateful if you could send me pdf electronic and/or paper copies of any investigations or reports: -
1. The safety case for closure, including the safety limitations of the existing railway and alternative do nothing or improvement options; &
2. The operational case for closure, including the capacity limitations of the existing railway and alternative do nothing or improvement options,
The crossing is a Public Highway Manually Controlled Barriers (locally monitored by CCTV) with latitude & longitude reference: 51.703218,-0.023745 and an ELR reference and mileage BGK0-014.0175.
We answered
TfL Ref: 1300-2223 Thank you for your request received by us on 22 August 2022 asking for information about the proposed Crossrail 2 project and the Windmill Lane Level crossing at Cheshunt.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for: pdf electronic and/or paper copies of any investigations or reports: -
The safety case for closure, including the safety limitations of the existing railway and alternative do nothing or improvement options; &
The operational case for closure, including the capacity limitations of the existing railway and alternative do nothing or improvement options,
The crossing is a Public Highway Manually Controlled Barriers (locally monitored by CCTV) with latitude & longitude reference: 51.703218,-0.023745 and an ELR reference and mileage BGK0-014.0175. As part of the proposals to take forward Crossrail 2, the project team looked at options for closing a number of level crossings north of Tottenham Hale including Windmill Lane. Cheshunt. In the planned Crossrail 2 scenario these level crossings would be impractical to retain as the barriers would be closed to road traffic for substantially longer periods of time than at present and due to the increased number of trains running on the tracks; potentially 12-20 trains per hour of which 10-12 trains could be Crossrail 2 services. Closing these level crossings would also reduce the risk to both users of the crossings and rail passengers. The level crossing on Windmill Lane currently provides access from the west side of the railway to the Lee Valley Regional Park, Lee Valley Youth Hostel, Herts Young Mariners Outdoor Centre, and residential properties to the east of the crossing. In addition, there is the proximity of residential properties and Cheshunt station to the existing crossing location, proximity to the Lee Valley Regional Park and the Turnford and Cheshunt Pits Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI) to the north east and the lack of existing alternative road or pedestrian access to the eastern side of the crossing. Therefore whilst the challenges are broadly known, further work - including the safety case together with the operational case for any future level crossing closure proposal and any alternative ways to cross the railway will require further examination before a scheme is taken forward. We can advise that further information about why the Crossrail 2 project is looking at Level Crossing proposals including that at Windmill Lane is provided on the official Crossrail 2 website via: https://crossrail2.co.uk/level-crossings/ Transport for London does not hold information on the safety case for closure nor the operational case for case for closure as referenced in our request, as these are held by Network Rail. Furthermore, studies of the scheme design for the Crossrail 2 project were undertaken by Network Rail, which were also part of the Crossrail 2 Integrated Project Team. Network Rail can be contacted at: [email protected]. Crossrail 2 can also be approached by completing their feedback form here: https://crossrail2.co.uk/contact/ Please find attached a copy of the Windmill Lane L6-L7 Southern Level Crossing Change Report, which provides a suggested option rather than final outcome of Crossrail 2, which like the rest of this project has yet to be agreed with the Department for Transport.
Please also note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), some personal data has been removed from this report, as required by regulation 13 of the EIR. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle of the GDPR, which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions which would make the processing ‘fair’.
This exception to the right of access to information is an absolute exception and not subject to an assessment of whether the public interest favours use of the exemption. Additionally, a number of redactions have been made under EIR exception 12(5)(e) (which states that a public authority may refuse to disclose information to the extent that its disclosure would adversely affect the confidentiality of commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is provided by law to protect a legitimate economic interest). The redacted material contains commercially sensitive information relating to property land value, maintenance land value and operational budgets. We consider that disclosing this information into the public domain would severely diminish our ability to negotiate competitively and potentially prevent us securing best value for public funds in the future should the project go ahead. As with all regulations under EIR, the application of exception 12(5)(e) is subject to consideration of a public interest test. We believe that the public interest is best served in this instance by ensuring that TfL is able to obtain the best value for money for this project proposal. Any unanticipated increase to the cost of the scheme would ultimately be paid for by the public purse. We believe this outweighs the general public interest in releasing the material. In reaching this conclusion we have drawn on a recent decision from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that can be found on its website here: https://ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/decision-notices/2019/2614355/fer0755263.pdf If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. Yours sincerely Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
