DID WE GET IT RIGHT?
In this extract from The Railway Metropolis, a fascinating new book on London from MICHAEL SCHABAS, we present his views on the JLE – a project with which he was intimately acquainted
While the Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) bill was going through Parliament, London Transport (LT) was developing detailed engineering plans and inviting bids from contractors. LT chairman Wilfrid Newton, formerly chairman of Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway, recruited Russell Black, a New Zealand-born engineer who had worked on underground rail projects in Hong Kong and Singapore. Black led the team that set up offices in Broadway Buildings, across the street from LT headquarters.
The LT JLE team mobilised in early 1990, anticipating a fast-tracked 16-month programme so that construction could start immediately after the bill received Royal Assent, which was then expected for July 1991.
With a 53-month construction programme, including trial running, the line would open at the end of 1995. This was considered ‘ambitious but achievable’ based on the experience of team members in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The project team’s initial work was presented to the Secretary of State for Transport on 18 May 1990. At …
