Crossrail is vitally important to London and to the UK. It will:
· provide much-needed new rail capacity through London, providing greater accessibility to high value job opportunities;
· relieve overcrowding on current lines in the area, improving quality of the public transport experience; and
· provide numerous regeneration benefits, including greater access to East London.
Crossrail is London’s key infrastructure project and is integral to any plan involving future transport capacity management in London. It will support London’s role in the UK economy and the long-term development of the City, Isle of Dogs and the Thames Gateway. Research by Cross London Rail Links (CLRL) and DfT, and independently reviewed, has assessed the GDP increase resulting from Crossrail at between £17-24 billion net, on conservative assumptions. Crossrail is a 50/50 joint venture between the DfT and TfL.
From the time construction begins, it will take approximately 8-9 years for Crossrail to start operations.
The Crossrail Bill was presented on 22 February 2005, together with supporting documentation. The Bill was carried over during the general election, and was re-presented on 18 May. A further (supplementary) environmental statement was submitted on 26 May.
The GLA and TfL welcome the fact that the Government made time for the Second Reading of the Crossrail Bill. In order to progress this vitally important project for London, three key issues urgently need resolution:
Crossrail’s Route
Following the decision in November 2004 to run trains to Abbey Wood rather than all the way to Ebbsfleet, Crossrail will operate between Maidenhead and Heathrow in the West and Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the East.
The route to Ebbsfleet continues to be safeguarded to allow for future extension when appropriate. However, the connection between the North Kent Line and Crossrail at Abbey Wood will involve simply crossing a platform.
The government has also indicated that it is considering whether to safeguard the route between Maidenhead and Reading.
Key Benefits
London‘s population is forecast to grow by 800,000 by 2016 and levels of employment by over 600,000. Additional transport capacity is vital to ensure access to jobs and housing and to relieve rising demand on the existing network. Crossrail is forecast to be used by a total of 152,000 passengers in the morning peak period in 2016, with 24 trains per hour peak service in both directions. In addition, it will help London meet its need for housing by enabling higher density development, particularly in the Thames Gateway.
Crossrail will establish a brand new network of services linking areas across London and beyond. This will allow existing suburban rail services to run through London, reducing overcrowding on Underground lines and reducing congestion at a number of busy national rail stations. Crossrail will therefore provide a major boost to the development of London’s integrated transport network, affording 22 major interchanges with other national rail, LU and/or DLR stations, with 44 stations being served in total.
Benefits will be felt at a national level through Crossrail’s use by commuters over a wide area of the South East, South West and East of England. The economic benefits of the project will also be felt nationwide, as Crossrail supports jobs in manufacturing, engineering, construction and services across the country.
Funding and Business Support
Proposals on both funding and financing of the project have been put forward by the Mayor and TfL. These proposals are awaiting a decision from Government. In a written statement to Parliament in July 2004, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that a consultation on ‘Alternative Funding Mechanisms’ for Crossrail would be carried out before this summer.
Although debate at Second Reading will inevitably touch on funding issues, it is important to note that as a Hybrid Bill the Crossrail Bill does not deal with funding matters.
Notwithstanding the concern of the business community to ensure that the right funding structure is put in place, business support for Crossrail remains very strong. There is an expectation within the business community that the consultation on Crossrail funding is imminent.
Local Issues
There are points along the route where local people, the boroughs and other public transport users are concerned about aspects of the design, construction or operation of Crossrail. For an infrastructure project of this type and size, such concerns are inevitable. However, Crossrail’s design has sought to minimise negative impacts.
The Hybrid Bill process allows people and organisations concerned with specific aspects of the project to raise these matters through petitioning before a Select Committee. Their concerns will be considered by Parliament alongside the Bill.
‘Alternatives’ to Crossrail
Over time, various alternatives to the Crossrail proposal have been advanced, including the ‘Superlink’ scheme. Superlink has been carefully reviewed (see SuperCrossrail and Superlink Update Report, May 2005, at www.crossrail.co.uk) and it has been concluded that it is not a feasible option and does not merit further analysis. There are huge question marks over operational issues, passenger numbers, financial matters, and environmental and planning issues.
While other alternatives to Crossrail may be possible, those that have been proposed have already been considered and discounted in the process of arriving at the current Crossrail project. Given the need to bring forward the Crossrail scheme so that its benefits can be obtained, there is no merit in further consideration of alternatives – instead, energy should be focussed on progressing the scheme that has been developed and put forward by the Crossrail team.
For further information please contact: Rob Davies, Head of Stakeholder Relations, TfL, 020 7941 4916
