London’s ú16 billion rail project cleared
Visitors to London will be relieved to know the days of being squashed on the crowded Tube system when arriving at Heathrow Airport will soon, or in 10 years or so, be over, following approval of a '16 billion ($32.6 billion) rail link through the center of the city.
Gordon Brown, the new British Prime Minister, on Friday approved the 118.5-kilometer (73.6 miles) Crossrail project that will link the airport with locations in the west and east of England and will provide 24 trains per hour at peak times into the heart of London.
Construction is due to start in 2010 with the first trains expected to run in 2017. It will be Europe’s largest civil engineering project, and is designed to free up the capital city’s congested transport network and maintain the city’s status as one of the world’s leading financial centers. The line is projected to add 10 percent to London’s overall transport capacity and even more to the financial districts such as Canary Wharf.
“Crossrail is key to the long term development of London and the U.K. and I welcome the fact that everyone has worked together to achieve this,” Brown said.
Ruth Kelly, Transport Secretary, said: “Incredible work has gone into securing a Crossrail funding deal that has eluded all previous governments. Today’s announcement paves the way for a rail link that will give a lasting transport legacy to London for centuries to come.”
The government estimates say that Crossrail will add at least '20 billion ($40.8 billion) to the U.K. economy and support an expected 30,000 new jobs by 2026, 14,000 of which will be involved in the line’s construction. Full details of the cost of the project will be set out in an upcoming spending review, but fundamentally it will be split equally between the Government, future fare-payers, and the private sector.
The Parliamentary Bill that will give the necessary powers to construct Crossrail is expected to get Royal Assent next summer.