London Crossrail Proposals (Hansard, 8 October 1990)

§ The Minister of State, Department of Transport (Lord Brabazon of Tara)
My Lords, the Government have been considering the case for the East-West Crossrail and the Chelsea-Hackney Line in the public expenditure round. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State hopes to make an announcement shortly.

§ Lord Erroll of Hale
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that very cautious reply. Does he realise that time is short if a Private Bill for either of those 2 construction schemes is to appear in the forthcoming Session? A Private Bill must be deposited by 27th November, after which there is a matter of only some eight working weeks for petitions to be lodged. Will the Minister please ensure that the urgency of the settlement of this matter is fully appreciated?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords, I shall certainly pass on my noble friend's anxieties about the preparation of a Bill to my right honourable friend.

§ Lord Underhill
My Lords, does the Minister recall that the crossrail projects were supported in a preface by the then Secretary of State for Transport to the Central London Rail Study published on 19th January 1989? Does he also recall that the study criticised the Jubilee Line as producing the least cash benefit in terms of reducing congestion of any of the schemes? Similar comments were made by the House of Commons Transport Committee in the report which it published on 25th July this year. Why have the crossrail proposals continually been ignored up to now?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, we were not in a position to take decisions on the CLRS lines when the go-ahead was given for the Jubilee Line. It is important to remember that either of the two schemes mentioned in my noble friend's Question would be very expensive. The East-West Crossrail is costed at £1.4 billion at March 1990 prices and the Chelsea-Hackney Line at £1.8 billion. Either would represent a massive additional commitment on top of the record £3.4 billion which London Transport and Network SouthEast plan to spend in the next three years.

§ Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone
My Lords, for the benefit of the less well-informed among us, will my noble friend say in a single sentence what are the proposed underground crossrail links?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
Yes, my Lords. One is the proposed East-West Crossrail. That is a proposal for a line from Paddington eastwards towards the City. The other is an underground line from Chelsea to Hackney.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, is the Minister aware that both lines are crucial to producing a transport strategy for London which will take people out of their motor cars and put them on to public transport? Is not this piecemeal approach to London transport causing chaos in the city?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
No, my Lords, I do not agree that it is a piecemeal approach. I have already mentioned the enormous amount of investment which is going ahead. Either of the new lines would be in addition to that investment. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State said only last November that because of the high cost of the lines and the likely level of disruption that would result from their construction only one of the two lines would be built at any one time.

§ Lord Taylor of Gryfe
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the cost of any such new arrangements for London transport is immense, and that it might be more sensible, socially and economically, if a much more aggressive regional policy were followed in order to decentralise government and industrial activity?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, with respect, that question strays from the Question on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, are the Government not aware that the disruption that would be caused by putting in those lines is far less than the disruption which is already being caused by not putting them in?

§ Lord Brabazon of Tara
My Lords, disruption would definitely be caused by the construction of either or both of those lines whenever that happens, and it is best that they should not both be built at once.