§ Mr. ArbuthnotTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made on the east London rail study.
§ Mr. ParkinsonThe Department's consultants, Halcrow Fox and Associates (HFA), have today issued a report on the east London rail study. Their preferred option for a second line to the Docklands is an extension to the Jubilee line from Green Park via Waterloo, London Bridge and Canary wharf to Stratford. The line might be routed via either Greenwich point or Brunswick foreshore.
No decisions have yet been taken on whether the proposed line should be built. HFA estimates that the total cost of the new line would be of the order of £900 million at late 1988 prices. We shall need to consider the findings of the report, and in particular how the line would be financed. As we have already made clear the line would only be built if sufficient contributions are forthcoming from property developers and other landowners who would benefit.
LRT has already begun consultations with local authorities and other interested parties about these proposals. I have agreed that, in order that a Bill could be deposited this autumn to seek the necessary parliamentary powers, further work should concentrate on the recommended alignment running from Green Park via Waterloo to London Bridge rather than the alternative which might start from Charing Cross and run via Ludgate Circus.