§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what progress has been made on the proposals for integrating London Underground's sub-surface lines with the national railway network; and if he will make a statement. [101288]
§ Mr. PrescottI announced in June that Railtrack and London Transport would be investigating the scope for taking forward two specific integration schemes, running East-West and North-South, and, on that basis, Railtrack would bid for the PPP contract to maintain and upgrade the Underground lines in question.
Railtrack and London Transport have not found it possible to identify a practicable scheme to integrate the Tube and the national railway network on an East-West axis on the basis and timetable envisaged in June. All the options would have involved a connection through Paddington. This has highlighted a number of issues relating to constraints on capacity in the Paddington approaches, not least in the light of the Ladbroke Grove tragedy.
Accordingly, the Government, Railtrack and London Transport have together agreed that there is no longer sufficient basis for an exclusive PPP negotiation between London Transport and Railtrack on the sub-surface lines and links with the national railway.
Competitions for the two deep-tube PPPs are well underway and London Transport will now commence a competition for the sub-surface PPP structure so as to leave open the option of integration from the west of London at some point in the future.
The work so far has confirmed the validity of an integration scheme on a North-South axis, based on extending the London Underground East London Line to North London from Whitechapel, and to south and south-west London from Canada Water and New Cross. I have asked Sir Alastair Morton and the shadow Strategic Rail Authority to advise me as soon as possible on the best way of implementing North-South integration taking into account the parallels with Thameslink, and the need to obtain the necessary approvals.
I have also asked Sir Alastair Morton and the shadow Strategic Rail Authority to undertake a wide-ranging study of the capacity issues and potential for integration to the west of London. The shadow Strategic Rail Authority will be working closely with Railtrack and LT in undertaking these studies.
Railtrack and Government will of course continue to work together on a range of initiatives based on our plans for a growing railway, which will mean Railtrack 208W delivering a large programme of infrastructure projects to improve the capacity and quality of the network, not least in major works such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.