§ Lord Beaverbrookasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have reached a decision on the eastern alignment of the proposed Jubilee Line extension.
§ Viscount DavidsonFollowing further work and negotiations with property developers and landowners, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State is pleased to be able to authorise LRT to seek the leave of the House for the deposit of an additional provision to re-route the Jubliee Line extension from Canary Wharf to Canning Town via Greenwich Point.
The East London Rail Study, which was announced in July last year, identified two possible alignments for the Jubilee Line extension between Canary Wharf and Canning Town either via Greenwich Point or via the Brunswick Foreshore. The pressure of a November deadline for LTR to deposit a Bill for the extension made it necesary to take a decision as early as September to plan on the basis of the shorter and cheaper alignment via Brunswick. The Bill which my right honourable friend authorised in November was drafted on that basis.
However, since then, further discussions have been held with property developers and landowners whose interests would be affected by both alignments to ascertain whether they would be prepared to meet the additional costs of providing a station and changing the route, as necessary. Each of the interested groups has offered to contribute on this basis but the financial case for proceeding with the Greenwich alignment is more robust and offers a number of additional benefits. It is essential to secure the regeneration of the industrial wasteland in the Greenwich Peninsula and above all, by providing two further river crossings it will open up new areas in south London to the Underground network. I am sure this announcement will be welcome in those areas.