§ Lord Rowallanasked Her Majesty's Government:
What consideration has been given to extending the London Underground system to London City airport; and [HL154]
Why the Jubilee Line extension did not go to London City airport en route to Canning Town. [HL155]
§ Lord WhittyThe 1989 East London Rail Study, commissioned by the then Department of Transport and which led to the decision to develop the extension of the Jubilee Line, examined two main alignment options in east London. The first was a route to Woolwich Arsenal via the Royal Docks and the second a route to Stratford via Canning Town. The Stratford route was forecast to attract substantially more passengers than one through the Royal Docks, was cheaper to construct and would link to a future Channel Tunnel Rail Link station.
For the Jubilee Line extension to serve London City airport en route to Canning Town and Stratford would have necessitated a significant detour of the alignment, with substantial additional costs. The decision was taken, therefore, to route the Jubilee Line extension to Stratford. However, the design of North Greenwich station did allow for possible future construction of a Jubilee Line branch to the Royal Docks. In addition, the new Jubilee Line extension transport interchange at Canning Town features an integral bus station which will incorporate facilities for a dedicated shuttle bus link to the airport.
122WAThe Docklands Light Railway, as part of its plans to assist in the regeneration of east London, has developed proposals for an extension to London City airport. The Deputy Prime Minister gave the go-ahead in principle for this extension on 17 June 1998. The agreement in principle is subject to the Secretary of State's consideration of an application for an order which will be made under the Transport and Works Act 1992.