§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the projected cost is of the revised Channel Tunnel Rail Link II; how much of this will be(a) public and (b) private finance; how many extra train paths per hour it is estimated will be provided (i) between St. Pancras-Kings Cross and Fawkham Junction and (ii) between Fawkham Junction and the Channel Tunnel; when it is expected that tunnelling for CTRL II will be completed; and when work on the remodelled St. Pancras-Kings Cross International station will be completed. [157463]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 9 April 2001]: Following the collapse of the original 1996 agreement with London and Continental Railways and the re-structuring of the deal in 1998, the total cost of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is expected to be £5.2 billion in outturn (ie nominal) prices. Section 1 is expected to cost £1.9 billion and Section 2 £3.3 billion.
Government will provide grants of £2.3 billion for the construction of Section 2. Thus up to the completion of construction £2.3 billion of funding will be public and £1 billion private sector. Government will also receive land rental payments from leasing the land on which the CTRL is built to the Concession holder.
When complete the full length of the CTRL will allow for up to six Eurostar paths per hour, eight paths reserved for the Domestic Operator, two Open Access paths and paths for high speed freight.
The current Section 2 programme shows tunnelling to be completed in June 2005 and work at St. Pancras in March 2006. The Section 2 of the CTRL is expected to open and services to start running in 2007.