§ Baroness Hanhamasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the current position with regard to Crossrail. [HL1035]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)At this stage no decisions have been made about the detailed service patterns of a Crossrail link or which destinations would be served. The current position is that the London East West Study report, produced in December 2000 by the Strategic Rail Authority in consultation with Transport for London and other interested parties, identified a number of service options for a cross London rail link. The report was considered by the High-Level Group which was set up to develop a co-ordinated approach to London rail projects. My right honourable friend the Minister for Transport chairs this group, which also includes the Mayor of London, the Commissioner for Transport in London and the Chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority. In May, the group decided, following additional appraisal of the SRA report, that work should start immediately on project definition and design development of a central, cross-London rail link.
The project definition work is being taken forward and jointly by the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London through Cross London Rail Links Ltd (CLRL). It was recently announced that Sir 99WA Christopher Benson had been appointed Chairman of CLRL. All potential route options are being examined in this stage. The project definition exercise will include extensive consultation with local authorities, regional development agencies and other interested parties before any recommendations on service patterns and routes are made to the High-Level Group. We hope that CLRL will be in a position to put a short list of options to the High-Level Group next spring, with a specific recommendation next autumn.