§ Mr. BellinghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate she has made of the impact on businesses in London and the south-east of(a) a decision not to go ahead with the Crossrail project and (b) the delays which have been experienced to that project; and if she will make a statement. [124735]
§ Mr. McNultyI have been asked to reply.
The business case proposals for the east-west Crossrail project, which have been submitted to the Department by Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), include an appraisal of the impact of a decision to go ahead against a wide range of criteria, including the economy. This is an extremely complex issue, which is the subject of continuing discussions between CLRL and the Government.
We are not aware of any estimates of the impact of the delay caused by the failure to secure parliamentary approval for a private Bill, deposited in November 1991, which had sought powers to build an earlier version of the scheme.