§ The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Dr. Kim Howells)I have asked for a review of the final phase of the planned development of the London Underground station at King's Cross.
The Department is funding works being undertaken by London Underground to deliver a significantly enhanced Underground station at King's Cross, in order to assist dispersal of passengers from the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and in part to meet the recommendations of the Fennell Inquiry into the 1987 King's Cross fire.
The works under way to improve the existing Underground ticket hall and to construct a new Western Ticket Hall are not affected by the review. They will deliver a significant increase in capacity and meet the Fennell recommendations, and are on course to be delivered by the beginning of 2007.
Progress with the final phase of the works, involving construction of a new Northern Ticket Hall, is at a much less advanced stage. The cost has roundly doubled since 1999, to something of the order of £250 million. I have concluded that the case for proceeding with these works should be reviewed before further significant expenditure is undertaken.
I have therefore asked Mott Parsons Gibb, the Department's technical advisers for the CTRL project, to undertake a thorough review of the case for the Northern Ticket Hall works, in consultation with key 56WS stakeholders who might be affected by a change in the current plans, and to report back to me by the summer on the options and their practical, operational, and financial implications.