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Crossrail link to Reading hangs in the balance
Jason Beattie24 Dec 2007
A decision on whether to extend the £16billion Crossrail scheme to Reading will be made in the New Year, it emerged today.
Transport minister Tom Harris is looking at whether the cross-London rail line can be linked to Reading without significantly increasing the cost of the project.
The decision is understood to be "evenly balanced".
Construction on the long-delayed project will start in 2010 with the first trains running in 2017.
The 74-mile route stretches from Maidenhead in the east to Canary Wharf and beyond by way of Heathrow, the West End and the City.
With the scheme expected to benefit the economy by as much as £68billion over the next few decades, Ministers have faced sustained lobbying from MPs anxious for their constituencies to be linked to the route.
Extending the line to Reading could be done without having to amend the Crossrail Bill, which has just passed through the House of Commons.
One possibility is to give the goahead to the extension in principle but not guaranteeing it will be built until finances are clearer.
Reader views (1)
The logic for continuing the link to Reading is overwhelming. Reading has in place an expansion plan for the station that according to all estimations will double it's train handling capabilities by increasing the platform tally to 14. This in conjunction with its direct connections with the rest of Britain and the fastrack plans to the airports it serves makes it ideal.
Strategically it must be ideal but to add to this it also has the room available to handle the empty stock, this is in the space to the west of the station, currently totally empty sidings from the days when it entertained considerable freight handling. This land is already in the hands of Rail-track so land acquisition might not be a requirement. When you look at the Maidenhead site it is hard to believe it was ever in the frame, being of only five platforms, two of which cannot be used as they are on the up and down main line. Land acquisition at the existing station is none existent and if found eslewhere would be very costly.
- Peter Jordan, Reading, 04/01/2008 20:26
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