Morning:
8°c
BAA commits to Crossrail with £230m funding package
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent04.11.08
MINISTERS today sought to allay fears that Crossrail could be delayed by announcing that airport giant BAA will pay £230 million towards the project.
Concerns had been rising that the City would be reluctant to contribute to the £16 billion rail line as the country heads into recession.
But transport minister Lord Adonis today unveiled the funding deal with BAA which includes a fast train four times an hour for most of the day from Heathrow to central London, the City and Canary Wharf, as well as Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
The Crossrail services will be in addition to the four trains per hour non-stop Heathrow Express services into Paddington. However it will replace the existing Heathrow Connect stopping service from Terminal 4 to Paddington.
Lord Adonis said: "Crossrail is the largest addition to the transport network in 50 years, and today's announcement that BAA have confirmed a £230 million funding package for the project represents a major step towards its delivery."
BAA's strategy director Mike Forster said: "This vital new link will directly connect the City and Canary Wharf to the airport, complementing our existing Heathrow Express service and taking thousands of cars off the roads. Crossrail will be crucial in keeping London and the UK globally competitive."
Legal documents had suggested that BAA's contribution could have been as high as £250 million, though Department for Transport officials stressed that the £230 million matched expectation.
The Standard revealed in August that BAA had not yet signed up to putting more than £200 million into the Crossrail pot and last month also reported that a September deadline for the Department for Transport and London Mayor Boris Johnson to agree the details of the overall funding deal had been missed.
Only last week, experts were warning that the package may have to be restructured as £3.5 billion from a supplementary business rate on London businesses may prove very hard to raise. The two other main funding sources for the rail scheme, due to open in 2017, are £2.7billion to be borrowed on the back of future rail fares and £5.1billion from the Government.
The Government estimates that the construction and other Crossrail work will give a £20 billion boost to the UK economy and create 30,000 jobs. The BAA contribution will be paid in two instalments, linked to progress on a new rail flyover on viaducts at Stockley near Heathrow.
The new line will run from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
New stations will be created at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel and the Isle of Dogs at Canary Wharf.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "All parties are committed to Crossrail's success, and together we will deliver it on time and on budget."
Reader views (4)
This news is just an obvious sop to the Government to enable the third runway at Heathrow to go ahead against the wishes of the people - do they really think that people won't see through this bit of political opportunism?
- Tim B, Addlestone
Could this be a sweetner for the third runway.
Just a thought.
- R Smith, london
This is excellent news and helps to prove that Crossrail will be built.
If the govrernment wants to show its commitment then it should give the go-ahead to electrification of the main lines from Paddington to Maidenhead as this can proceed seperate from the tunnelling. On benefit could be electric trains into Paddington by 2015 with gradual transfer to Crossrail tunnels as they were completed.
A similar approach could be applied in the east side with construction of the Isle of Dogs Station at Canary Whalf also starting early.
Perhaps signs re Crossrail should have been erected at Tottenham Court Road where roadworks are underway to move utillities ahead of the main construction work.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
How very convenient - this news comes just as some MPs are starting to question BAA's legitimacy in protecting its business interests by trashing part of west London, increasing noise and air pollution and damaging our planet.
- Austen, London
