Ministers & Mayor Must Come Clean On Crossrail Funding

1.59.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 23rd Jul 2004

Proposed Crossrail map - west London section

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesman Lynne Featherstone today called for the Mayor and the Labour Party to come clean about whether Council Tax or Tube, train, bus or tram fares would have to rise to pay for the Crossrail project.

Following the Committee meeting in which Crossrail chiefs were unable to detail how the project would be fully funded, Lynne Featherstone said:- "Ministers have failed to tell Londoners how the Crossrail scheme is expected to be paid for. With less than a fifth of the needed cash put on the table by central Government to fund the scheme, it is time that the Mayor and the Labour Party came clean and told us whether we will have to face fare hikes or Council Tax increases in order to pay for Crossrail.

"Crossrail has received all party backing from day one so that London will get the East West rail link that it so desperately needs. However, London's commuters and Council Tax payers have a right to know how much it will finally cost them to get the scheme built."

Ends

Notes

The east-west rail link proposed for the capital has been estimated to cost around £10.72billion to complete (Table 1, Para 48, Montague Report). The Montague Report, commissioned by Government to assess Crossrail's affordability, reported this week that fares paid by all London transport users might have to rise by 1%, which would raise only £175 million.

The Montague Report, which was commissioned by the Government to examine the cost of Crossrail, the extent of Government funding for the project and whether the scheme would provide value for money, identified an £8 billion funding gap.