(10 years, 4 months ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Stephen Hammond)
In January the Prime Minister joined me at Tottenham Court Road to mark 50% completion of the Crossrail project. The Crossrail project has now moved into the peak of its construction phase. There are over 11,000 people working at over 40 sites across London. Four of the tunnel boring machines have completed their journeys and the new rail tunnels are over 80% complete including the Thames tunnel. The final tunnel drives are now under way and tunnelling should be completed by next spring. Construction is also progressing on the 10 new Crossrail stations and on works above ground west of Paddington and east of Stratford.
In the past year we have made great progress in many different areas of the project. Last July we announced that there would be a Crossrail station in Woolwich which is now the catalyst for the regeneration of the surrounding area, attracting investment from businesses and developers and supporting our plans for long-term economic growth.
In February the joint sponsors announced the contract to provide the rolling stock and depot was awarded to Bombardier UK plc. The contract covers the supply, delivery and maintenance of 66 new trains and a depot at Old Oak Common. This will support 760 UK manufacturing jobs plus 80 apprenticeships building the trains in Derby. The construction of the maintenance depot at Old Oak Common will see 244 jobs plus 16 apprenticeships supported when fully operational.
This is just one part of the contribution Crossrail is making to economic growth across the United Kingdom. It is estimated that during the construction phase the project will generate at least 75,000 business opportunities and support the equivalent of 55,000 full-time jobs around the UK. Firms from across the United Kingdom are winning business from the project. Sixty-two per cent of the suppliers winning work are outside London and over half (58%) are small and medium-sized enterprises. Ninety-seven per cent of Crossrail’s contracts are based in the United Kingdom.
We have also announced that Crossrail will now be extended to Reading. The extension of Crossrail services to Reading will achieve the best use of capacity on the Great Western line while also offering greater flexibility for future timetabled services.
The National Audit Office published their report on the project in February and this found that taxpayers’ interest in the Crossrail programme has so far been well protected. A Public Accounts Committee hearing held on 9 April supported those findings.
As we move towards the operational phase of the project, work is progressing on the appointment of the operator of the Crossrail services. Transport for London expect to announce the award of the Crossrail train operating concession later this year.
The Crossrail board continues to forecast that the costs of constructing Crossrail will be within the agreed funding limits. We expect Crossrail to cost no more than £14.5 billion (excluding rolling stock costs).
During the passage of the Crossrail Bill through Parliament, a commitment was given that a statement would be published at least every 12 months until the completion of the construction of Crossrail, setting out information about the project’s funding and finances.
In line with this commitment, this statement comes within 12 months of my last one which was published on 9 July 2013. The relevant information is as follows:
Total funding amounts provided to Crossrail Ltd by the Department for Transport and Transport for London in relation to the construction of Crossrail to the end of the period—22 July 2008 to 29 May 2014. | £5,981,006,3091 |
Expenditure incurred (including committed land and property spend not yet paid out) by Crossrail Ltd in relation to the construction of Crossrail in the period—30 May 2013 to 29 May 2014 (excluding recoverable VAT on land and property purchases. | £1,576,835,000 |
Total expenditure incurred (including committed land and property spend not yet paid out) by Crossrail Ltd in relation to the construction of Crossrail to the end of the period—22 July 2008 to 29 May 2014 (excluding recoverable VAT on land and property puchases). | £6,011,730,000 |
The amounts realised by the disposal of any land or property for the purposes of the construction of Crossrail by the Secretary of State, TFL or Crossrail Ltd in the period covered by this statement. | Nil |
The total funding amounts provided to CRL by the Department for Transport and Transport for London refer to the expenditure drawn down from the Sponsor Funding Account in the period 22 July 2008 and 29 May 2014. Included within the amount of £5,981,006, 309 that was drawn down from the Sponsor Funding Account is £498,780, 936 of interim funding that has been provided to Network Rail to finance their delivery of the On-Network Works between 1 April 2009 and 29 May 2014. |
The numbers above are drawn from Crossrail Ltd’s books of account and have been prepared on a consistent basis with the update provided last year. The figure for expenditure incurred includes moneys already paid out in relevant periods, including committed land and property expenditure where this has not yet been paid. It does not include future expenditure on construction contracts that have been awarded.