Oral Answers to Questions

Bob Blackman Excerpts

Thursday 15th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We started late because of the preliminary announcements, so we can run on slightly, but we must have much shorter questions from now on. To be honest, questions today have been simply far too long.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

10. What plans he has for expansion of the proposed Crossrail network.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard)]

There are no current plans to extend the Crossrail route. Any proposed extension would require a strong business case, and would need to be in the best interests of rail passengers.

[Bob Blackman]

Crossrail is on budget and on time, and will dramatically reduce journey times across London. The one area of the capital that does not benefit from it is north-west London, and Harrow and Wealdstone in particular. Will my hon. Friend look at the business case for expanding the network so that all Londoners can benefit from Crossrail?

[Paul Maynard]

My hon. Friend is right to point out the connectivity benefits of Crossrail. I know that it has looked at the possibility of an extension through Harrow and Wealdstone, which he has been campaigning for, and into Hertfordshire, to join the west coast main line there. That was found by Crossrail, Transport for London and Network Rail to offer poor value for money, so we are not taking it forward at this time, but of course we always keep the issue under review.