WITHOUT BILL, CROSSRAIL COULD BE SHUNTED BACK INTO THE SIDINGS

12.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 20th Jun 2005

Liberal Democrats at the London Assembly have today reacted with alarm that the proposed date for the Second Reading of the Crossrail Bill has been postponed.

The Crossrail Hybrid Bill was due for its Second Reading later today but Ministers have now removed it from the Order Paper, leaving questions about whether the Bill will continue its passage through the Commons.

In the run up to the General Election, Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone both pledged that the funding package for Crossrail would be published after the election had taken place, but no details have so far emerged. Ministers also pledged that the Crossrail Bill would be one of the first pieces of legislation to be debated when the Commons reconvened after the General Election.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, Geoff Pope, said:

"The introduction of the Crossrail Hybrid Bill was a welcome hesitant step towards building Crossrail. But without a commitment to a Second Reading or to stumping up the cash, the Crossrail project could end up being shunted back into the sidings.

"Londoners have a right to know why Ministers have postponed this Bill.

"It may be that the horror with which the major players in the rail industry have greeted the terms of the Hybrid Bill may give a clue to the its mysterious disappearance.

"With less than a fifth of the needed cash put on the table by central Government to fund the scheme, it is also 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