The Secretary of State for Transport today ruled that a Crossrail station should not be sited at Woolwich because the £200m cost was not “justified”.
The decision, which will be a major blow to regeneration plans for some of east London’s poorest areas, follows a House of Commons Select Committee recommendation last July that a new Crossrail station should be added to the east-west London rail-link’s route at Woolwich.
The Cross-Party Committee argued that it was “essential for the regeneration of some of the poorest wards in the United Kingdom.”
However, the Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander, today ruled that the extra cost of adding a station at Woolwich could endanger the project as a whole.
He said: “It is vital to continue to develop a Crossrail project that can be delivered in order to secure the benefits that it will bring.”
Nick Raynsford, MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, was quick to condemn the decision.
“The Secretary of State’s rejection of the Select Committee’s unanimous recommendation is crass, short-sighted and shameful. It flies in the face of the evidence and demonstrates contempt for the Parliamentary process.
“The campaign for a Woolwich station, which has won widespread support from business, local residents and transport and regeneration experts, will now redouble its efforts to secure the outcome which all sensible observers recognise as right and necessary.”
References: EGi News 11/10/06
