Department for Transport

Adrian Montague announces terms of reference for Crossrail
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date 24 Sep 2003 00:00
source Department for Transport
type Press release

Adrian Montague, head of the expert team reviewing the Business Case for Crossrail announced today the terms of reference for the review.

The review team will examine the Crossrail Business Case drawn up by Cross-London Rail Links Ltd (CLRL), a joint venture between the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London.

Adrian Montague said:

"I am pleased to announce the detailed terms of reference that Alistair Darling has given me for the review of the Crossrail Business Case.

Crossrail has the potential to improve journeys on public transport across a wide area of London and the South East. But the costs are very high: the scheme put forward by CLRL is forecast to cost up to £10 billion, and that's before any finance costs.

Alistair has asked me to look closely at CLRL's proposals to see whether they are deliverable and, if so, whether they are likely to provide proper value for money. As part of the review, I have been asked to explore how much of the very large cost of this scheme might be justified from the taxpayer and how much might be raised from non-Government sources. I shall also consider whether there are any other ways of delivering a Crossrail project that would offer better performance than the proposals set out in CLRL's Business Case.

I have been asked to report as soon as practicable. I hope to do so around the turn of the year."

Notes to Editors

Cross-London Rail Links Ltd (CLRL) submitted its Business Case for the Crossrail project to the Department for Transport on 11 July 2003. The Business Case summary document is available on their website (http://www.crossrail.co.uk).

Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, made a statement to Parliament on 14 July, commenting on the CLRL Business Case. In his statement, he confirmed that the Government sees merit in the arguments for such an increase in East-West capacity to support London's continued growth and success.

Expert Review Team

Adrian Montague CBE is Deputy Chairman of Network Rail and Chairman of the Network Rail Property Board. He is also Chairman of British Energy plc and of Michael Page International plc.

The review team will also include Hugh Norie OBE FREng who leads Mott Parsons Gibb, the Government's Project Representative for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. He is Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and also directed the civil works design team for the UK half of the Channel Tunnel.

Property development advice will come from Stephen Dance, a Project Director of Partnerships UK. Previously he was a Director of the property consultants DTZ, where he led advisory teams on a range of major projects in the fields of urban regeneration, development, privatisation and PFI/PPP.

The review team will also be supported by specialist consultants in the financial, legal and transport appraisal fields. Their appointments will be announced in due course.

The expert review team will have the following terms of reference:

1. To establish the full cost of Cross London Rail Link's July 2003 Crossrail Business Case proposals, and to assess:

(a) whether they are likely to deliver to time, scope and budget; (b) whether the Business Case proposals will offer value for money; (c) the extent of Government funding that can be justified; (d) the proportion of the funding required from non-Government sources.

2. To identify any means of delivering a Crossrail project which offer better performance than the Business Case proposals against tests at 1 (a) - (d) above.

3. To report to the Secretary of State as soon as practicable

We expect the review team to submit their report to the Secretary of State around the turn of the year and for it to be published in due course.

Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk

Railhub Archive ::: 2003-09-24 DfT-001