Examination of Witnesses (Questions 8420
- 8439)
8420. The depot that is proposed is at Romford.
(Mr Hardie) Yes.
8421. Therefore you could not build a South
East link in isolation ahead of the others; there would be nowhere
to turn the trains. If the link were going into central London
to Liverpool Street there are no turnaround facilities and no
depots, so you could not actually physically open the Bexley link
ahead of the others because you would have to open substantial
other additional items of infrastructure.
(Mr Hardie) I think one would need to have
a clearer idea of the capacity at the Slade Green depot.
8422. Mr Berryman will tell the Committee that
Slade Green would not be appropriate for a Crossrail depot. It
does not have facilities for dual voltage electrification.
(Mr Hardie) But if the trains were provided
with a third rail they would be able to get it.
8423. Mr Berryman is going to explain this rather
than me take up time in cross-examination. Do you have any evidence
to show the Committee why an extension to Ebbsfleet is so important
that it ought to take priority, say, over Maidenhead to Paddington
or Paddington through central London or the north east commuter
line through to Liverpool Street? Have you any evidence to show
why the Bexley link should be treated as more important?
(Mr Hardie) Certainly not in comparison to
those. I think I would go back to the fact that the benefit cost
ratio is about 2:1 and therefore falls in the high category in
the appraisal criteria It would remain to be seen how that stacked
up against other projects within the wider public purse at the
time the project was implemented.
8424. Exactly. It is a decision that has to
be made at the time the project has had Royal Assent, has had
its finances sorted out and the contracts are then let. You are
asking the Committee to reach a judgment before any of the information
that would go into having phased projects in practical reality
is known.
(Mr Hardie) Not as baldly as that, sir.
8425. That is what it comes to.
(Mr Hardie) No. However, what I would not like
to see is that the option of doing so at the time was precluded.
8426. Mr Elvin: I am going to make submissions
to the Committee as to whether that is what Parliament ought to
be doing. I will leave that to the Committee. Thank you.
Re-examined by Mr Cameron
8427. Mr Cameron: Just two points, please,
Mr Hardie. Can you turn up page 7 of your bundle, please?[48]
Can you just look at what you are actually asking for. The south-eastern
branch of Crossrail should form part of the first phase of the
construction of Crossrail.
(Mr Hardie) Yes.
8428. Are you asking for it to be the first
phase or part of the first phase?
(Mr Hardie) No, part of the first phase.
8429. As far as the depots are concerned, you
were asked about that. You were told that Mr Berryman will, in
due course, say that Slade Green is not appropriate. If the line
was extended to Ebbsfleet, would a depot become available to Crossrail
on the south-east branch?
(Mr Hardie) It would depend on what was happening
with other rolling stock at the time. Certainly, maybe, a depot
would not be necessary; perhaps just some stabling sidings to
house the service for the morning.
8430. Can I just ask you, again, to clarify
this point: are you putting forward stabling or turnaround facilities
at Slade Green as an alternative to existing facilities or as
an addition to?
(Mr Hardie) I am not proposing additional stabling
facilities, no.
8431. I am sorry. At the moment the scheme has
stabling facilities. It has a depot proposed at Romford. If Slade
Green became available would it be an alternative—ie in
place of—or additional to? Would you have both or one or
the other?
(Mr Hardie) You could have Romford and Slade
Green.
8432. Mr Cameron: Thank you. I have no
other questions, sir.
8433. Sir Peter Soulsby: Thank you, Mr
Cameron.
The witness withdrew
8434. Sir Peter Soulsby: I think you
are probably going to move on to call Mr Donovan in a few moments.
It strikes me it is now seven minutes before we were due to break
in any case and it would be probably be a convenient time to do
so. I hope there will be coffee available a little earlier than
was previously scheduled and I hope, in which case, we will be
able to reconvene at twenty-two.
After a short break
8435. Mr Elvin: Sir, can I give you a
little bit of happy news—and you will see why I say it is
happy in a moment? We have had further discussions about the undertaking
relating to the highway improvements, and you will recall what
I said in April?
8436. Sir Peter Soulsby: Yes.
8437. Mr Elvin: We have given a revised
form of words to Bexley, which is now acceptable to Bexley, so
I hope that will avoid—and this is where the happiness comes
in—your having to hear detailed traffic evidence. I will
not give you the exact forms or words at the moment because I
only have the second part here and I need to assemble the words,
but I will read the undertaking out into the record when I have
the other bit of paper.
8438. Sir Peter Soulsby: Thank you very
much indeed, that is indeed good news. Mr Cameron.
8439. Mr Cameron: Sir, the next bit of
happiness is that you will be able to hear Mr Donovan now!
Mr Christopher Donovan, Sworn
Examined by Mr Cameron
48 Committee Ref: A88, Actions to Consider (5) All
Options (BEXYLB-32005A-007). Back
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