Examination of Witnesses (Questions 7140
- 7159)
7140. MS LIEVEN: It has certainly changed,
my Lord, yes. The opening date is now assumed to be 2017.
7141. CHAIRMAN: But that is only to Abbey
Wood?
7142. MS LIEVEN: Yes, my Lord, but when
this was drawn up Ebbsfleet was part of the scheme and the opening
date assumed was 2013.
7143. CHAIRMAN: All the way to Ebbsfleet?
7144. MS LIEVEN: All the way to Ebbsfleet.
7145. CHAIRMAN: So it would have to be
changed to reflect the current opening date but only as far as
Abbey Wood.
7146. MS LIEVEN: Yes. If this particular
table was redone it would change in a number of respects. One
would be opening date and two would be the different scheme, i.e.
only going to Abbey Wood.
7147. CHAIRMAN: And it would assume,
would it not, that you brought forward a Transport and Works Act
Order immediately for an extension to Ebbsfleet?
7148. MS LIEVEN: That would depend on
how the table was done but, on the face of it, if we did this
table again, there would be two: one just stopping at Abbey Wood
and there would have to be another, assuming that the first part
of the main part of Crossrail stopped at Abbey Wood in 2017, and
then some assumption was made as to when, through the TWA process,
an extension to Ebbsfleet would be opened.
7149. CHAIRMAN: It certainly would not
be 2017?
7150. MS LIEVEN: No, it would not, my
Lord, on any analysis. That is right.
7151. CHAIRMAN: So these figures do not
help us on the situation that would arise if the Option 1 proposition
put forward by Bexley were to be adopted by the Select Committee?
7152. MS LIEVEN: They certainly do not
give us that answer, my Lord, no.
7153. CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
7154. MR CAMERON: They do not give a
precise answer because they do relate to 2013, but what they do
give is an indication of the increase in employment that Crossrail
themselves anticipated when working out their own Business Case
as a result of the introduction of the railway. They go that far
and, of course, my Lord, Option 1 does not require the Committee
to endorse a Transport and Works Act Order itself but to facilitate
it.
7155. CHAIRMAN: I fully understand that,
Mr Cameron, but we would need to have some basic material upon
the basis of which we put that suggestion to Parliament, and we
have not got it.
7156. MR CAMERON: My Lord, in my submission
you have got sufficient material to indicate that there would
be significant regeneration benefit, though I acknowledge and
accept that the precise number of jobs cannot be quantified.
7157. CHAIRMAN: No. The difficulty is
this, that the figures you have given us are out of date; they
are not attuned to the proposition that there will be a Transport
and Works Order following this Bill and, if so, when. That is
right, is it not?
7158. MR CAMERON: That is right but,
having said that, they do give an indication of the significant
benefit that would be derived from extending Crossrail at whatever
time it was extended, because one of the factors taken into account
in calculating the number of jobs is enhanced accessibility and
we have provided the Committee with an indication of the effect
of enhanced accessibility. We made a comparison between Crossrail
stopping at Abbey Wood and Crossrail going on, and this is just
an example, to Belvedere, and that is one of the most significant
factors taken into account in calculating the likely additional
jobs.
7159. CHAIRMAN: But do we not know that
already? That there would be multiple advantages if it went through
to Ebbsfleet.
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