An article and a leader from today's FT suggest dovetailing Thameslink
and Crossrail.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f30a134a-413...0779fd2ac.html

Quote
Crossrail crawling closer to green light
By Christopher Adams and Bob Sherwood
Published: August 2 2007 22:49 | Last updated: August 2 2007 22:49
It has been a long time in coming. Now, after years of wrangling over
the route, its vast cost and who should pay for it, Crossrail is
inching closer to fruition.
Political momentum behind the east-west rail route that would link
Berkshire with Essex via Heathrow and Canary Wharf is growing.
Ministers need no convincing of the economic benefits and the need to
ease congestion on London's overcrowded commuter networks. Moreover,
approval for Crossrail could help Labour in next year's London mayoral
elections.
A bill is being debated in the Commons and is expected to clear
parliament next spring, paving the way for a swift start to
construction.
In theory, a green light could come by the autumn. In reality, this is
far from guaranteed. Eighteen years on from its genesis, under
Margaret Thatcher's premiership, the biggest stumbling block to
Crossrail remains its financing, where a deal is as elusive as ever.
As the government prepares for what one senior official called "tough
discussions" with business, the London mayor and city transport
authorities, it is the split between private and public funding that
will be most difficult to resolve.
The drawn-out negotiations, and the need to keep the project
affordable, means recent projections for an opening as early as 2015
look optimistic. Even assuming agreement is reached by the time
departmental spending totals are pencilled in for the next three
years, Whitehall insiders expect slippage in the project's timetable.
Services may be a decade away.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, there are a number of
reasons why a more protracted timetable could suit the government.
The institute says that an early start to Crossrail's construction,
well before building work on the 2012 London Olympic Games is
complete, could contribute to a spending squeeze, in part because the
two projects would be competing for similar suppliers. It says that a
modest delay might allow the scheme to be built more cheaply.
There are, also, wider implications for the public finances, the IFS
says. Were the extra demands on the construction industry from
parallel work on the Olympics and Crossrail to inflate the rail
project's bill, the prospect of breaking one of Gordon Brown's fiscal
rules - to keep net debt at a stable and prudent level - may increase.
Public sector net debt was forecast by the Treasury in this year's
Budget to be 38.2 per cent of national income in 2007-08, rising to
38.8 per cent in 2009-10 and 2010-11, before dropping back to 38.6 per
cent of national income.
Carl Emmerson, IFS deputy director, says that, assuming Alistair
Darling, the chancellor, adheres to the 40 per cent limit on debt
imposed by Mr Brown, then "significant new projects would be
difficult" during the period covered by the pending review.
"It might not be possible for new significant projects to go ahead
without squeezing other investment programmes," he says.
Putting off Crossrail's construction "might make it easier to deliver
the project in a cost-effective way". Staggering demand for suppliers
could contain the expense.
Douglas Oakervee, Cross London Rail Link's chief executive, insists
that the timing of the two projects should dovetail. His team has
completed modelling that shows workers could migrate to Crossrail.
This has allayed the concerns of some in government. And the Treasury
has said nothing to suggest the fiscal rules are a constraint. Even
so, it would be a brave man that banked on a 2015 start for train
services.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7c1a3e0a-412...0779fd2ac.html

The government must tackle infrastructure problems
Published: August 2 2007 20:02 | Last updated: August 2 2007 20:02
Only in Britain would people think the chance of securing a new train
line to be the chief virtue of hosting the Olympics.
Now, completion of the east-west Crossrail link before the 2012 Games
remains in doubt. And in a context of tight infrastructure spending,
Londoners seem doomed to making do with water pipes laid in Victorian
times, Underground stations that look as if they had their last
makeover when they were serving as wartime bomb shelters.
Unhappy commuters aside, the state of British infrastructure is a real
constraint on economic growth. France cites its sleek infrastructure -
ranging from high-speed trains to cheap nuclear power - as one of the
top attractions for foreign investors. By contrast, "Heathrow hassle"
is proving a compelling reason for international executives to avoid
London, and the CBI employers' body cites infrastructure problems
among its top concerns.
Nor is it simply a London issue. Business leaders in all corners of
the UK are complaining of missed meetings and pessing for better east-
west road links, upgrading of congested northern motorways, more
runways and better access to regional airports.
The government's focus, judging by July's rail policy paper, is on in-
creasing capacity through pragmatic improvements to existing networks
rather than splashy new investments, through longer trains rather than
a new north-south line.
This bias against grand projects is sensible, given that the UK's main
constraints stem from congestion rather than a lack of connections.
But with businesses and passengers set to make a higher financial
contribution - through road-pricing, rail fares and possible
supplementary rates - the government needs to translate its policy
into rapid and tangible improvements.
One area where it could show more ambition would be in accelerating
the planned pilots for road-pricing schemes - potentially sweetening
their introduction for motorists by dedicating receipts to further
infrastructure investment.
A swift conclusion to the competition authorities' investigation of
BAA's airport monopoly would also lessen frustrations, as would a real
move to eliminate the uncertainties of the planning process for major
projects.
Finally, there is Crossrail - rapidly,becoming a symbol of government
prevarication over infrastructure investment. It is time to set a firm
date for starting - and completing - Crossrail.The private sector must
be involved early in talks over funding. It is time the government
moved Britain beyond the Victorian era.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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