From Watford Observer online 15/07/06

Mixed bag for transport schemes

FUNDING for one major transport scheme in Watford was approved by the
Government last week, but another was found to still need more work.

About £13m will be spent on redeveloping Watford Junction Station
between 2009 and 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) has said.
However, the Croxley Rail Link, a plan to extend the Metropolitan Line
to Watford Junction, has yet to meet the appropriate conditions for
approval.

The DfT has said that it anticipates the scheme will be approved within
the next ten years but that it will need close scrutiny in terms of
value for money. It would take at least £50m to realise the proposed
extension.

continued...

News that the link has not yet been approved has been met with dismay
by Watford Friends of the Earth. Representative Terry Figg, said:
"We're extremely disappointed by this. It's been around for about ten
years and it would bring several benefits to Watford." Lara Hejazi, a
representative of Hertfordshire County Council, which is leading the
link project, insisted that it remained a priority scheme.

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John Burke
WRUG