London Banter - Croxley Rail Link - Position Update October 2007

Croxley Rail Link - Position Update October 2007

The Croxley Rail Link continues to be progressed by Hertfordshire
County Council and remains one of the Council's identified Major
Schemes within the Local Transport Plan 2006/7- 2010/11, for which it
is seeking grant funding from DfT.

It is very unusual for a County Council to act as a lead partner
promoting such a railway scheme. We are leading because of the
continuing changes of fortunes and structures within the rail industry
and TFL. This produces the double challenge of leading a project in an
arena for which we do not have the primary responsibility and in an
arena which is subject to continuous change.

The project was identified as a Priority 1A scheme within the Regional
Transport Priorities and has been included within the Regional Funding
Allocation programme for funding in the period 2009/10 to 2015/16.

Whilst this overall funding time frame appears lengthy, placing the
delivery of Croxley Rail Link within it is realistic, given that the
scheme still has to be taken through a Transport & Works Act (TWA)
process to secure the powers to construct.

HCC are currently working with consultants toward production of 'Major
Scheme Business Case' for submission to the Department of Transport to
seek 'Programme Entry' status for the project. This is effectively an
updated resubmission of previous bids, taking account of some specific
queries DfT have raised regarding cost updates and clarification of
risk allowances, in line with their recently revised guidance for bids
of this nature.

Through previous bid submissions to DfT and through negotiations with
London Underground (LU) it has been previously established that:
The scheme meets all the necessary economic criteria of DfT and TfL
has approved the economic appraisal for the scheme.
The Mayor of London has demonstrated support for the scheme and has
publicly committed a funding contribution to the project of some
£17m.
TfL is prepared to formally enter a promotion agreement with
Hertfordshire County Council to co-promote the Transport & Works
Application

Programme Entry (PE) status at this stage is required to reduce risk
in the proposed delivery timetable. To achieve an opening date within
the Regional Transport Priority funding window, the project needs to
be granted PE as soon as possible by DfT as PE provides the trigger
for the TWA process - HCC cannot advance a TWA process without an
'intention to fund' decision from DfT.

Following recent discussions, DfT have sought to revisit some core
assumptions around the project, and clarification of their
requirements has led to some delay in the bid preparation, but HCC
anticipate making a submission to DfT before the end of the calendar
year. Under their new guidance, DfT have indicated that a decision on
the granting of PE status will be forthcoming within 26 weeks.

A possible timetable for the Project from that point forward is as
follows:

Summer 2008 Programme Entry Granted
TWA Application Summer 2009
TWA Inquiry Autumn 2009
SoS Decision Summer 2010
Start On Site Summer 2012
Scheme Opening Summer 2014

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John Burke
WRUG