Croxley Rail Link gets final piece of funding from Government (St Albans Liberal Democrats)

St Albans Liberal Democrats <info@stalbanslibdems.org.uk>

Croxley Rail Link gets final piece of funding from Government

December 15, 2011 12:05 PM
Originally published by Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats

The Coalition Government has approved £76.24m of funding to bring the London Underground to the centre of Watford, the Croxley Rail Link.

Elected Mayor of Watford Dorothy Thornhill said: "This is fantastic news. It feels like an early Christmas present for Watford. We've worked on this project for a number of years, so I'm delighted that all the lobbying and behind the scenes efforts have worked and the government has given the green light to this scheme.

"The scheme will support economic development in Watford and south west Hertfordshire by providing first class transport links to business and retail centres. The experts say it will provide hundreds millions of pounds of benefits to the area and give more people better transport links. It's about investing in the future and will help boost our efforts for the £750 million Watford Health Campus project."

The central government money, announced by the Department for Transport, supplements £40.46m of local contributions. The project now has all the funding needed to construct the new section of tube line.The county council and London Underground will now submit a Transport and Works Act Order in January 2012 which, if approved, will grant the statutory powers needed to construct, operate and maintain the link.

The Croxley Rail Link is a proposed diversion and extension of the Watford Branch of the Metropolitan line to Watford Junction via Watford High Street. New stations will be provided on the new rail link at Ascot Road, which forms a park and ride site for the area, and Vicarage Road serving the Watford General Hospital and the proposed Watford Health Campus development. As part of the proposals, the existing Watford Metropolitan terminus station will close to passenger services.

Hertfordshire County Council, London Underground, Network Rail, Watford Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council are working in partnership to deliver the project.