24.11.15
Croxley rail link secures final funding and is renamed Metropolitan Line Extension
TfL has confirmed that construction work is to start on the delayed Croxley rail link next year, meaning that a funding gap of £2.73m has now been closed.
A full funding package for the Metropolitan Line Extension has been agreed between the Department for Transport (DfT), Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and TfL, and the work will now be delivered by London Underground.
The link, which will extend the Metropolitan Line to Watford Junction via Watford High Street, was originally meant to be complete by May 2016, but will now be complete in 2020.
Prior to the decision to go ahead with the work, whose costs have ballooned compared to initial estimates, RTM reported that TfL had to find £2.73m of unbudgeted funding after HCC tried paying part of its share with wasteland valued at £1.
Nick Brown, managing director of LU, said: “For 100 years, the Tube has been enabling growth in ‘Metro-land’ and this new part of the Underground network will support further rapid development in the area.
“By 2020 we will have built a 400m viaduct, two completely new stations and numerous new and reconstructed bridges along the route, transforming transport links in Watford. With the funding package complete we’re now turning all our attention to appointing contractors, finalising designs and beginning construction in 2016.”
Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership has committed £87.85m to the new Tube link, which is 40% of its total Growth Deal funding from government. Its chair, John Gourd, said: “The Metropolitan Line Extension will unlock investment in brownfield sites, revitalise existing employment areas and bring considerable job opportunities and economic benefits to Watford and the wider community.”
It is expected that more than 6,500 permanent jobs and a £2bn boost to the local economy will be created as two new stations are built at Cassiobridge and Watford Vicarage Road.