Crossrail Bill
12 Jan 2006
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney, North and Stoke Newington) (Lab): The people of Hackney are glad that the Government are making progress on the Crossrail project. There is no objection in principle to the Select Committee taking petitions about the extension from Maidenhead to Reading. However, the people of Hackney and the east end would be concerned if the project became so unmanageable that it ran into the sand. Will the Secretary of State assure the people of Hackney that the Government will give it good speed, that we will guard against its becoming unmanageable, that the finance will be available for the railway, for which my constituents have waited so long, and that, when we have built Crossrail, we can move on to Crossrail 2—the Chelsea to Hackney line?Mr. Darling: If my hon. Friend and I live to see Crossrail 1, we shall be happy. We can then turn our attention to Crossrail 2. Of course the Government are committed to the project. That is why we introduced an extensive Bill to make it possible. However, my hon. Friend's main point is important. Unless the project is kept to a manageable size—even then, it is very large—the same fate awaits it as befell the previous Crossrail project.
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