How a fast rail link to London could affect Maidenhead

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Maidenhead residents are hoping their town will be transformed by a ^16bn high speed rail link to East London.
However, the Conservatives have said that although they support Crossrail they can offer no guarantee to the project.
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have condemned the Conservative stance towards a "vital project".
Due for completion in 2017 Crossrail will link Maidenhead to the West End, the City of London and Canary Wharf.
Mike Miller, President of the Maidenhead and District Chamber of Commerce said the project was "extremely important" for commuters and businesses. "Without Crossrail economic development will be curtailed," he said. "At the moment the train service to London isn't bad, but it basically takes you to Paddington and it's basically quite a mission to get elsewhere in London. It's very important."
Mr Miller said he believed that Crossrail would go ahead whatever the result was of the election because so much money has already been spent on it.

[Electric train]

There is an awful lot of work started on this project, the last estimate I heard was B^1 to B^1.5 to cancel it now. 

I went to an internal NR^» (Network Rail - home page) briefing recently NR still have not got the secure funding they need to do their parts of Crossrail.

To stop Crossrail will have serious ripple effects on the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) Reading - London route because much of the renewals that should have been done has been held back because of Crossrail.

My local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) who may be a Government Secretary of State this time next week may well get some tough questions why Maidenhead train services are not being improved.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Maidenhead candidates debate the ^16bn Crossrail bid

Maidenhead's parliamentary candidates have backed the Crossrail scheme, which will run through London connecting Berkshire with Essex.
The ^16bn project - linking Maidenhead with the capital - is expected to be completed by 2017.
The Conservatives say they want to make sure public money is spent effectively.
The Liberal Democrats say they want to reduce taxpayer funding.
Labour says it plans to finish the scheme on time, if it is re-elected.
The 72-mile route will include a link to Heathrow airport and will run through central London and out eastwards to Shenfield in Essex.
Conservative candidate Theresa May told BBC Radio Berkshire: "We are absolutely clear that Crossrail is an important infrastructure project for London but obviously also for Maidenhead. We have got it in our manifesto, we will want to make sure the public sector money element of Crossrail is being spent effectively and properly. But crucially for Maidenhead we need to ensure we are going to get fast services still on the main line and I want to see fast services on Crossrail as well."
Lib Dem candidate Tony Hill told BBC Radio Berkshire: "I hope that all infrastructure projects will be looked at very carefully and will go ahead. Crossrail is very important - we need it because it is going to bring business to Maidenhead. We have got to make sure that the rail lines that go from Twyford to Maidenhead to London continue to provide fast services for all the commuters who live in the area."
Labour candidate Pat McDonald: "I think we can safely say that Crossrail will go ahead. Anything that makes a commuter's life easier has got to be a good thing because it can be an absolute nightmare going through the London Underground first thing in the morning. Anything that brings business into Maidenhead for the people of Maidenhead is a terrific idea."