Crossrail Gets Green LightThe UK government has given the go-ahead for the £10 billion Crossrail project that will link east and west London. But transport Secretary Alistair Darling has again stressed that the west-east link was very unlikely to be ready in time for the 2012 Olympic Games, for which the city is bidding. The present government allocated £154 million to carry out a feasibility study and the project is being taken forward by Cross London Rail Links, a joint venture company formed by Transport for London (TfL) and the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA).Crossrail line 1, the first part of the scheme, will create a new network of services linking areas as far east as Shenfield in Essex, to Reading in Berkshire in the west. The heart of the project is the construction of a new 9 km tunnelled route across London, with new stations at Liverpool Street, Farringdon, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Paddington. It also includes the option to include Heathrow in its service. From Liverpool Street, the line would extend through Whitechapel, then dividing into two branches both serving the Thames Gateway, one going to Stratford and joining the existing Great Eastern lines to Shenfield. The other will go down to the Isle of Dogs and the Royal Docks, crossing the Thames to join the lines at Abbey Wood, with some services continuing to Ebbsfleet in Kent. To the west of Paddington, the line would join the Great Western main line before dividing into two further branches. One would join up with the North London Line, providing services to Richmond and Kingston while the other would be via Ealing and Hayes to Heathrow along the existing branch served by Heathrow Express.Crossrail line 2 would create a network of services linking Clapham Junction in the southwest to Dalston in the northeast. It would mean tunnelling between Victoria and King's Cross with an interchange with Crossrail line 1 at Tottenham Court Road. Click uk/40. Visit www.crossrail.co.uk and read E-News Weekly 26/2003. 31/03.