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Crossrail set to boost travel capacity and connectivity


The well-attended seminar was also fully briefed on the major Thames Valley transportation bonus for the sub-region ‘due to arrive at a station near you’ – Crossrail. Now under construction, Crossrail is set to go live in the London area during 2017 with services from Reading added towards the end of 2019.


John Goldsmith, Crossrail community relations manager, explained that Europe’s largest construction project would bring increased passenger capacity, travel connectivity, reliability, infrastructure and station improvements while providing significant economic benefits to the Thames Valley overall.


John Goldsmith


“You will be able to get on a train in Reading and go all the way out through London to Essex, which will make a big difference to rail travel from


Where will we house our growing workforces?


Savills director Philip Brown’s presentation highlighted the need for more housing for the Thames Valley’s growing population and business workforces, particularly with developments such as the new Science Park at Shinfield and Crossrail making the sub-region more commercially attractive.


While the Government’s 2010 ‘localism’ planning reform was helping to ease permission approvals, it was also creating housing demand pressures on Green Belt and suitable business locations.


Legislation now required local authorities to make plans to meet their Objectively Assessed Need (OAN) for housing. Some had not kept pace with government OAN targets or growing demand, often due to outdated population projections.


here. Crossrail is a new service. We will not replace the fast service to Paddington,” said Goldsmith.


With Crossrail trains being twice as long as the existing rolling stock and passenger flow enhancement at several stations, capacity will be significantly boosted, he noted.


The Crossrail stopping service would also provide further travel options, including connectivity to Heathrow, and effectively a larger workforce catchment area with employees being able to travel out of London more easily.


New ‘green’ trains and carriages plus electrification, track and signalling improvements would also assist reliability – with two London trains per hour from Reading and four from Maidenhead.


Crossrail stopping trains from Reading to Paddington will take 50 minutes, but without changes to underground services, locations beyond will become more time-competitive with Canary Wharf reachable in 67 minutes.


Planning approval pressure was now also mounting due to lack of five-year housing land supply, Brown explained.


“That’s not to say planning in the Thames Valley is not working. I think it is, and Reading is a good example.”


However, housing availability, and importantly an acute shortage of affordable housing, were key issues for the Thames Valley, he stated.


“Infrastructure is definitely driving the Thames Valley, but we are currently on the cusp of a round of new plan-making which will direct and dictate how much housing will come forward and exactly where it will go,” Brown revealed.


Philip Brown


“Without a doubt, we are going to see an increase in housing delivery, which will have some economic benefits, but it is not going to be without some pain as local authorities wrestle about how much housing and where.”


Heathrow decision is put on holding stack approach


Festive celebrations were ruined for Thames Valley businesses, and Heathrow officials in particular, as David Cameron's airport committee delayed, until at least this summer, its promised end-of-2015 decision on whether to build a third runway at Heathrow.


The committee called for more environmental evidence, while accepting that there was clear need for new airport capacity in south-east England to be built by 2030.


The Government was widely criticised by key organisations for ‘dithering and delaying’ and its ‘disgraceful vacillation.’ It has been estimated that not expanding Heathrow on the current proposed timetable could cost the UK economy £5 billion.


At the Reading & Thames Valley 2025 breakfast seminar Clare Harbord, Heathrow’s corporate affairs director, had been upbeat about gaining


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – FEBRUARY 2016


the Government’s support for a new Heathrow runway before Parliament rose for its Yuletide break.


She spoke passionately about the vital need to create a hub airport for the UK and the Airports Commission’s “... very, very clear recommendation this summer (2015) for Heathrow. We are now waiting for the Government response and the green light for this incredibly important private sector infrastructure project worth £16 billion.”


Detailing the potential business and economic benefits created by an expansion of Heathrow, she highlighted “... this once in a lifetime, generational opportunity for Reading and the Thames Valley. This moment in time is really important, not only for the future of Thames Valley businesses, but also the future of the UK.”


www.businessmag.co.uk


If the Government had made a decision at the end of 2015, supporting the proposed Heathrow expansion, Harbord predicted that construction of the new runway could have begun in 2019 and the first planes would have been taking off by 2025.


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