Hertfordshire County Council

Croxley Rail Link project on track
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date 23 November 2015
source Hertfordshire County Council
type Press release

note PR 18385

For Immediate Release

Hertfordshire County Council has formally handed over the Croxley Rail Link project to Transport for London. Plans are in now place to start work on re-routing the Metropolitan line to Watford Junction with construction due to complete in 2020.

A full funding package for the extension has been agreed between the Department for Transport (DfT), Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Transport for London (TfL), and the work will now be delivered by London Underground.

The county council, working with its partners, has led the project for a number of years, taking it through a complex range of approval processes to this point, as well as co-ordinating local project contributions and securing the Transport and Works Act Order which gave the council the powers to construct and operate the scheme.

The link will provide a London Underground rail link to central London; better rail access for more households; an improved east-west public transport connection for Watford and Croxley Green; and an important public transport link for patients and employees of Watford General hospital. By creating transport links to business and retail centres, the rail link will drive and support economic development for years to come.

Over 6,500 permanent jobs will be created as two new stations are built at Cassiobridge and Watford Vicarage Road which will help boost the local economy.

Derrick Ashley, Hertfordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Hertfordshire County Council is a proud partner in the development of the Metropolitan Line Extension, which will make access to central and to north west London much easier for people in Watford and the surrounding areas as well as improving connectivity at Watford junction. The line extension, alongside development in the area, presents a raft of fresh opportunities for Hertfordshire which will help boost the local economy. As one of the funding partners for this project, it is positive to see this exciting project come to fruition.

“We have worked long and hard to keep the project alive and to see the realisation of this scheme after so many years and this is testament of the hard work and persistence of everybody involved.”

ENDS

Croxley Rail Link will now be called the Metropolitan Line Extension.

Issued by:
Communications officer Jo Softly on 01992 556138
www.hertsdirect.org/media

Railhub Archive ::: 2015-11-23 HER-001