The economic benefits of the proposed Crossrail 2 rail link would be felt far outside the capital according to new research commissioned by Transport for London, one of the scheme’s backers.
Estimated to cost £20bn, the project would run from Cheshunt in Hertfordshire to Epsom in Surrey, via Clapham Junction, Victoria and Tottenham Court Road, and is expected to boost London’s jobs market while delivering up to 200,000 new homes.
These and other benefits could be worth as much as £102bn to the economy according to today’s research, with the benefits shared between companies of all sizes and all regions of the UK.
Analysts at KPMG say this would include small and medium sized businesses sharing £5bn of contracts and hundreds of millions of pounds being spent with firms based in the North East and Scotland.
Rail passengers in the South East are also expected to benefit from extra capacity created by the scheme which is estimated to see as many as 11,800 more seats available on Network Rail services from Hampshire and Surrey into Waterloo during peak hours.
TfL says the research was commissioned “to inform discussion of the railway during the Government’s spending review this autumn”.
Michele Dix, Managing Director for Crossrail 2, commented: “This transformative new railway will help drive growth in jobs and housing and add billions of pounds to the UK economy as well as providing much needed extra rail capacity to meet the needs of our rapidly growing population.”
