[M II A II R II K]

Crosstown traffic


Read More: http://www.euinfrastructure.com/arti...stown-traffic/

As projects go, running a new rail link right through the heart of London is as big as they come. Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan explains why all the hard work is worth it.

- The city is a living organism. The way humanity flows through its roads and tunnels mirrors the circulation of the human body and, just as within our own bodies, clogs and congestion can have a serious impact. As anyone who has had reason to cross London during rush hour can attest, sometimes the UK capital's overloaded transport arteries closely resemble those of a fast-food addicted couch potato. This is an image at odds with London's status as a modern, fast-paced and internationally significant place to live and work. It is also one of the key reasons why Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan sees the project he leads as so important. "London is the global city," he says. "In the last ten years it's just been a fantastic period of growth. There's obviously been an economic challenge over the past 18 months, but I'm still very confident that London is still going to remain a powerhouse in the world economy, but London has to improve its infrastructure and its transportation. Previous to Crossrail, I worked on the underground, so I know what the pressures were on there. It's carrying record numbers of passengers. It's been going through a huge amount of additional investment, but when you look at the forward projections that take you out to 2015, 2020, there is insufficient capacity to meet the demand."

- There is a huge amount of work to be done before Crossrail opens its doors to passengers in 2017. The biggest civil engineering project in the UK, it is going to have to bring in some concrete benefits if it is to justify its £15.9 billion price tag. Morgan is confident that this investment in the city's transport infrastructure will ultimately provide these benefits. "This is a huge project, and whilst the need for the railway is the primary need in terms of justification, it also brings with it huge opportunities in terms of regeneration," he says. "It's a well known fact that railways in themselves bring regeneration with them. It's also true to say that with the huge amount of money we have to invest on the central stations, that this also creates opportunities to redevelop those areas too. There's a combination of meeting a transport need and regeneration opportunities that is something Crossrail brings to London."