| Topic: | Re:Re:Crossrail trains entirely publicly funded to the tune of £1bn | |
| Posted by: | Richard Jennings | |
| Date/Time: | 01/03/13 12:14:00 |
| "Crossrail is a major infrasatrure project that, after years of delays under the previous Labour Government, is now well underway." The years of delay were under the Conservative governments of 1979-1997. The Thatcher government failed to pursue the outline project it inherited from a 1974 study, and failed to act on a British Rail proposal in 1980. The Major government provided weak support of the scheme, and were content to see it delayed in the 1990s. It was the Labour government that finally got the scheme under way. Construction started in 2009, before the last General Election. The coalition government slowed down construction to save money, which pushed the opening date back from 2017 to 2018. |