Reports that London’s on-off CrossRail project may once again be on the cards have been met with a good deal of cynicism in the UK tunnelling sector. Of course, it is hard not to adopt a ‘here we go again’ attitude to a scheme which, more than most, illustrates the way political expediency appears to take precedence over sound planning in the UK when major infrastructure projects are concerned.
But it is encouraging that the £2.8bn scheme, which would provide a deep tunnel mainline rail link across London from east to west, is being resurrected by the influential Corporation of London and promoted as a major boost to the city’s overloaded transport infrastructure.
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Such schemes have to win government backing if the UK home market is not to sink further into the doldrums. As our UK Overview article notes (p 36), most major underground infrastructure projects are now coming to a close, with future hopes pinned on a new wave of schemes such as completion of CTRL and the proposed Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
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“The preservation of a strong home market is important as a testbed for new and innovative technologies” |
According to some estimates, if the government decided to put its weight behind the ambitious scheme, work could start as soon as 2004, not a day too late for the hard pressed tunnelling sector which would be seeing most work in hand running down by then. But is there the political will to see this through?
We can only hope so, because the traditional route for UK tunnellers in times of hardship at home – to seek work in more buoyant overseas markets – is no longer the panacea it once was. While there are undoubtedly opportunities on the world stage, and some consultants and contractors are doing very well, the growing levels of expertise, and, more importantly, confidence, among indigenous tunnellers around the globe mean that more and more tunnelling needs can be met by home grown talent, with leaner pickings for outsiders.
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By GlobalDataOf course, the same situation is faced by every national tunnelling industry with a history of exporting its expertise.This makes the preservation of a strong home market all the more important, not just as a source of work but as a testbed for new and innovative technologies. As far as our industry is concerned, the question is not can we afford CrossRail, but can we afford not to invest in projects of this importance?
