Crossrail to add �1.2bn benefits

The scheme will connect Maidenhead in Berkshire to Shenfield, Essex

Crossrail will deliver more than £1.2bn a year in transport and productivity benefits for London and the South East when it opens in 2017, a study says.

The £16bn project is expected to bring faster journey times, reduced road and public transport congestion to both businesses and individuals.

Some inner city boroughs such as Newham, Camden and Lambeth are expected to benefit by more than £60m a year.

Crossrail is the UK's biggest transport project since the Channel Tunnel.

'Hugely advantageous'

The report also finds that outer London boroughs will also receive a major boost.

In Barnet and Croydon, total earnings of employees are expected to increase by about £24m in each borough as a result of the productivity gains that Crossrail will enable businesses to deliver.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "This incredible snapshot of the impact of Crossrail confirms the scheme will be hugely advantageous for each of the capital's boroughs and its benefits will be felt beyond London's boundaries."

He said the Crossrail scheme which will connect Maidenhead in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex via the airport and London was "simply the right project at the right time to ensure the future prosperity of our city".

Crossrail's Keith Berryman said the scheme would also create thousands of additional jobs in London's business centres and in the West End and London's Docklands.