Chancellor John Healey is expected to support plans for international trains to stop at a second London station, according to reports. He is said to be minded to approve a funding scheme for the landmark rail development championed by Lord Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, which could be announced as soon as the Budget on October 28.
Funding mechanism and timeline
The Mayor is seeking to raise funding through a Business Rate Retention Zone (BRRZ) to open up Stratford International Station to cross-Channel services. A BRRZ would allow the capital to keep more business rates raised in the city rather than the money being used to fund other regions. No final decision has been made by the Treasury, but talks between City Hall and the Government are understood to be "very positive".
Lord Khan has told how he believes he is close to getting the Stratford project "over the line". Under the blueprint, cross-Channel trains could be halting at Stratford International Station within four years, with the station opened at an estimated cost of some £20 million for international services to operate by around 2030.
Capacity and destinations
Stratford would have a capacity of 250 to 300 international passengers at a time, unlike St Pancras International, which can handle 2,500 to 3,000 per hour. However, one in three trains to and from France may stop in east London in future. Using the station would mean some five million people in and around the capital getting easier access to international rail services than having to use St Pancras International.
The aim is to have Paris, Brussels, Rotterdam and Amsterdam services halting in east London, with operators also considering other destinations in Germany and Switzerland. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin is exploring stopping services at Stratford as it seeks to take on Eurostar from 2030 in the cross-Channel rail market. Eurostar has so far declined to run services from Stratford.
Long-term plans and support
The station was originally planned two decades ago to link up to services to the North and Midlands, which could happen under longer term plans. The Stratford stop is supported by businesses including Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which operates the giant Westfield shopping complexes in east and west London. Halting international trains in east London could deliver a boost to the area of between £2 billion to £3 billion over 60 years, according to some estimates.
Sir Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, has been campaigning for more than 30 years for international rail services to the capital to stop at both Stratford and another London terminus, which previously was Waterloo. The welfare minister first raised the prospect of a Stratford halt when he was chairman of Newham planning committee in the late 1980s.
