Louise Ellman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Louise Ellman on 2016-05-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the cost of tunnelling between Darenth and South Ockenden as an option for the Lower Thames Crossing.

Andrew Jones

Two long tunnels were considered and evaluated as part of the options for a new Lower Thames Crossing scheme. The long tunnel options connected Darenth to South Ockenden either through junctions 2 and 30 on the M25 or by direct connection to the motorway beyond the junctions.

The cost of these tunnel options was estimated at £6.6 billion compared with £4.3 billion for the proposed option, described in the consultation material, and therefore these options were not taken forward as they did not represent good value for money.