Crossrail gets final go-ahead

The government has given the final nod to the £16bn Crossrail scheme, set to be Europe's largest civil engineering project, as it confirmed a funding deal to secure its construction.

Earlier this week prime minister Gordon Brown pledged to fund the scheme, provided that the City was willing to chip in with a further £300m.

On Tuesday the City of London Corporation agreed to put a levy on local business rates to help pay for the scheme.

Following an announcement today (Friday 5 October) that the project had got the final green signal, Gordon Brown said: "By generating an additional 30,000 jobs and helping London retain its position as the world's pre-eminent financial centre, it will support Britain's economic growth and maintain Britain's position as a leading world economy. And by delivering quicker journeys from some of the most economically disadvantaged parts of the city to the most economically important, it will support regeneration particularly in the most deprived parts of our country."

Construction is expected to begin in earnest on the project in 2010, with the first trains running in 2017.

The Crossrail route will connect Maidenhead and Sheffield in west London with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in east London.