The imminent start of construction on the Isle of Dogs Crossrail Station will close the Upper Bank Street Bridge over North Dock for up to 12 Months from 18 May.

The bridge, which is owned by Canary Wharf Group, provides vehicle and pedestrian access between the north side of the Canary Wharf Estate and Aspen Way. It is the least busy of the four access points to Canary Wharf, with most traffic passing through Westferry Circus and Trafalgar Way.

“Short term inconvenience will result in long-term gain for local residents and businesses” said Cliff Bryant, Executive Director of Canary Wharf Contractors Limited, which is constructing the station.

“As well as creating jobs and cutting journey times across London, the new Crossrail station will provide better pedestrian links between Canary Wharf and Poplar.

Canary Wharf Group has sent information leaflets to local businesses and residents, and will be distributing further leaflets to regular users of the bridge in the coming days.

“We encourage local residents and businesses to make contact with us if they have any questions about any aspects of the Crossrail construction,” said Bryant.

-Notes to Editor:

Canary Wharf Contractors Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canary Wharf Group plc.

The prime business function of CWG is the building and leasing of Grade A office and retail space at its 97 acre estate in East London (“the Estate”). Over the last twenty years it has constructed more office space in London than any other property group totalling over 14 million sq. ft of commercial space. The development now comprises 33 office buildings and over 200 shops, bars and restaurants within four retail malls. It also has a conference and banqueting centres, two Docklands Light Railway stations, a Jubilee line station, car parks and approximately 20 acres of landscaped open spaces.

CWG owns completed properties amounting to approximately 7.9 million sq ft. CWG also owns and controls the retail space (approximately 740,000 sq ft), Wintergardens (40,000 sq ft) and public parking, (approx. 1.5m sq ft) as well as the roads (totalling 6.8 km) and parks and open spaces on the Estate (totalling 382,900 sq ft) in addition to land held for future development. It is through this ownership and the management of the entire 97 acre Estate that CWG controls the integrity of the Estate which enhances the value of the whole.

www.canarywharf.com

-About the Isle of Dogs Crossrail Station

An image of the station is available on request.
Construction of the station box will be complete by 2012, with the first trains expected to run from 2017.

CWG and its predecessor organisations have a long history of funding transport infrastructure projects in London, including the original Docklands Light Railway and the Jubilee Line Extension.

On 24 December 2008 CWG concluded agreements with the Secretary of State for Transport and Transport for London subsidiary Cross London Rail Links Limited to design and build the new Isle of Dogs Crossrail Station in North Dock at Canary Wharf for a fixed price of £500m. CWG will contribute £150m towards the costs.

£350m of the station’s £500m costs will be met from Crossrail’s £15.9bn budget with CWG bearing the risk in relation to costs above the fixed price limit.

North Quay will be the worksite for the new station. When works are completed the site will be handed back to CWG to enable development of North Quay, which already has planning permission.

-About Crossrail

Crossrail Ltd became a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London on 5 December 2008.
Since the Crossrail Bill received Royal Assent on 22 July 2008, Crossrail has been moving rapidly ahead. Progress includes the appointment of new Crossrail Board members, the appointment of a Non-Executive Chair and Chief Executive, preparatory works at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road, and the start of the competitive tendering process to select the contractors.

Crossrail will run 118 km from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km tunnels under central London connecting key London stations including Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf and on to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the East.

When complete, the railway will operate 24 trains per hour in each direction through Central London during peak times. This will provide substantial new passenger capacity and crowding relief, particularly on the Central and Piccadilly lines.

Crossrail will be the biggest construction project in Europe and will provide a major boost to the UK economy during the current economic climate as the Jubilee Line Extension did during the early 1990s. At the height of construction in 2013/14, up to 14,000 people will be employed to build Crossrail.