Cross London Rail Links Ltd, (CLRL), a Government-sponsored joint venture company of the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London, has already invested heavily in planning the new Crossrail route and developing options based upon stakeholder feedback.

Following the announcement of route plans last year, over 60 meetings have been held in the last six months across London and the Home Counties. Crossrail has been delighted with the level of feedback and enthusiastic support from many businesses, political and public bodies, and the comments generated have allowed Crossrail's planners to refine the project proposals to meet local as well as regional needs.

To take the scheme forward towards statutory approval, a number of strategic appointments have been made that will enable Crossrail to consolidate its team.

Charles Devereux has joined the Crossrail team as Rail Industry Interface and Contracts Manager. As the Crossrail plans accelerate, close contact with the rail industry will become more and more important as detailed engineering, operational planning, business case and parliamentary work evolve. He has considerable railway industry experience, and was most recently heavily involved in a number of major telecommunications projects with Racal/BRT and Global Crossing.

Also joining the team is Jeremy de Souza as PR and Communications Manager. Jeremy also has a solid background with the travel and transport industry, with considerable experience at Eurostar and most recently at Rosenbluth International, one of the world's largest business travel management companies. Jeremy will join a dedicated team tasked with raising Crossrail's awareness across the capital.

Dr David Anderson joins Crossrail shortly as Head of Planning. He has considerable experience in major infrastructure planning, and most recently was Senior Planning Manager at BAA Plc, and was credited with achieving the approval of the planning application for Stansted Airport's redevelopment.

Further appointments include Simon Blanchflower, joining as Development Manager - Railway Systems and Rolling Stock, and Tony Walters is joining Crossrail as Development Manager - Railway Infrastructure. Simon was formerly with BAA Plc on the Heathrow Terminal 5 Project, while Tony was Operations Director at Parsons Brinckerhoff Ltd.

Norman Haste, Chief Executive of Cross London Rail Links, said:" I'm absolutely delighted that we are attracting some of the brightest stars in the industry right now. Our project is the only credible answer to London's current public transport headaches, and we are proud of our support in Government, in the House, and by the Mayor of London and other leaders and opinion formers. We now have well over 200 people involved in the project, and a vast amount of research, being applied towards submitting Crossrail for statutory approval, and once granted we are ready and able to make this scheme a reality. We have strengthened our senior team, and we are currently preparing proposals upon which the Secretary of State will make a statement in the near future."

CLRL is on course to submit its conclusions on routes to Ministers in February, following an extensive process of detailed analysis and consultation. The company considers it essential to be able to demonstrate that it has a robust economic case for the project.

Intensive work by CLRL, with full support and technical assistance from the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and Transport for London (TfL), is continuing to examine the economic, operational and environmental impacts of the options, including the benefits, costs and risks. High level briefings with Government planners have been taking place for many months, ensuring that Crossrail meets all strategic considerations and requirements.