Architects reveal £50bn Thames Hub transport project

Date: 2/11/2011

Plans for a £50 billion project to create a new transport hub on the Thames estuary have been unveiled.

Architect Lord Foster's agency Foster and Partners revealed the proposal, together with builders Halcrow and Volterra, which would involve construction of an international airport along with railway links, a freight depot and energy infrastructure.

The Thames Hub project would also include a port and a new Thames Barrier, while the rail connection would link up with lines running to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester and Hull, among other important cities.

Lord Foster said: "We need to capture the foresight and political courage of our 19th-century forebears if we are to establish a modern transport and energy infrastructure in Britain for this century and beyond.

"In Hong Kong, a decade ago, we were able to build a major new international airport and all the associated infrastructure including a new island reclaimed from the sea within four years."

The Thames Hub proposals have been billed by some as potentially the largest overhaul of Britain's transport and logistics network since the construction of the railways.