Civil engineering jobs at rail projects will stay after General Election
The outcome of a General Election can have a significant affect on construction recruitment as an incoming party revises the policy of the previous incumbents. Promises of civil engineering jobs on public infrastructure projects can be overturned as new policies for transport, power, housing and communication are established by the winning party.
However, no matter what the outcome of this year's General Election, the civil engineering jobs created by the Crossrail scheme should be safe. As part of the launch of the Conservatives economic manifesto, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has pledged that his party will support the £15.9bn Crossrail project if they come to power by the end of this year.
A New Economic Model: Eight Benchmarks for Britain says that the Conservatives "will create a stable and transparent framework to encourage private sector investment in infrastructure" and that "We support Crossrail". As Labour is unlikely to scrap one of the projects it has pioneered during its government, this pledge effectively secures hundreds of opportunities in railway jobs that will be created by the scheme if either of the two major parties are elected.
The Conservative report also pledges to continue with plans for a high-speed rail line connecting the UK's major cities. Last year, current Transport Secretary Lord Adonis backed a report from Network Rail that proposed a £34bn high speed railway line linking Scotland and London by 2030, connecting to several major UK cities. The Conservatives will continue with these plans, beginning work on a high speed rail line to "connect London and Heathrow with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds" if they come to power.
The Association for Consultancy and Engineering welcomed the announcement, saying that it "looked forward to seeing further details about how this ambitious programme would be financed".
Author: William Hobson
Keywords: construction recruitment, civil engineering jobs, Railway Jobs