Crossrail, the £15.9bn railway for London and the South East, and Transport for London (TfL) have announced the composition of its legal panel for property acquisition and planning activity, following a competitive tendering process.

The panel will have a critical role to play in acquiring over 13,000 land and property interests which are required to enable the start of Crossrail's main construction in 2010.

The panel will consist of the following law firms: Eversheds LLP, Cripps Harries Hall LLP, Wragge & Co LLP and Ashurst LLP.

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The legal panel will be advising both Crossrail and the TfL Group. The Crossrail and TfL legal teams will be responsible for managing the panel. The benefits and practicalities of this joined-up approach to property issues will be reinforced later this year when Crossrail is scheduled to become a 100% subsidiary of TfL.

Mark Fell, Crossrail Legal Services Director said: "Work on Crossrail is now moving full-speed ahead and the acquisition of property under powers obtained through the Crossrail Act is the next major step forward for the project as it prepares for the start of main construction work in 2010. Such is the scale and extent of Crossrail and its critical importance to London's transport network that a considerable amount of property and land needs to be acquired within a short space of time. Only with all the necessary property and land acquisition in place can Crossrail's construction begin and therefore this legal panel will provide invaluable support to both the in-house Crossrail and TfL legal teams during this key phase of the scheme."

(CD/JM)