Rt Hon Geoff Hoon, MP, Leader of the House of Commons, announced on Monday July 18 in the business statement that (provisionally) the Second Reading of the Crossrail Bill is now scheduled for Tuesday 19 July, 2005.

Dod's Handbook of House of Commons Procedure says of the Second Reading (p127, para 11.6.1.):

'This is a full debate on the question of whether the Bill should be read for the second time. On giving the bill a second reading the House is giving assent in principle rather than in detail to the proposals which it contains.

'The debate on which the question is put may therefore be general and may cover what the bill might have included as well as what the bill has actually included.'

Once the bill has passed Second Reading a committal motion commits the bill to a select committee who will hear petitioners who have failed to reach agreement with the promoter - in this case the Department for Transport.