The £16 billion Crossrail project is coming to Reading

What then for towns and villages in Berkshire - and the benefits to the economy - as well as house prices? Well, putting Twyford on the map opens up other places - like Henley, Shiplake and Wargrave - and makes them even more _attractive places to live - when commuting into London.

Penny Silvester has more of today's reaction.

It's been a 20 year battle but, today, the Government confirmed that Crossrail will come to Reading. It means passengers can travel into the heart of London - through a tunnel - without having to change trains.

The £15 billion pound project - which began in 2009 - was to start at Maidenhead to keep costs down but will now be extended. It means Crossrail will begin at Reading - with stops at places like Twyford and Maidenhead.

It will go into a tunnel at Paddington - on to Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Liverpool Street and the east of London. There'll be four more trains, each hour, and 6,000 extra seats. It will be ready in 2019.

The news will be a huge boost to towns and villages along the route - house prices are expected to rocket. More on that in a moment - and the view from Westminster. Our report is from our Transport Correspondent, Mike Pearse.

Reading Borough Council has welcomed the news that Crossrail will be extended to the Berkshire town. It follows repeated calls by the Council to make Reading the final calling point of the vital new rail link, rather than Maidenhead.

Councillor Tony Page, the Lead Member for Transport, said: "Commonsense has prevailed, and I welcome the in-principle decision by the Secretary of State.

"Reading Station has been designed to take Crossrail; the land between Maidenhead and Reading has been protected and electrification is underway. At last the dots have been joined up!”

Reading East MP, Rob Wilson has welcomed the Government’s expected announcement this morning that Crossrail will extend to Reading, after initial plans for the service to run only as far as Maidenhead.

Crossrail will extend to Reading from 2019. But Mr Wilson says it is only the first of a 2-stage process in delivering the full benefits of Crossrail for Reading.

He said: “This first phase will not reap the full benefits that Crossrail can and should bring to benefit people and businesses in Reading and the wider region. Because there will be so many stops between here and London, journey times to London will be no faster than they are now.

“I am therefore pleased that the rail minister has announced that the infrastructure improvements needed to deliver a more rapid and direct Crossrail service with fewer stops and faster journey times will be fully analysed as part of the next investment review."

It is hoped that Phase 2 of the Crossrail infrastructure improvements would be in place by 2021.

The Government is expected to announce tomorrow that the Crossrail project will come to Reading.

The £16 billion scheme would link the town with Central London and the east without the need to change trains at Paddington.

It is by far the biggest rail upgrade scheme ever in the Thames Valley.

A new tunnel is being built between Paddington and Liverpool Street aimed at relieving congestion.

The scheme when announced in the 1990s was meant to come to Reading, but was later cut to only go to Maidenhead to save hundreds of millions of pounds.

The original scheme had the route going to Ebbsfleet in Kent, but it is unclear if that will happen.

MPs and council leaders have long campaigned for the link which will almost certainly lead to a massive jobs and housing boost.