RESIDENTS will be able to quiz Crossrail staff about the £16bn rail development during two information days later this month.

Woolwich was initially dropped from the planned Crossrail network but a U-turn last month - following a News Shopper campaign - gave the go-ahead for a station to be included.

Transport secretary Douglas Alexander announced Woolwich was back on the Crossrail map after Greenwich Council and property giant Berkeley Homes submitted plans on how they would finance the costs of the station.

Berkeley Homes will build and pay for the basic box structure of the station and construct their own development overhead.

The station's fittings will be paid for by a combination of business contributions and London-wide Crossrail funding contributions.

The proposed station will be built in the area of land between Plumstead Road, the Royal Carriage Factory and the IO Centre.

It could mean thousands of new homes and jobs in Woolwich.

Two public information sessions will be held on April 20 and 21 at the START International Centre, Gunnery House, Royal Arsenal.

Crossrail staff will be on hand to answer questions and explain more about the route.

The April 20 session will be between 12noon and 8pm and the following day the information centre will be open between 10am and 5pm.

Crossrail would link Maidenhead in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex via Heathrow Airport and tunnels under London.

Construction on the project, which was first proposed in 1989, should start next year, with trains operational by 2015.