London and into the Home Counties with a branch to Heathrow Airport. It is Europe's biggest construction project, with a £15 billion projected cost. London is the centre of the National Rail network, with 70 per cent of rail journeys starting or ending in London. Like suburban rail services, regional and inter-city trains depart from several termini around the city centre, linking London with the rest of Britain including Birmingham, Brighton, Reading, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Exeter, Sheffield, Southampton, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Cambridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Some international railway services to Continental Europe were operated during the 20th century
London Southend Airport in the surrounding countryside. Canewdon, north-east of the airport, was the location of one of the World War II Chain Home radar stations. The high transmitter tower at Canewdon was relocated to the Marconi works at Great Baddow in the 1950s. In 1993, after the airport had been making losses for many years, Southend Borough Council sold the airport to Regional Airports Ltd (RAL), operator of Biggin Hill Airport. London Southend Airport Co Ltd was formed to operate the airport which was re-branded as "London Southend Airport" with the term "Municipal" dropping from the title. The previous losses were turned