A £16bn project to create a high speed rail link through the heart of London will not be rushed through parliament without scrutiny.

The Crossrail project is set to link east and west London and is expected to generate billions of pounds following its completion, due in 2017.

A Bill to rubber stamp the project has started to pass through Parliament and MPs have voted for the matter to be dealt with during the next parliamentary session, which starts in two weeks with the state opening of the house, to avoid unnecessary delay.

However, Junior transport minister, Tom Harris, who proposed the motion, told MPs there would be "no curtailing of scrutiny in the next session" on the bill.

He said: "Whatever outstanding reservations members might have about aspects of the project, I do not believe that anyone wants the bill to be infinitely delayed or, worse still, cancelled.

"There will be a select committee in another place to consider the remaining concerns of petitioners."

Bills that do not get approval to be carried over to subsequent sessions of Parliament, have to be reintroduced from scratch.