Business leaders have called on Boris Johnson to push London Underground to commit to a £200 million rail project in Watford.

Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership has called on the Mayor of London to push London Underground to commit to the Croxley Rail Link, saying, "it would be a great pity if lack of commitment from London Underground were to prevent the project progressing".

Last week, it emerged the Department for Transport needs commitments from both Hertfordshire County Council and London Underground before it can give the project the go-ahead.

Authorities are facing a race against time to get the go-ahead before the General Election in May.

Ana Vaughan, representative for Hertfordshire County Council, said: “At the time of drafting the Cabinet report, it is understood that London Underground Limited has a preference to take on overall responsibility for the entire scheme, both the civil engineering elements and the rail build, on the basis that a ‘split’ of contracts would introduce a further interface and potentially increase the level of risk.

“If approval for the scheme is to be given by late March 2015, before Parliament dissolves, the timetable for a decision is challenging.

“The Department for Transport needs commitments from both Hertfordshire County Council and London Underground Limited by the end of February 2015 to enable them to consider a final funding decision by late March 2015.

In a letter to the Mayor, who is also Chairman of Transport for London and the London Enterprise Panel, John Gourd, Hertfordshire LEP Board chairman, urged Mr Johnson to secure commitment from LU to help realise this project and show his seriousness in helping places outside the capital to accommodate its growth.

John Gourd said: “Hertfordshire LEP has recently provisionally re-allocated £37.15m of our Growth Deal funding to Croxley Rail Link which is on top of £50.5m already allocated, making a total contribution of £87.65m.

“This represents 40 per cent of the total funding we are due to receive from Government through our Growth Deal and this helps to demonstrate to you the importance that we attach to this single project.

“However, this re-allocated funding is conditional on LU committing to the project in terms of taking on aspects of delivery and sharing risks including a financial commitment.”

John Gourd added: “It would be a great pity if lack of commitment from LU were to prevent the project progressing and effectively prevent anticipated growth in Watford, Hertfordshire and, by default, London.”