Crossrail concerns
London‘s transport commissioner says the £14.8bn Crossrail project faces “increasing cost and schedule pressures”.
LONDON’S transport commissioner says the £14.8 billion Crossrail project is facing “increasing cost and schedule pressures”, with less than a year to go before the start beneath central London of Elizabeth Line services.
Mike Brown made the admission in Transport for London board papers released on January 24, citing the problematic testing of rolling stock software and delayed energisation of the route’s central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood.
A TfL board meeting held on January 30 heard how an explosion at an electrical substation at Pudding Mill in November means that energisation and testing of the central section cannot now take place until the end of February.
This infrastructure is due to be handed over by contractors to TfL in the summer, before services commence in December.
It has also emerged that testing at Melton test track of European Train Control System (ETCS) signalling equipment being fitted by Bombardier to Crossrail’s fleet of Class 345 Aventra trains is also running behind schedule.
This is needed for the trains to operate towards Heathrow Airport, but according to Transport for London it is running late due to the “immaturity and instability of train software”.
In the event that ETCS testing cannot be completed by May - when Transport for London is due to take over the operation of Heathrow Connect services - contingency plans are currently being drawn up.
This could mean that five existing Class 360/2 trains are retained on the route until later in the year, augmented by Class 345s running to Hayes & Harlington without using ETCS.
Crossrail Chairman Sir Terry Morgan told Transport for London’s board: “We are still supporting a revised plan between ourselves and TfL about delivering the railway for 2018, but we’re very close on the funding envelope and we’re certainly going to have to continue to work together to make sure we get this railway running this year.”