RIA urges Crossrail 2 financial review

The Railway Industry Association (RIA) says it wants a financial review of Crossrail 2 to be completed as soon as possible, to avoid delays in the project.

It follows the recent announcement by Transport for London Director of Planning Alex Williams that the independent funding and finance review will report back “in the autumn”.

Deputy Mayor for Transport Val Shawcross said the Government had asked for an independent financial review to examine whether costs could be reduced and whether the project is viable. The Department for Transport will only consider a public consultation (which was due to start early this year) if the review says the funding plans are likely to be successful.

RIA Chief Executive Darren Caplan said: “The Railway Industry Association is concerned about the reported delay in progressing the Crossrail 2 scheme. Major schemes like this are essential and provide wider benefits not just to those parts of the country they serve, but also to the national economy and its connectivity.

“Most people looking at this will wonder what has changed since Transport Secretary Chris Grayling and London Mayor Sadiq Khan offered together their full-throttle support to this vital infrastructure project just six months ago. Simply, this project should not be delayed without good reason, and it’s difficult to understand what good reason exists now.

“The Railway Industry Association urges the financial review of Crossrail 2 to be undertaken as swiftly as possible, so the project can proceed as planned on the timescale originally envisaged.

“Without doing so, it will be more difficult to integrate Crossrail 2 with other major infrastructure investments like HS2 - meaning we are less able to reduce congestion for passengers on our rail network.”