Mayor attacked as Crossrail runs late and over budget
SADIQ KHAN was last night accused of “reckless disregard” and being “asleep on job” after it emerged that the £15billion Crossrail project has been delayed by nine months.
The mayor of London faced a backlash after the announcement that Britain’s largest infrastructure project had been pushed back to December 2019 and was running £600 million over budget.
The delay, caused by problems with three signalling systems and the fitting of several stations, has blown a £143 million hole in Transport for London’s budget, due to the loss of forecast fare revenue.
The project, known as the Elizabeth Line, had been due to open in December but will now not begin running until the autumn of 2019. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London, and although jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport, a senior Labour insider said the failings were “just as much Sadiq Khan’s responsibility” as the Government’s.
Members of the London Assembly, which scrutinises the activities of the London mayor, said the delay was the “latest in a long line of failings” to have occurred during Mr Khan’s time in office. Describing the setback as “deeply disappointing”, Andrew Boff, a Conservative assembly member, said: “This has exposed Khan’s reckless disregard for the most basic standards of financial budgeting. If Khan were a CEO he would now be sacked.”
Shaun Bailey, a 2018 Conservative mayoral candidate, said: “It seems he is simply incapable of delivering the improved transport infrastructure we need.” Caroline Pidgeon, who chairs City Hall’s transport committee, said: “He needs to answer many questions as to why repeated assurances over the opening date have proved worthless.”
The mayor was also asked why Andrew Wolstenholme, the project’s former chief, was handed a £500,000 bonus months before leaving to join the HS2 project.
A spokesman for Mr Khan said the delay was “obviously disappointing”, but insisted safety and reliability took priority over launching on schedule.
Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, was also under fire for the delays, and was accused of “smuggling” the bad news out late in August while Parliament was in recess.
Lord Adonis, former Labour transport minister, said: “Chris Grayling needs to explain why two senior Crossrail executives, who helped oversee a project hit by delays, were moved to HS2, which has also been blighted by similar problems and escalating costs.”