Crossrail crisis
London’s beleaguered new Tube route is delayed indefinitely... oh, and it needs extra £2bn from taxpayers!
CROSSRAIL was described as a shambles last night after bosses admitted it has been delayed indefinitely – and needs £2billion more from taxpayers.
The scheme – Europe’s biggest infrastructure project – was supposed to have been opened two days ago by the Queen.
That was then put on hold until autumn next year. And yesterday Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild confirmed it would not even be able to meet the new deadline, or set a further one. He said stations and tunnels were ‘at varying stages of completion’ – making it impossible to carry out the safety testing of new trains.
He also said the budget had soared to £17.6billion and that it needed another £2billion in emergency loans from taxpayers.
The latest holdup means it is likely that the 60-mile Crossrail Elizabeth Line through the capital from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in Essex will not be delivered until 2020 at the earliest. It is another humiliating setback for London mayor Sadiq Khan. He had already received a £300million bailout from the Department for Transport.
However, a review of Crossrail’s finances by accountants KPMG has uncovered delays that could cost another £1.6billion to £2billion. This means Mr Khan needs between £1.3billion and £1.7billion to complete the project.
News of the latest problems was announced by Transport for London just as the Brexit debate in the Commons began to dominate the headlines.
Gareth Bacon, chairman of the London Assembly budget committee, said: ‘This financing package reveals the extent of the shambles that the Crossrail project has become.’
Transport for London said the Government would lend the Greater London Authority the money to cover the bulk of the costs. This will have to be repaid, with money largely from business rates paid by firms based in London, including struggling shops.
Transport for London has agreed another back-up loan of £750million if the costs spiral even further. As recently as July the budget for the project was expected to be £14.8 billion. Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary for the Department for Transport, said she could not be ‘100 per cent confident’ costs would not rise again.
Rail minister Andrew Jones said: ‘ The Government remains committed to the rapid completion of the project, in a way that is fair to UK taxpayers, and that enables London – as the primary beneficiary of Crossrail – to bear the additional costs.’
Mr Khan has been accused of misleading the public about the initial delay. He said he was informed only two days before it was made public on August 29.
Crossrail chairman Sir Terry Morgan, who was fired last week, insisted the mayor had been told about it more than a month earlier.
The London Assembly’s transport committee has taken the unprecedented step of summoning Mr Khan to give him the ‘final chance to tell the truth’ about what he knew about the delay.
Yesterday Mr Khan attempted to clear his name, releasing more than 100 documents. He said these ‘confirm I have been fully transparent about what I knew when’. He added: ‘I remain deeply angry and frustrated at the delays and cost overrun, and these documents are a serious indictment of Crossrail Ltd’s governance.
‘It is clear that as joint sponsors TfL and the Department for Transport should have been told much more, far sooner by Crossrail.’ Sir Terry Morgan was paid around £200,000 for a two and half day week, while electrician jobs on the project are being advertised at more than £400 a day.
■ RAIL passengers planning a Christmas getaway have been told they may have to take the bus to complete their journey.
A 25,000-strong workforce is set to carry out 330 engineering works across the network over the holiday as part of a £148million reliability programme.
Routes to Heathrow and Gatwick will be affected while trains to London Paddington and London Victoria will also be reduced. Services to Manchester Victoria will be hit, as will routes between London, the West Midlands, the North West and Cumbria.