Assembly Response To Mass Release Of Crossrail News

December 13, 2018
  • Long awaited Crossrail documents were finally released by Transport for London on 10 December.
  • Also, new funding was announced as well as a new Chair, following the departure of Sir Terry Morgan.
  • It was also announced that the proposed completion date of Autumn 2019 cannot be guaranteed.

 

Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM, said:

“It is now clear that the Mayor was told on July 26 that Crossrail’s opening date was at “high risk”.

“TfL have released a lot of news today but not the information we asked for.  We summonsed TfL’s weekly updates to the Mayor and these have been published, apart from a suspicious missing period in July-August.

“It’s very convenient these documents have been released on the same day it’s announced that Crossrail will receive an eye-watering budget boost from the GLA, as well as a new Chair. The committee will be scrutinising them thoroughly before its meeting with the Mayor on December 21st.

This really is the worst case scenario. Londoners are having to foot an even bigger bill than anticipated and the opening is now at an unspecified time.

“Who knows how this will affect the rest of the budget and what will happen to projects that need Mayoral funding.

“Londoners look forward to the new train line which will be an asset to the city once it is finally opened.”

 

Chairman of the London Assembly Budget & Performance Committee, Gareth Bacon AM, said:

“This financing package reveals the extent of the shambles that the Crossrail project has become. The GLA, Crossrail and TfL are stitching together what amounts to a rescue package using figures that will stagger most Londoners. The GLA alone is making a further £100 million cash contribution which is money that cannot now be spent elsewhere.

“While Crossrail will one day prove a huge boon to the capital’s economy it is currently a drag and an embarrassment. We’re pleased this project has been kept afloat but deplore the failings that made such drastic remedial action necessary in the first place.”