Crossrail

Government indicates support for Crossrail to Ebbsfleet extension with £5m feasibility funding

26 March 2019The government has indicated it is open to an extension of the delayed Crossrail project to Ebbsfleet, with £5m committed to help fund preparations for the new route in a  “landmark moment” for Bexley and north west Kent. I...

Crossrail delays to cost businesses £600m as TfL reports half a billion pound deficit

20 March 2019The delayed opening and financial chaos around Crossrail are to cost businesses and developers up to £600m, as TfL announces a budget deficit of £500m – nearly half that of original estimates. A levy on business rates is to be e...

Crossrail bosses hope for new timetable estimate by April but Khan admits there is no confidence about opening date

26 February 2019Crossrail chiefs hope to have a new estimate for a timeline for the heavily delayed railway project by April, but London mayor Sadiq Khan has admitted there is no date its chief executive Mark Wild can give “with confidence.” The Eliz...

Crossrail restarts dynamic testing on Elizabeth Line after series of delays

18 January 2019Crossrail has begun operating test trains on the Elizabeth Line, restarting a crucial part of testing after months of setbacks and delays. Two test trains will operate on the line during the first week of the main dynamic testing phase which Cros...

HS1 and Crossrail suppliers admit to running ‘illegal cartel’ for 7 years

14 December 2018Two UK rail suppliers to major projects such as HS1, HS2, and Crossrail have admitted to operating an illegal cartel for almost seven years with the goal of increasing prices and reducing competition in the drainage market. The Competition and Ma...

Khan told in July of ‘high risk’ to Crossrail launch date as TfL reveals project’s ‘failed governance’

11 December 2018Documents released by TfL show that the former Crossrail chairman Sir Terry Morgan warned Sadiq Khan in July that schedule plans were at “high risk” and have been called a “serious indictment of Crossrail’s failed governanc...

Crossrail given £1.4bn bailout as launch date pushed back once again

10 December 2018Crossrail has suffered further delays to its schedule beyond the autumn of 2019 and London transport bosses have today announced a £1.4bn bailout of the flagship project – even worse than first estimates – in what represents yet...

New chair and deputy nominated for Crossrail amidst further delays

10 December 2018Tony Meggs has been nominated as the new chair of Crossrail, replacing Sir Terry Morgan as the head of the £15.4bn project. The news comes at a turbulent day for the scheme, with TfL announcing a £1.4bn bailout and pushing back the la...

Crossrail set for further £1bn bailout and potential further delay

10 December 2018Ministers are expected to announce a fresh £1bn bailout for Crossrail and admit that the project might need to be delayed beyond 2019. According to the Financial Times, officials from the DfT and TfL, who have been in emergency talks for mo...

London mayor criticised after appointing former auditor and advisor to investigate Crossrail delays

07 December 2018Sadiq Khan has come under fire over a Crossrail probe after he appointed a former auditor and adviser for the Elizabeth Line project to investigate the delays and spiralling costs. Conservative MP and former minister Greg Hands has written to the...

Ex-Atkins chair made HS2 boss as Sir Terry Morgan resigns from two roles

06 December 2018Sir Terry Morgan has resigned as chairman of both HS2 and Crossrail, days after he revealed that he expected to be sacked this week. The government has announced that former Atkins chair Allan Cook will replace Morgan as the new chair of HS2. The...

Sir Terry Morgan ‘in absolutely no doubt’ that Khan knew about Crossrail delay

03 December 2018Crossrail’s chairman has insisted that Sadiq Khan was told in July about the need to delay the Elizabeth Line project and chose not to inform the London Assembly, challenging the London mayor’s claims he was in the dark. The soon-to-b...

Sir Terry Morgan ‘expects to be sacked’ as HS2 chairman over Crossrail delays

03 December 2018Sir Terry Morgan has said he expects to be sacked as chairman of HS2 in the next few days after taking up the role only four months ago. Speaking on the early evening news programme on BBC Radio 4, Morgan said there was disappointment at Westmins...

Transport minister blames Khan for TfL’s financial problems as it struggles to fund Crossrail

27 November 2018Transport minister Andrew Jones has criticised Sadiq Khan over the capital’s struggle to complete the Crossrail project and argued that it is “becoming clearer how the mayor’s policies are causing long-term problems with TfL&rsqu...

Crossrail could need even more bailout cash as Khan lashes out at ‘unfit’ governance

22 November 2018The capital’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has revealed that the delayed and financially troubled Crossrail project will need even more cash injections in a move the London Assembly claim could have “calamitous” consequences. In a letter...