25.11.15
£4.74m advanced funds requested to maintain Crossrail 2 momentum
TfL’s Finance and Policy Committee is being asked to recommend the Board brings forward £4.74m from 2016-17 to allow the Crossrail 2 project programme “to be maintained” and ensure momentum isn’t lost.
In a board paper for the 2 December meeting, it was noted that “in the likely absence” of a substantial commitment at the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) it is proposed that £4.74m of funding is brought forward from 2016-17 to 2015-16 and that the Project Authority is increased by £4.74m to £21.459m.
At present Crossrail 2 is in the planning phase which includes the development of the business case, definition of a preferred route and public consultation. This activity is planned to be completed during 2015-16.
It is currently assumed that the development phase will commence on 1 April 2016, with the construction phase commencing early in the 2020s. However, the preparations to deliver this are likely to require “additional expenditure” on the further definition of the scheme, and the mobilisation and procurement of resource.
The paper said: “It now seems unlikely that a substantive commitment will be made at the CSR, such that those preparations would be delayed and momentum lost. The project team has assessed the cost of the preparations at £4.74m.” This is set out in the table below.
It was also noted that recent dialogue with government suggests that any “substantive decision” on the future funding of Crossrail 2 is likely to await the publication of the first report from National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), under the chairmanship of Lord Adonis, due in March/April 2016.
Recently, Lord Adonis told delegates at the TransCityRail North event that new major infrastructure projects like Crossrail 2 and HS3 should look at “wider sources of funding”, including private sector investment, rather than simply receiving money from the Treasury.
