Ministers are poised to announce a fresh bailout for Crossrail as early as Monday as fears grow that the start date for the flagship London project will be pushed back even further. Officials from the Department for Transport and Transport for London, who have been locked in emergency talks for months, were holding further negotiations on Sunday ahead of an imminent public announcement.
People close to the project believe the latest rescue plan — the third this year — will involve around £1bn of new funding. “Work is continuing between the government, mayor and TfL on finalising a financing package,” said a TFL spokesperson. Former Labour MP Nick Raynsford is also expected to be appointed as Crossrail’s deputy chairman. Later this week Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is expected to set out various cuts to projects in the city to help fill the financial black hole left by Crossrail’s woes.
The capital should have been celebrating the opening of the east-west London railway, the biggest construction project in Europe, this week. But in August, Crossrail announced it would not begin operation until autumn 2019 at the earliest. Even that now seems “wildly optimistic”, one source close to the project said, given the problems with signals, trains and stations. leading to “growing panic” among executives at TfL. A number of people close to the project now saying it may not be ready until late 2020.