Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan says he will not step down in wake of Elizbeth Line delay
Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan has said he will not step down in the wake of the nine-month delay to the Elizabeth Line.
The £15.4bn project was scheduled to open in December this year but has been put back until Autumn 2019 following delays to signalling testing and safety concerns.
The delay was roundly criticised by business groups and leaders who received assurances from Crossrail that the project would be be delivered “on time and on budget”. Transport for London’s (TfL) commissioner Mike Brown admitted the transport body would miss out on £20m of additional revenue.
Read more: Property bosses vent frustration in wake of Crossrail delays
Chair of the transport committee, Caroline Pidgeon, today asked Morgan if he had reconsidered his role in light of the project delay, to which he replied: “My determination is to finish the job.”
Morgan said he had not come under any pressure from the London mayor Sadiq Khan or the transport secretary Chris Grayling to leave his post. “We’ve let people down, you’re quite right. Since Heidi [Alexander] became deputy mayor it’s been a trail of disappointment.”
Alexander – who said she was not informed of the delay until August – said there was "undue optimism" within the senior management team at Crossrail when working towards the December 2018 deadline.
She also raised concerns over the governance and oversight of Crossrail, which she said had “huge autonomy” which limited the accountability of the project’s joint sponsors, the DfT and TfL.
She said if it was up to her she would set up the systems differently and pressed Crossrail on whether it would publish its August board meetings, to which Morgan replied that it would, with some redactions.
Read more: TfL to lose £20m in revenue from Elizabeth Line delay