London mayor Sadiq Khan’s concerns over fresh Crossrail 2 delays revealed in letter to chancellor Philip Hammond
London mayor Sadiq Khan’s concerns over fresh delays to the £31bn Crossrail 2 project have been revealed in a letter sent to chancellor Philip Hammond.
The letter, published in a Freedom of Information response by City Hall, came ahead of November’s Autumn Budget, with Khan saying the rail route needed “an urgent ministerial decision” to avoid further delays.
In July, the Crossrail 2 team were told they had to submit a revised business case and funding plan to the government, after transport secretary Chris Grayling said London needed to pay for half the costs of the project during construction, rather than over the lifetime of the scheme.
Read more: Crossrail 2 faces timing crunch as DfT plans independent funding review
“We have done all that was asked of us by government, which has involved some very difficult political decisions,” Khan wrote in the letter to Hammond.
It is now absolutely vital that we receive a clear public commitment from you at the Budget on 22 November to move the project onto the next stage of its development, including public consultation in January – the condition that I agreed with Chris Grayling for producing the updated proposal – and preparing for a hybrid bill in 2020.
While the Budget gave a nod to Crossrail 2, saying the government continued to work with Transport for London on the funding and financing of the project, the government has said an independent funding and finance review needs to go ahead to scrutinise the revised proposals.
The DfT will only consider a public consultation after the independent review has deemed the funding plans a success, and the terms of reference for the review are still being ironed out.
As a result, the condition Khan said was agreed upon – with a public consultation going ahead this month – has been scuppered. Depending on how long the new funding review takes, further pressure could be put on the wider timescale to submit a hybrid bill to parliament in 2020. The hybrid bill plans were already pushed back a year by the snap General Election held in June.
A spokesperson for the mayor said today: “The mayor was pleased to see a clear commitment to Crossrail 2 in the Budget, and he has since had further productive meetings with the secretary of state for transport where both reasserted their commitment to progressing with Crossrail 2.”
The proposed south east rail route which would include a new north-south rail link across London has been billed as a vital way to tackle overcrowding. Transport for London said crowding is forecast to surge beyond current levels in the early 2030s, and Tube stations will face severe operating difficulties.
Crossrail 2 managing director Michele Dix has also warned the capital will not be able to cope with the expected rise in passengers brought to London by HS2 without Crossrail 2.
A DfT spokesperson said:
Crossrail 2 has the potential to unlock new housing, jobs and development and provide London with infrastructure that will support its growth.
We need to ensure the public gets an affordable scheme that is fair to the UK taxpayer, and are clear that we must improve transport in lockstep across the whole country.
They added: “We recognise the potential in the funding proposal the mayor has proposed. Through the independent funding and financing review, we look forward to working with the mayor to further develop it.”
Read more: Crossrail 2 boss says London can’t cope with extra passengers from HS2