Crossrail 2 ‘still needed in the future’ despite cash drought
London’s Crossrail 2 is “ready to be restarted” in the future despite London mayor Sadiq Khan earlier this month agreeing to shelve the £33bn project in return for a bailout for Transport for London (TfL).
Khan agreed to put the north-south rail project on ice as part of a last-ditch financial package from Westminster to stop TfL going bust.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps will hand TfL £1.8bn over the next six months, after money at London’s main transport network ran dry in the thick of the pandemic.
The London mayor was forced to accept a tranche of conditions in exchange for the bailout, including hiking rail fares above inflation and an agreement to investigate the efficacy of driverless trains.
But in a sharp rebuttal of claims the funding package spelt the end for Crossrail 2, the scheme this evening issued its first statement in two-and-a-half years claiming the project “will still be needed in the future”.
Crossrail 2, which was set to connect Broxbourne in Hertfordshire with Epsom in Surrey, was described by the National Infrastructure Commission in 2016 as a national priority.
But the rail project, which was due to start construction in the early 2020s, drew criticism for exemplifying the government’s supposed London-centric approach to infrastructure.
It was notably omitted from the Conservative party’s 2017 manifesto, in a clear sign appetite for the rail project was waning in the heart of Westminster.
The government’s east-west Crossrail line has done little to spark enthusiasm for its successor, having repeatedly run both overtime and over budget.
But in its first update since 2018, the rail body this week said: “Crossrail 2 will still be needed in future to support London’s growth and we have clearly demonstrated the case for the scheme. The project has been put in good order, ready to be restarted when the time is right.”