Sadiq Khan confirms new financing agreement for final stages of Crossrail project

Crossrail warned in August that the Elizabeth line would now open in autumn 2019, rather than December 2018 as it became clear that more work than had originally been envisaged would be required before the project's infrastructure and extensive testing would be complete.

Mark Wild, Crossrail's new chief executive, said on Monday that having reviewed the work still required to complete the project, an Autumn 2019 opening date could "no longer be committed to at this stage", and noted that his team was working on a "robust and deliverable schedule".

Wild said that core elements of the infrastructure being delivered by Crossrail, including the stations and the fit-out of the tunnels, were at varying stages of completion, with more funding required to complete the project.

Khan requested TfL commission independent reviews into Crossrail's financing and governance arrangements.

Findings from KPMG's review indicated that the cost of the Elizabeth line's delays could be in the region of "between £1.6bn and £2bn", including the £300m already contributed by the Department for Transport and TfL in July 2018, leaving £1.3-1.7bn to complete the project.

However, the Mayor's office and Number 10 managed to greed on a financial package to cover the shortfall.

The Greater London Authority will borrow up to £1.3bn from the DfT and will also provide a £100m cash contribution, taking its total contribution to £1.4bn.

A contingency arrangement was also agreed between TfL and the Government, with a loan facility from the DfT of "up to £750m, should the higher end of the estimate be realised."

This combined financing deal will replace the need for the £350 million interim financing package offered by the Government in October.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “When Crossrail is complete it will truly transform travel across the capital, with new state-of-the-art trains adding 10% to central London's rail capacity and boosting the economy by billions of pounds."

"I haven’t hidden my anger and frustration about the Crossrail project being delayed. This has a knock-on consequence of significant additional cost to the project. It has been increasingly clear that the previous Crossrail leadership painted a far too optimistic picture of the project’s status."