Crossrail

(asked on 19th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the delays of Crossrail 1, (1) what were the reasons that the delay announced in August 2018 was not sufficient to prevent the subsequent announcement in July 2021 of a further delay to the opening date of the railway, (2) what assessment they have made of the capacity of Crossrail and its owners to provide reliable forecasts for the project, (3) what was the estimated total cost of the project in April 2019, (4) what estimate they have made of the expected cost of the project by June 2022, (5) what lessons they have learned with regard to the timely forecasting of completion dates, and (6) how they are applying any lessons learnt to other major transport projects, such as HS2.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 2nd August 2021

In October 2020, the governance of Crossrail transferred over to Transport for London (TfL). As part of the governance transition, the Crossrail Sponsor Board was replaced and the Mayor of London, who chairs the TfL Board, established a new Special Purpose Committee of the TfL Board, called the Elizabeth Line Committee (ELC). The ELC is chaired by the Deputy Mayor for Transport and provides high-level oversight of the Crossrail project. DfT remains a joint sponsor and retains oversight of and scrutiny of the programme and DfT has a Special Representative on the ELC.

The Transport Commissioner is responsible for delivering the project and intended benefits. TfL is responsible for providing reliable forecasts for the project. Crossrail Limited remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TfL.

In August 2018, Crossrail Limited announced a delay to the opening of the Elizabeth line. CRL stated that the reasons for this delay was due to more time being needed by contractors to complete fit-out activity in the central tunnels and the development of railway systems software, and that testing had started but further time was required to complete the full range of integrated tests.

The most recent announcement was in August 2020, when Crossrail Limited stated that the central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood would be ready to open the first half of 2022. Crossrail announced that the schedule delay was due to lower than planned productivity in the final completion and handover of the shafts and portals and revisions to the schedule assumptions for the completion of the new stations. Crossrail also incurred additional costs and delays as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In April 2019, Crossrail Limited’s total estimate costs for the project was £17.6 billion. Crossrail Limited’s current forecast cost of completing the programme is up to £18.9 billion. This includes Network Rail On-Network Costs for the surface works but excludes the cost of procuring new trains and depot.

The Department is committed to applying the lessons learned on Crossrail to other major projects, including HS2. In April 2019, the Department co-published a report with the Infrastructure and Project Authority (IPA). This identified a number of practical lessons, building on the experience of Crossrail, across five major themes.

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