6 2GM Wednesday December 2 2020 | the times
News
Crossrail has been handed a further
£825 million in an attempt to complete
the heavily delayed project, with warn-
ings that more cash may be needed
before it is opened.
It was announced yesterday that the
Department for Transport had agreed
a loan with the Greater London
Authority to finish the east-west line
through the capital.
The move takes the cost of the
project to almost £18.5 billion — about
£4 billion more than the budget drawn
up a decade ago. Ministers agreed to the
loan after it emerged last month that
the scheme could be mothballed with-
out further funding.
However, Andy Byford, London’s
transport commissioner, failed to rule
out the possibility that more money
would be needed before Crossrail is
opened. He pointed out that today’s
funding deal was less than the £1.1 bil-
lion that the project’s board said would
be required to complete it.
Addressing the London Assembly, he
said: “We strongly believe we can deliv-
er for that but there’s still the potential
that we would need a bit more. For that
to become a reality we would have to
re-engage with government to secure
that... I am really hoping we don’t have
to go there.”
Crossrail, which will be named the
Elizabeth line when it opens, will run
for 73 miles from Berkshire to Essex,
including a 13-mile tunnelled section
through the centre of London. It was
Britain’s biggest infrastructure project
before work started on the HS2 railway.
The line through central London was
supposed to open in late 2018 but has
been heavily delayed because of prob-
lems over safety tests, the delivery of
trains and the fitting-out of stations.
Crossrail is jointly sponsored by the
Department for Transport and Trans-
port for London, which now has com-
plete oversight of the project.
A new target opening date of the first
half of 2022 was also revealed — mean-
ing that it will run up to three and a half
years late. Extensive work is stillneeded, including the completion of
stations and the trial running of empty
trains through the centre of London,
which is expected to start early next
year. A final phase will involve people
being transported, and walking
through stations, to test “real-time
service scenarios”.
The budget for Crossrail has inchedRing of light A circular break in the clouds known as a fallstreak hole, which can form after ice crystals develop, appeared over Shepton Mallet, Somerset, yesterday
Flying boat ‘escapes’
A Second World War Catalina
flying boat is returning to the
Imperial War Museum Duxford
from Loch Ness today after
aviation enthusiasts donated
£30,000 to replace one of its
engines, which had failed as it
tried to take off from the loch in
October. A TV documentary,
Escape from Loch Ness, will be
broadcast on BBC Alba.Two hurt on mountain
Two walkers who were rescued
after falling 50ft in the West
Waterfall area of the Lake
District “could easily have died”,
Tom Durcan, of Cockermouth
mountain rescue, said. One man
suffered head injuries falling
down a gully and a second hurt
his back in a fall as he tried to
help. A third walker was left stuck
on a ledge and also needed help.Barristers’ strike threat
Barristers may strike if courts
introduce longer hours to tackle
the backlog of criminal trials in
England and Wales, which stands
at more than 51,000. Officials are
consulting on the plan. Lawyers
say that the scheme discriminates
against those with caring
responsibilities. A source close to
the Bar said that strike action was
“on the cards” in the new year.Thatcher event protest
A Facebook group proposing to
stage an egg-throwing contest at
the unveiling of a statue of
Margaret Thatcher in her home
town of Grantham has attracted
interest from 13,000 people.
South Kesteven council has
agreed to spend £100,000 on the
unveiling. The statue, originally
intended for Westminster, will
stand on a 10ft granite plinth.Jumbo act of kindness
The mystery of 64 ornamental
elephants placed on doorsteps has
been solved. Residents in St
Helens, Merseyside, woke to find
the objects on Friday and some
feared that their homes were
being singled out for burglary.
Yesterday Merseyside police
announced that the ornaments
had been shared by an elderly
man to mark a year since the
death of his wife, who had
collected them. Sergeant Andy
Halfpenny said: “It was sheer
kindness.”A B C D D D D E
E E E E E E G K
L L L N O O O P
R S S S S T V W
Solve all five clues using each
letter underneath once only1 Touch down ( 4 )
2 Hit with force ( 4 )
3 Shirt parts (7)
4 Female deity (7)
5 Arboreal bird ( 10 )
Quintagram® No 86 2
Solutions MindGames in Times
Cryptic clues Page 10 of TimesJASON BRYANT/APEXCrossrail bailed out with £825m
loan... and it could need more
up over the past two years after it was
announced that the original December
2018 opening date could not be met.
Grant Shapps, the transport secre-
tary, said the new loan was “a fair deal
for taxpayers across the UK” which
would “get the project up and running”.
However, the loan angered Sadiq
Khan, London’s Labour mayor, who
appeared to criticise the government
for failing to grant the money to the
capital. The money will be paid back by
the Greater London Authority, the
local government body, through busi-
ness rates and an infrastructure levy.
The move comes after a row over the
award of money to TfL to keep bus,
train and Tube services running during
the pandemic. A £1.8 billion deal was
made last month but central govern-
ment has threatened to attach onerous
terms to future awards, including the
expansion of the central London con-
gestion charging zone.
Mr Khan said: “Securing this financ-
ing package enables us to press full
steam ahead with getting the central
section of the Elizabeth line open as
soon as possible. The government has
insisted London must pay the shortfall,
despite the overwhelming majority of
the tax income that will result from
Crossrail going to the Treasury.
“This is another example of London
supporting the country way over and
above the help we get from this govern-
ment. I do not want this project to be
stalled so it is vital that we dig deep to
get the railway up and running.”
Mark Wild, chief executive of Cross-
rail, said: “Delivery of the Elizabeth line
is now in its complex final stages. Good
progress continues to be made... We
are doing everything possible to deliver
the Elizabeth line as safely and quickly
as we can.”Graeme Paton Transport Correspondent
The Crossrail project has been delayed by problems fitting out stations in London
YUI MOK/PACounting the cost
£18.5bn
New estimated cost£14.8bn
Predicted cost after spending review
by George Osborne, then chancellor,
in 2010Mid-
Expected opening date in central
London — three and a half years late469
Number of train drivers employed by
Crossrail even though it is not
operating through central London500,
Target daily capacity in central London£42bn
Estimated economic boost, including
through extra jobs and housing