Crossrail to open by June 2022, says TfL boss
Transport for London’s commissioner Andy Byford has announced the Crossrail will be open to the public by June 2022.
Speaking at a Greater London Authority’s (GLA) transport committee meeting, Byford said: “I think we’re in a really good place to get this railway open.
“We still maintain that opening window between February and June. It will not slip. It will be the first half of 2022.”
According to Mark Wild, Crossrail’s chief executive, trial operations will begin in the next few weeks. “We made the decision collaboratively with Andy and the whole team that we’re better getting going,” Wild said. “It would be a bit pointless to wait for the 144 tests and drills we can get on with.”
“We’re going to progress trial operations as soon as we can, in the next few days of weeks, as soon as we have the safety insurance under our belt.”
Byford also went on the record telling the GLA “Londoners will not thank us if we open and it looks great but it’s not reliable.
“I would rather spend a bit more time on trial operations than rush to get it out of the box.”
Byford’s comments come amid a series of delays that have affected the project, forcing TfL to push past the initial 2018 deadline.
Recently the National Audit Office has called on the mayor to provide reassurance that money will be available to finish the project, which is currently costing an additional £218m more than the £18.8bn funding package currently available, CityAM reported.