Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Construction work on the programme started in 2009 and tunnelling began in 2012.47 The majority...
Conclusion
Construction work on the programme started in 2009 and tunnelling began in 2012.47 The majority of major construction work is complete and Crossrail Ltd is now transferring assets, such as stations, to Rail for London Infrastructure (RfLi) and London Underground who, along with Network Rail, will maintain and operate different parts of the railway.48 Crossrail Ltd estimates that the central section of the Elizabeth line will be open to passengers between February 2022 and June 2022.49 Our evidence session was in July 2021, some seven months before the earliest opening date.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Introduction from the Committee Crossrail is a complex major programme to run new, direct rail services between Reading and H Heathrow Airport at the western ends of the railway, to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south-east London at the eastern ends. It is the world’s first truly digital railway of its size and scale that will have no peers in the world. Construction work on the programme started in 2009 and tunnelling began in 2012. The majority of major construction work is complete and Crossrail Ltd is now transferring assets, such as stations, to Rail for London Infrastructure (RfLi) and London Underground who, along with Network Rail, will maintain and operate different parts of the railway. When complete, the railway will be around 73 miles (118 kilometres) long, stopping at 41 stations, including 10 new stations and 26 miles (42 kilometres) of new tunnels. Once Crossrail is open, it will become part of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) underground and overground rail network and be known as the Elizabeth line. The Department for Transport (the Department) and Transport for London (TfL) are jointly sponsoring the programme. Crossrail Ltd is an arm’s-length body specifically created to deliver the programme and is wholly-owned by TfL.