There is still frustration regarding who knew what, and when, about delays to Crossrail, the central section of which was due to open last December.
Transport for London (TfL) Chairman and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and TfL commissioner Mike Brown MVO appeared before the London Assembly Transport Committee on December 21 to explain their version of events, having been summonsed.
However, the chairman of the committee, Caroline Pidgeon, said that there was still a lack of understanding regarding the problems.
“It is very frustrating that despite a long meeting, with summonsed documents, the Mayor and the TfL commissioner speaking at length, we’re still far from understanding who knew what and when,” said Pidgeon.
“What we’ve seen today is Sadiq Khan and Mike Brown sticking to their guns. They’re adamant that the information they were given through to August 2018 indicated the December 2018 deadline would be met.
“Yet the former chair Sir Terry says he informed the Mayor and TfL in July. The Mayor suggested he must have ‘misremembered’ events. We will put that suggestion to Sir Terry in early January."
Morgan has been invited to the next committee meeting, which was due to take place on January 9.
- For the FULL story, read RAIL 870, published on January 16, and available digitally on Android, iPad and Kindle from January 12.
AndrewJG8918 - 06/01/2019 22:42
Despite the opening of Crossrail Elizabeth Line that was schedule to partly open. More and more Class 345 trains are still being built with most of the Class 345s that are replacing the Class 315s on the TfL Rail Liverpool St-Shenfield route and some on the Paddington-Hayes & Harlington which could of extended as far as Maidenhead. With GWR providing the Paddington-Reading stopping service with their Class 387s. As some 387s are operating the Reading-Newbury shuttle service and Paddington-Didcot Parkway service.