Crossrail 2 could be scaled back and is likely to be delivered in a phased approach, amid concerns over escalating costs.

 

National Infrastructure Commission chairman Lord Adonis told the London Infrastructure Summit on Thursday that the “broad case for the project is very convincing” as a means of relieving overcrowding on existing lines and unlocking opportunities for housing and regeneration.

 

But he warned that Crossrail 2’s current projected cost of £33Bn had more than doubled in the three years since he started championing the project. “This is a very expensive project and it is important to keep costs under control,” he remarked. “One option is to phase the scheme so upfront costs are less, as has happened with High Speed 2.”

 

Details of the proposed delay with building part of Crossrail 2 are contained within the Commission’s report ‘Transport for a World City’, published online as Lord Adonis was speaking. The report states: ‘The updated case should include detailed options to reduce and phase the costs of the scheme.

 

‘The most promising option identified to enhance affordability would be to delay the construction of the North Western branch to New Southgate. This could reduce the costs of the initial scheme in the 2020s by around £4Bn’.

 

The report goes on to say that if construction of the North Western branch is delayed this would provide an opportunity to ‘consider the case for an eastern branch’ from Hackney as an alternative.

 

More work needs to be done, the report continues, on the costs and benefits of individual central London stations. Lord Adonis told conference delegates: “Stations are hugely expensive: £1Bn roughly per underground station. We say that the case for individual stations should be examined carefully.” He added that the project should seek to maximise private sector contributions.

 

Lord Adonis was asked if delivering Crossrail 2 in stages would mean the project may never be delivered in its entirety and lack the ambition of Crossrail 1 in terms of its housing and regeneration benefits.

He replied: “Crossrail 2 is a much bigger scheme and more complex (than Crossrail 1) in how it links in to existing lines at each end.

 

“The core of our vision is for a link from the South West to the North East, connecting services at both ends and serving main stations. How you then phase the other (wider) elements of the scheme is something that needs to be looked at.”

 

He added: “As always with these schemes they have to be developed in the context of a budget. I’ve seen this myself as a Minister. You encourage people to cost the schemes and put their full wish list in, only for the Treasury to say ‘this is unaffordable, we can’t proceed and we will cancel it’. So it’s important to get costs under control. You don’t want a project that is unaffordable.”

 

(Image: Crossrail 2)