Project chief Mark Wild says opening is still on track for first half of 2022
Crossrail鈥檚 final phase of testing could start in late November, the man in charge of the 拢18.6bn scheme has revealed.
Mark Wild, the Crossrail chief executive, said the scheme, which is due to open by mid-2022, could start trial operations - the final stage of testing trains through the central tunnels - within two months.
In his latest monthly update to the London Assembly transport chair Wild said: 鈥淭he countdown process for trial operations has commenced reflecting on the lessons learnt from the trial running countdown. Senior stakeholders from all organisations involved have attended the countdown meetings that have taken place so far.
鈥淭aking into account the necessary completion of testing, commissioning of software and the completion of safety assurance, the earliest date that trial operations can commence is towards the end of November 2021.鈥�
He added that, of the central section stations, only Bond Street posed any threat to this testing timeline but that the problem-plagued project at the station was 鈥渟howing encouraging signs that it will meet its requirements to be able to support trial operations鈥�.
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He added: 鈥淭he team at Bond Street are pushing hard and making good progress and there is growing confidence in the schedule to finish the station.
鈥淭he opening of the railway will be independent of whether Bond Street station is available for use by passengers, but the team continues to work towards getting the station open as soon as possible.鈥�
The only other station yet to be transferred to Transport for London is Canary Wharf. This is expected to happen later this autumn, while Abbey Wood station is forecast to be fully integrated into the railway within the next few weeks.
Both these stations are already sufficiently complete to support trial operations.
Wild鈥檚 report did not provide an update on the scheme鈥檚 financial position, which is widely understood to be short of what it needs to be.
In July, the National Audit Office said Crossrail still did not have enough money to finish the job despite being given nearly 拢3bn in government bailouts and that Bond Street station was expected to cost six times more than its original budget.
In a progress report on the scheme, the NAO said Crossrail needed to find more than 拢100m in missing money 鈥� despite being given a further 拢825m last December by the Department for Transport.
It received an initial 拢2bn in December 2018 when a new management team, led by Wild, concluded that there was not enough money to complete the work.
But Parliament鈥檚 spending watchdog said: 鈥淭he latest cost estimate of 拢18.9bn at May 2021 exceeds the available funding package by 拢120m.鈥�
Crossrail said last August that it wanted an extra 拢800m to 拢1.1bn to finish the job off.
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