Two months after scheme asked for another bailout, London mayor says talks with Treasury are 鈥榦ngoing鈥�
London mayor Sadiq Khan has revealed there is still no plan for where the funding needed to complete Crossrail is going to come from.
The railway鈥檚 chief executive Mark Wild confirmed the scheme would need an extra 拢400m to 拢650m last November, despite having already been given a 拢2.8bn bailout the year before.
Now Khan (pictured) has admitted Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT), who are the clients on the project, have yet to reach an agreement on where it will come from.
Khan said: 鈥淭fL鈥檚 chief financial officer [Simon Kilonback] is in contact with relevant officials at the DfT and Treasury and it鈥檚 a conversation that is ongoing.鈥�
Back in November, Kilonback admitted the pre-election period had stalled talks with ministers about how the extra cash 鈥渙ught to be allocated and found鈥�.
The government has previously said Crossrail won鈥檛 be getting any more money from the UK taxpayer and that London itself will have to find the missing millions.
Last September, the DfT鈥檚 top civil servant, Bernadette Kelly, said if the job is not finished within its 拢17.8bn budget then the capital will have to pick up the tab.
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Khan鈥檚 revelation came at a meeting of the London Assembly鈥檚 budget and performance committee yesterday (Tuesday) and follows the admission by TfL commissioner Mike Brown that his organisation is not planning for Crossrail to open before the last quarter of 2021 鈥� up to three years later than was originally planned.
The committee鈥檚 deputy chair Len Duvall complained: 鈥淭here鈥檚 been promise after promise on when Crossrail will be opened and on what budget.鈥�
Crossrail is due to confirm when it expects to open by the end of the month.
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