Crossrail 2 Prospects Still Alive

The following appeared in the New Civil Engineer magazine last week:

The Department for Transport (DfT) has rubber stamped the business case for Crossrail 2, which includes a funding update and a plan to avoid delays.

It also included an update on the Crossrail 2 route, the line is set to run between Surrey and Hertfordshire.

Transport for London (TfL) committee papers released this week revealed the DfT's decision.

The papers said the DfT had ruled that the proposed business case is “technically robust,” and “satisfies HM Treasury’s Green Book guidance in terms of making a case for change and exploring a preferred way forward”.

Crossrail 2, which will run north to south across London and intersect Crossrail 1 at Tottenham Court Road, had its business case submitted to the government in June 2019.

The document added: “The DfT commented on the high quality of the document and stated no further work is required on the SOBC [Strategic Outline Business Case] at this time”.

TfL has so far spent £117.27M on the rail line's design, which is set to rise to £160M in total. The business case asked for an additional £13M from the £160 fund to be put forward.

“There has been no final Government decision on the project, its route or timeline for delivery.

“We continue to consider a business case for the project, but the government will need to see a realistic and achievable funding proposal.”

Crossrail 2 now has a budget of £41bn in total, an £11bn rise on the baseline price discussed in 2014.

Crossrail 2 has come under scrutiny after Johnson suggested in January a High Speed North could ‘level-up’ areas of northern England, which led to speculation Crossrail 2 could be left out of the government's future plans.

A three year delay to Crossrail and a £3bn cost increase have swelled the speculation.

However, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) claimed there are “no arguments for delaying or cancelling Crossrail 2”, as it would benefit the whole of the UK economically, in its annual report published last month.

London Assembly transport committee deputy chair Caroline Pidgeon warned in January cancelling the project would “cripple” the Northern line due to “chronic overcrowding”.