Crossrail delayed again – now opening 2022
Another delay to Crossrail has been announced this morning with the opening date now pushed back in 2022 to the surprise of practically nobody.
Back in July I covered how an Autumn 2021 opening was delayed.
By this stage of the game I think everyone has given up on a year let alone a month.
The delay is believed to be due to ongoing signalling issues alongside delays due to recent events. It’s funny, but when I wrote way back in February about the possibility of seismic effects due to corona this seemed more than a possibility.
I may be blowing my own trumpet but that post back in February got a lot of criticism and people saying it was overblown. I also highlighted the risk to rail franchises which are now all but nationalised.
TfL ended up hours from collapse and legally having to stop operating most services and large nationwide transport companies are in deep trouble. Coach companies are protesting weekly across the country as business collapsed.
Local neighbourhood transport schemes continue to cause arguments across London and the wider country as authorities grapple with how to cope with the possibility of millions of people in London – let alone other cities – being unable to use buses and trains and instead taking to cars. To prevent absolute gridlock (and if millions do you ain’t seen nothing yet) then encouraging people to walk and cycle short distances where possible is being pursued all over the world.
I don’t think any other site was highlighting the impact back in February it would have, though most of what has transpired has gone beyond what most expected. It was hard to see how every facet would be impacted, though Crossrail was perhaps one of the more predictable casualties.
I think we can all see how badly managed the whole project was…even now the excuse being the signalling issues…was no one aware of these 6 years ago…?….Thameslink…DLR….all use signalling software…far from being a fantastic project we can now see the abysmal organisation and management and lies top to bottom
The signalling issues arose because Bombardier were contracted to supply it and the trains.
Unfortunately they then announced that they could not meet the contract and Siemens had to take over the work late in the day.
The trains have to operate with more types of signalling than any other project. Getting the trains in Heathrow recently is a major achievement.
I started work in 1980 in central London. On the train home I always read the Evening standard. Every few months the paper carried a story about an East to West train line to serve Heathrow…Business leaders, politicians and the like all having there say..estimates of cost and all that stuff. Then one fine day the project gets the green light but it’s going to take a while. Then the horse trading begins around who will have Stations along the route with Woolwich NOT included. Eventually the developers in the Arsenal, knowing it’s the goose that lays the golden egg, agree to help Woolwich have a station. Great news!!! Still reading my Evening standard on my work journey home I keep reading the articles and keep tabs on the works progression with ever growing excitement and begin to start believing that I will be able to go to work from Woolwich to Farringdon in breakneck speed. Then the delays in opening date start coming through. one after another ! When will I be able to get the cross rail to work I asked myself time and time again. As it turns out.. Never! As I am about to retire now 🙂 40 years later and still no trains. You have to laugh.
I retired on Monday. Pandemic retiree?
If the purple line had worked, I would have lasted a few more years.
Happy Retirement Ian. Hope you have a long and healthy retirement. I think we will still be reading about delays to Crossrail in 2023 unless there some major changes at TFL and a New Mayor For London in 2021,
Sadiq Khan is an absolute disaster for London
Yes i have to agree with you 100%. Due to the delays in crossrail which I can see going in to 2023 if Sadiq Khan remains Mayor Of London after next years Mayoral elections.
I think the cuts to bus services in Central London made by the Mayor Of London sometime back now should be fully reinstated with immediate affect until at least crossrail is fully open and working successfully.
Then an assesssement of usage on these bus services should take place for a period of 12 monthsto see if there are any major changes to usage, Then more informed decisions can be made,
How you can cut bus services in readiness for a new railway line years before the line isopen and fully operational is beyond me.
Why should the travelling public have to pay through cuts to services which for many means changes of buses and longer journey tmes due to the Mayors mistakes and over spending on other projects.
Cities rely heavily on a good fast relaible public transport infrastructure to be a success and encourage new business in to the cities as well as serving new housing developments,
The cuts to bus services iin Central London hit a lot of lower paid people hard including NHS staff, public sector workers, cleaners, postal workers, hotel workers and hospitality staff working in pubs restaurants and the arts. Many who travel in to Central London on a daily basis rely on these bus services as cannot afford the train fares. Many also start work very early in the morning and finish work very late at night,
I like the idea of crossrail for getting a cross and London but fear the delays could go beyond 2022.
I would also like to say to all the construction workers enegineers etc working on Crossrail your doing a really brilliant job and no one blames you for the continued delays.
How can you blame Khan for not building Bond Street station on time? For not making the signalling compatible along the central section? For not completeing shafts and portals on time? Etc etc.
BoJo was in charge of London when the project started so why not blame him?
Inept management is not Khan’s fault. The complexity of the delays on this project (the second largest in Europe) are too big to blame on an individual unless you have a pathetic political axe to grind.
Wait until someone realises the operator is going to be Hong Kong’s MTR, I believe in large part owned by Carrie Lam’s government.
Is there a website somewhere that shows the progress at least? Something showing station by station and track section by section completion %?
Surely they could just have trains drive past Bond Street for a few years if it’s not finished yet, etc…