Crossrail has confirmed that it will need more money to complete the Elizabeth line and that it will miss its revised 2020 opening date.
It has advised Transport for London that it could require more than £650m on top of the financing package agreed in December last year to finish the project and that the opening of the central section will now not happen next year.
Crossrail said that the latest projections now show a central cost forecast of approximately £15.36bn, £400m more than the funding committed under the financing package, but that further cost and risk modelling show a possibly need for more than £650m.
TfL and the Department of Transport are now in discussions as to how to fund these additional costs.
Crossrail added that “the Elizabeth line will open as soon as practically possible in 2021”.
The 73-mile Elizabeth Line was due to open by December 2018 and cost a total of £15.4bn, but it was announced last year that due to a series of issues the cost would require a further £1.4bn. This year the total estimated cost rose to £17.6bn.
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