Crossrail 2 progress hit by election hiatus

A consultant working on the £30 billion Crossrail 2 project has admitted Theresa May’s decision to call a general election is “a bit of a blow” for the project’s timetable and has meant a decision on its business case might now not be made until early next year.

The scheme resubmitted its Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) back in March and had been hoping for a decision over the summer.

But William Jackson, a development consultant for the railway, said: “We submitted the SOBC in March, then they announced a general election which was a little bit of a blow. So the approval of the SOBC is likely to be either in the autumn of this year or January of next year. So it’s been delayed by the general election.”

Jackson, who has been working on the proposed transport line’s property strategy, added that by 2020 a funding and finance package needed to be agreed and a hybrid bill submitted. Royal Assent is estimated by the middle of 2023.

Last year the scheme’s head of commercial, Simon Adams, said the project could be built using a two-stage design and build process, with main works packages let around 2020.

The scheme is expected to be complete in the early to mid-2030s.

The route has still to be finalised but the main London section will link Wimbledon in the south-west with stations at Tottenham Hale and New Southgate in the north via stops at Victoria, Tottenham Court and St Pancras.

Architects who have worked on Crossrail 1, now renamed the Elizabeth line and due to open in 2019, include Foster & Partners at Canary Wharf, McAslan & Partners at Bond Street, Wilkinson Eyre at Liverpool Street and Hawkins Brown at Tottenham Court Road.