The cost of the Crossrail project currently under construction in the area near London has increased by nearly £600m from £14.8bn to £15.4bn, UK rail minister Jo Johnson has said.
In the annual update on the project, Johnson announced that the project is now 93% complete and has achieved multiple milestones during the process.
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Works were initially estimated to cost £15.9bn but increased to £17.8bn in 2009. However, after a comprehensive spending review, the cost was eventually revised to £14.8bn.
Johnson said that £300m of the additional funding required for the project has already been provided to Crossrail by the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL), the joint sponsors of the project.
An additional £290m will be provided by DfT and Network Rail to carry out associated upgrade works on the national rail network.
Johnson said that the Crossrail project, which will include the opening of London’s 12th tube line, the Elizabeth line, is now entering the ‘critical testing and commissioning stage’, with operations scheduled to begin from December this year.
In February, the first Elizabeth line train made its maiden run through the central tunnels.
In his report, Johnson informed that the new Abbey Wood station has already opened, while construction works on other new Elizabeth Line stations are nearing completion.
Once operational, the Elizabeth line will stretch around 60 miles running from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east through central tunnels.
It will comprise 41 accessible stations, including ten new and 30 upgraded, serving nearly 200 million people annually.
