Cost and schedule of unknown London Crossrail after additional delay – NAO

LONDON (Reuters) – The new London-based Crossrail railway line can not say when the delayed line will open, nor what will be the final cost, the British policeman announced on Friday after the most ambitious infrastructure program in the country. Europe.

The opening of the railway line connecting Heathrow Airport to the financial district of Canary Wharf, via central London, is scheduled for December 2018, but it is unlikely it is open before 2021 after being affected by test and signaling problems.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said on Friday that the mismanagement of the UK's largest infrastructure project in decades has resulted in unnecessary spending and has little value for taxpayers.

"Throughout the delivery, and even when the pressures have increased, Crossrail Ltd has clung to the unrealistic idea that it could complete the program in accordance with the original schedule, which has had harmful consequences, "said Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, in a statement.

"Although we can not comprehensively badess the value for money before the completion of Crossrail, a number of choices made during this project clearly undermined public value."

The NAO stated that Crossrail had not yet completed its badessment of the impact of the opening schedule on costs, and that the timing of the start of the service was not yet clear.

Once opened, the Elizabeth Line, as its name indicates, will connect destinations such as Heathrow, to the west of the city, with the Paddington rail hub, shopping districts such as Bond Street, Canary Wharf in the east and beyond.

It is expected to carry around 500,000 pbadengers a day and ease the pressure on the Victorian era metro system, subway or subway. An initial budget of about 15 billion pounds (19 billion dollars) reached 17.6 billion pounds.

The NAO stated that, despite the unexpected costs of the project, the amounts already spent meant that it was "past the point of no return" and that the new project managers should be allowed to build it "without unrealistic" . expectations in terms of cost or time. "

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Transport said the government was "deeply disappointed" by delays and cost overruns.

"We must now ensure that the Elizabeth line opens as soon as it is safe," she said in a statement.

Opposition Labor said it was "the latest fatal badessment of the management of a major infrastructure project by the Department of Transport".