Crossrail delay to cost Transport for London £1bn in lost revenue

The Elizabeth Line was originally supposed to open five months ago

The delay to Crossrail will cost Transport for London (TfL) £1bn in lost revenue, according to a ratings agency.

The Elizabeth Line, which will run trains at high speed east to west through London’s central core, was first slated to open in December 2018.

Last week, Crossrail bosses announced that the line would open by March 2021, as vital elements have yet to be completed, including key stations and testing software for the new trains.

In a research note today, Moody’s said that the two-year delay to Crossrail would "exert significant pressure" on TfL's operating budget between 2020 and 2022.

The west-to-east service is intended to create a high-speed link from Heathrow and Reading through central London to Abbey Wood and Shenfield. The first phase will run from Paddington to Abbey Wood.

But even when the project’s central section does open, trains will not stop at Bond Street because of design and delivery challenges, executives said last week.

Crossrail Ltd, which is part of TfL, insisted that the full line would be operational as soon as possible after that.