CrossRail must wait, says Kiley

Bob Kiley, London's transport commissioner, warned today that prestigious new multi-billion pound rail projects, such as CrossRail and Thameslink 2000, must take second place to rebuilding and improving the existing network serving the capital.

There is neither the expertise nor the cash - with the private sector scared by the collapse of Railtrack - to do both, he said.

Mr Kiley cast doubt on the Government's 10-year plan aimed at injecting national railways with £64 billion - half each from the private sector and taxpayer.

"There is going to be extreme wariness in the investment community," he told the Commons Transport Committee. "£64 billion sounds a lot but a huge amount of that is going into 'black holes' caused by Railtrack." The project to upgrade the West Coast Main Line is billions of pounds over original estimates and is one of the principal causes of Railtrack's financial collapse.

Mr Kiley told the committee that no real assessment has been carried out on the condition of London's commuter railways and there is no proper estimate of how much needs to be spent. "We do not know the whole cost of bringing a good state of repair to the whole system," said Mr Kiley.

The transport commissioner launched Mayor Ken Livingstone's bid for the Greater London Authority to take overall charge of key elements of the railway network serving the capital following the demise of Railtrack.

Transport for London would have powers, with the Strategic Rail Authority, to choose new commercial companies to operate two train-operating franchises running commuter services north and south of the capital. TfL and the SRA would also form part of a new regional organisation to replace Railtrack in London and the South East.