Stark extent of Crossrail's unfinished work revealed with Bond Street station months away from completion

Building site: a view of the unfinished Bond Street station today
Julian Glover

A stark illustration of the chaos that has engulfed Crossrail emerged today when transport bosses revealed the unfinished state of a key station.

Bond Street is months from completion, without floors, ceilings, escalators, a fire safety system or permanent power supply.

The picture came as previously confidential documents revealed that government officials and London transport chiefs received their first of three official alerts that Crossrail was in trouble as far back as June 2016 — a month after Sadiq Khan became Mayor.

They show the high-level committee established by Transport for London and the Department of Transport to oversee Crossrail received multiple warnings about soaring costs and the increasing risk that the December 2018 opening date could not be hit.

It was announced last month that the 73-mile rail scheme’s costs had soared £2.8 billion to £17.6 billion and that it may not open until 2020.

The unfinished escalators at Bond Street station
Julian Glover

Mr Khan, who chairs TfL, was expected to come under further pressure when Crossrail’s former chairman Sir Terry Morgan gives evidence to a London Assembly inquiry today.

Sir Terry was forced to quit last month, but disputes suggestions that he failed to keep the Mayor fully informed of the scale of the problems at Crossrail. He said train software issues rather than construction issues were “at the heart of the problem”, and claims TfL officials disguised the scale of the crisis. But TfL chiefs say the state of Bond Street illustrates their view that problems with the project extended far beyond the signalling systems on the new trains, which TfL ordered.

TfL has published a multitude of previously confidential Crossrail documents — but key sections from meetings of the joint TfL/DfT Crossrail sponsor board in May and June have been blacked out.

Sadiq Khan is under increasing pressure over the delays to the multi-billion pound Crossrail project
Crossrail/eyevine

The “document dump” reveals that the first “adverse event notice” was sent to TfL and the DfT on June 23, 2016, relating to Network Rail’s concerns about the increased cost of track changes west of Paddington.

The second was issued on July 7, 2017, about “significant concerns” relating to the on-board signalling system. It said a potential delay in opening was being considered.

The third was sent on August 30 last year, formally notifying the Mayor and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling that there was “insufficient time” to finish the tunnels and test the trains to enable Crossrail to open on December 9.

The documents reveal that TfL and DfT began planning for a delayed opening as far back as October 2017.

Bond Street's Crossrail station is months away from completion (Julian Glover )
Julian Glover

By June last year, the sponsors “noted the increased schedule risks and agreed they would discuss with [Crossrail] the need for alternative or contingency options ... in the event that December 9 cannot be delivered”.

Mr Khan insists he received definitive confirmation that the December opening date would have to be scrapped only at the end of last August.

A TfL spokeswoman said: “As the minutes of the Crossrail sponsor board show, both TfL and the DfT repeatedly questioned the previous Crossrail leadership team ... It was not until Crossrail issued the adverse event notice in August 2018 that they said this date would no longer be met.”

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