Crossrail Could Be Delayed By A Year

Though it should escape relatively unscathed from next week's bonfire of the sanities when the Government announces tough spending cuts, Crossrail is likely to be delayed by a year or more. The original 2017 launch date, set by the Labour government, is considered ambitious, and the service is now unlikely to welcome passengers before 2018. Engineers are racking their brains to figure out ingenious ways of trimming the fat off the project's current £16 billion cost (wave bye-bye to the innovative but expensive station architecture). Crossrail is expected to be one of the few major transport projects to be spared the savage cuts, but various other schemes, including the Thameslink upgrade programme, may have their budgets slashed.