• Question by: David Kurten
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

David Kurten AM: Thank you, Chairman. Good morning. Mr Mayor, your Transport Strategy talks about extending Crossrail from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet. I do not know whether that is something for the far distant future or something you would like to see happen sooner. Will this delay in the central part of Crossrail affect your plans for a Crossrail extension?

• Question by: Caroline Russell
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Caroline Russell AM: OK. I am going to ask Mike now. The status quo on Oxford Street is not OK. We know that urgent attention is needed to deal even with the current overcrowding, let alone with the overcrowding that will come from the new Crossrail passengers. Has TfL done a Healthy Streets check on Oxford Street in its current condition, and if not, will you?

• Question by: Caroline Russell
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Caroline Russell AM: Thank you. I will move on because I want to ask the Mayor about whether this delay could be used positively for the millions of people who will eventually be using Crossrail when it is fully operational. They may be delayed but they are still coming to Oxford Street. You told Assembly Member Pidgeon, in answer to a Mayor’s Question (MQ), that you will not walk away from Oxford Street and you also described it as a “substandard public realm”. This delay could give you a chance to bring that public realm up to scratch in time...

• Question by: Caroline Russell
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Caroline Russell AM: Thank you, Chairman. I want to ask about the experience of the passengers who are waiting to use this line but before I get on to those questions I want to pick up on something that Sir Terry said at the very beginning. You said, “We mitigated one risk and others materialised”. I wonder if you could expand on that a bit more, whether that is what has caused this decision about the delay.

• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Florence Eshalomi AM: Mike, obviously there are still major ambitions in TfL’s finances and the TfL budget in terms of Crossrail 2. TfL has said it will be able to pay for half of Crossrail 2. Do you think this would still be the case, given we are seeing a delay in Crossrail 1?

• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Florence Eshalomi AM: Simon, is there anything you want to add to that?

• Question by: Florence Eshalomi MP
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Florence Eshalomi AM: Thank you. To come back to Crossrail, on this side [of the table] we definitely recognise the scale of this project but once completed it will be a big success for London. I am definitely looking forward to when it opens. You may be aware of Rob Holden’s [CBE, Chairman, High Speed 1] letter last week in The Times where he stated, “The problems with Crossrail arose from the decision taken in 2011 to delay the procurement of new rolling stock, a decision that has affected the commissioning of those new trains ... signalling was always going...

• Question by: Gareth Bacon MP
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Gareth Bacon AM: This is to the Commissioner, Mr Brown. What are the financial implications of this?

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: Finally, time is money in the construction sector. There will inevitably be an additional cost with this delay. Who is going to be picking up that bill, is it TfL and Londoners or is it going to be the DfT?

• Question by: Caroline Pidgeon
• Meeting date: 06 September 2018

Caroline Pidgeon MBE AM: Thank you for that. Will the decision to delay the opening until autumn next year [2019] ‑ it would be great to find out which month in autumn ‑ mean further delay in the opening of the other sections and the final full opening of the line in December 2019?