Glitches to be sorted, but expect a world-leading railway

摘要

IT'S gone quiet on Crossrail recently - and they like it like that. No news is good news, because the past three years have not been kind to the project. I have been on a couple of visits recently and have spent a lot of time talking to the project's managers who are quietly optimistic that their preferred date of February 2022 for the opening is feasible. But 'quietly optimistic' is also the favoured expression of politicians heading into an election knowing that their chances are slight, and there is no shortage of pitfalls that might get in the way of the hoped-for opening, which is part of the 'first half of 2022' window that is now the official mantra for the start of revenue operation. I met Crossrail Chief Executive Mark Wild outside the recently opened Moorgate station of the Elizabeth Line. He arrived at the project as CEO in autumn 2018, after the delay to the original opening date of December 9 2018 had been announced, although he knew the scheme intimately since he had been on the board for several years.