London Crossrail opening date slips again, costs shoot up

LONDON – The planned opening of London’s new east-west railway, Crossrail, has been delayed again as costs increased by up to 650 million pounds ($832 million)

Crossrail CEO Mark Wild says services will begin as “soon as is practically possible in 2021.” Wild also revealed the railway’s total price tag could reach 18.25 billion pounds ($23.4 billion) amid program risks and uncertainties.

Britain’s biggest infrastructure project in decades, the railway is funded by the Department for Transport, and Transport for London.

It had been set for completion by December 2018, but that time-frame had already slipped before Friday’s announcement. Project managers said they needed the time to test signalling software; complete the installation of equipment and trial-run the trains.

The 73-mile (118-kilometre) line will be known as the Elizabeth Line when launched.