PM calls on industry to build Crossrail 2 following Elizabeth line opening
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called on the industry to build Crossrail 2 on the same day he attended the Elizabeth line’s opening.
Johnson said the government would back the project but businesses would need to come up with a plan to pay for it.
“The real thing for us now is to think about Crossrail 2, the old Chelsea-Hackney line,” he said.
“All the problems of commuters coming into Waterloo getting up to north London, you can fix that with another Crossrail. I think we should be getting on with that.”
Crossrail 2 would run north-south between Hertfordshire and Surrey via London and it is expected to cost around £33bn.
Consultancy works were initially halted in November 2020 as part of a funding agreement between the government and TfL.
“I’ve got absolutely no embarrassment as a former mayor of London about supporting great projects in London,” he told PA news agency.
“We’ve completed Crossrail but frankly there is more that we should be doing.”
The PM’s comments come on the same day Crossail, also called the Elizabeth line, was inaugurated.
To celebrate the occasion, the Queen also participated to the ceremony.