Monday, 20 October 2025

Passengers frustrated as Crossrail is delayed again

Passengers frustrated as Crossrail is delayed again

RAIL passenger groups have expressed their frustration at the latest in a series of delays to the Crossrail project.

The new link from Berkshire to Essex via central London was due to open next summer, having originally been scheduled to begin operating in December 2018.

The original cost of £14.8 billion is said to have risen to £18.25 billion.

Transport for London, which is responsible for the project, has blamed the latest delays on the coronavirus pandemic.

It has still not announced a new target date for the first section of the Elizabeth Line.

Patrick Fleming, secretary of Henley Branch User Group, claimed that TfL was using the pandemic as “a smokescreen”.

He said: “I think they were in deep trouble with compatibility and they have been working on the software to try to fix it. They need time but when you are under pressure that is something you don’t get.

“In some respects, covid-19 has actually given them a breather but we are not holding our breath. There is probably at least another year’s work to do but it is all guesswork because we don’t hear very much.

“I do think there are flaws with Crossrail, particularly for Henley. We have had very good support from Great Western Railway for the fast services into Paddington and linking those trains to the branch line.

“What it means, though, is that they have lost some of their capacity, because it has gone over to Crossrail and now there is the danger that we are going to have to rely on what is essentially an underground train that doesn’t give us the best service.

“Our mission is to stay in touch with GWR and encourage it to continue the semi-fast services so that Henley and Shiplake commuters have a chance to get into London in a reasonable time.

“Crossrail will come but the real question is does it matter? With covid-19, I don’t think the passenger numbers are going to build up that quickly in terms of people going back to work.

“We have got the capacity now because they can run trains into Paddington but the concern is congestion. The idea of Crossrail was to bypass that congestion, so for vulnerable people this is a shame because it would have been a way of getting through that.”

Neil Gunnell, of Henley Trains, said: “Further delay to Crossrail is frustrating, especially as it was touted as being on time and on budget right up to a very short period before the original date.  The delay will lead to growing congestion and continued slower journey times and will be frustrating for those who have accepted jobs in the City or Docklands on the basis of swifter journey times.

“However, the best way for local commuters to travel to and from London will always be to use the Great Western Railway fast services between Twyford and Paddington.  

“Henley Trains has ensured that almost all services on the branch line connect with a GWR service to or from Paddington.  

“These services have fewer stops and full seating, power at the seat, tables, wifi, hat racks and toilets. Even for off-peak users, TfL  trains can largely be avoided.”

Edward Marshall, chairman of Wargrave User Group, said: “What a surprise — there have been so many dramas with Crossrail from start to finish.

“The virus is delaying work this year and they can’t be blamed for that, to be fair. The whole country is going to be a year behind with what has happened.

“At the minute, the railways are running extremely light but there are more families travelling into Henley.

“However, the travellers that have been worst affected are commuters.

“TfL had to make an announcement and I think they have been quite sensible to say they aren’t going to be able to achieve what they said they would.

“It all sounds marvellous in theory having a stopping train from Reading to London but you have to ask about the practicalities.

“They are blocking services because their trains are so slow, so GWR haslost capacity.

“Even British Rail realised there was no point in running a stopping service from Reading to London and that was post-war. 

“Now that it is indefinitely delayed, what are they going to do to help people now? Someone needs to look at it again. GWR rolled over and now TfL can’t provide the service.”

Construction on the 73-mile link has been taking place since 2009 but the pandemic has caused a halt of several months.

A Crossrail spokesman said: “A programme of this scale and complexity was already challenging.

“The impact of covid-19 has clearly made the existing pressures more acute.

“Due to a pause of physical activity on sites and significant constraints on ongoing work, time has been lost, only some of which can be recovered.

“The opening of the central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood next summer, as announced earlier this year prior to covid-19, is not achievable.”

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