Of both sides of the tunnel under the English Channel, it is not so easy to dig, without slippage, cost and time, miles of new subway. While the Grand Paris Express is a hard time recovering from a year of controversy over the explosion of its budget and the delay of several lines, its equivalent in london, the project Crossrail, also suffered the same pangs.
This new metro line should enable 200 million passengers per year pass through London to Shenfield in the east, up to Reading, to the west. Is 118 kilometres of track, including 21 kilometres of new tunnels under the city centre, with a branch to Heathrow airport. It should contribute to reduce congestion in the british capital, serving in particular the business district of Canary Wharf.
Called “Elizabeth Line” in honor of the queen, this binding is called “the largest infrastructure project in Europe” by the BBC. Judgement a bit bold : the Grand Paris Express, with its 200 kilometres of lines and 68 stations, also claims this title, not without arguments. Anyway, the two projects have in common is financial hardship and political turmoil.
The government’s Theresa May has aroused the wrath of the opposition by announcing, on 26 October, that he would grant an emergency loan of 350 million pounds (397 million euros) at Crossrail Limited, the company in charge of leading this project of 15 billion pounds, to get it out of the rut. A loan presented by the minister of transport, the conservative Jo Johnson, as a “temporary measure” to ” ensure that a full momentum is maintained behind the Crossrail “. And with a double audit of the governance and finance of Crossrail Limited.
“Serious failure ”
“This is just a bandage on a wooden leg to ensure that the project continues to move forward “, has castigated the chairperson of the transport committee…
