Crossrail Chief Executive MARK WILD and Chief Operations Officer HOWARD SMITH tell PHILIP SHERRATT how the revised opening strategy for the Elizabeth Line has been worked out
Crossrail has rarely been out of the headlines over the past year. From the late August announcement that the December 2018 opening for the central section would be missed, through to the further bad news in December of an even longer delay and greater cost overrun, confirmed almost on the very day the line had been due to open. Since then there have been myriad committee hearings and reports digging down into exactly why things went so wrong.
Mark Wild, who came to Transport for London as Managing Director of London Underground, was parachuted in as Crossrail Chief Executive last November. While the enquiries continue (our interview came only a week after Mr Wild’s latest appearance before the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee), his emphasis now is very much on looking forward and getting the Elizabeth Line up and running. ‘The programme had got so challenging that it had lost its focus on where it was’ Mr Wild says. ‘When I took over it was undeliverable, and our main objective has been rebuilding in detail exactly wh…
