Crossrail 2 and Bakerloo extention cannot proceed under DfT funding deal, says outgoing commissioner
Transport for London has confirmed the appointment of Crossrail鈥檚 finance boss to its senior team as it continues to re-jig its leadership in the wake of commissioner Andy Byford鈥檚 departure.
The transport body announced on Friday that Rachel McLean, currently chief financial officer for Crossrail and finance director for operations at TfL, would become the latter鈥檚 managing chief finance officer on a permanent basis.
It was also announced that Glynn Barton, currently director of network management and resilience, would take over as chief operating officer on an interim basis after the current position holder, Andy Lord, was asked to step into Byford鈥檚 shoes as commissioner, also on an interim basis.
Byford, who oversaw the delivery of the Elizabeth line, will step down later this month to return to the US with his family, having recently helped TfL strike a new funding deal with the department of transport.
The deal secures funds for the organisation until 31 March 2024, including 拢3.6bn for ongoing capital investments such as the Piccadilly Line upgrade, the Elizabeth Line and the Silvertown Tunnel.
But in his final meeting with the Greater London Authority, Byford told the transport committee that the funding would not allow TfL to progress with future planned investments such as Crossrail 2 or the extension of the Bakerloo line.
鈥淭he deal wasn鈥檛 as much in terms of quantum or as long in duration as we would have wanted. So, we鈥檙e not suddenly able to say all of the projects are back on track. We can鈥檛 reinstate Crossrail 2, we can鈥檛 reinstate the Bakerloo Line extension 鈥� not yet, but there鈥檚 still compelling cases,鈥� he said.
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鈥淚 like to think that we won鈥檛 be in this situation forever, we will move to sunnier uplands. There will come a point where we are able to do more, but I should just manage people鈥檚 expectations: big ticket items are not on the horizon right now.鈥�
He confirmed that TfL was working on safeguarding the Bakerloo extension land and that land for Crossrail 2 was already safeguarded.
In a statement following the announcement of McLean鈥檚 appointment, Byford said her 鈥渨ealth of experience鈥� would help her drive cost efficiency across the organisation.
McLean re-joined TfL from the ministry of housing, communities and local government in January 2020, having previously worked at the organisation for nine years in senior asset management and finance roles.
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