If it's 9th December then it's time for myannualreminder that Crossrail is late.
It had been due to open on 9th December 2018.
This means Crossrail is now THREE YEARS LATE.
Crossrail's opening date was initially a moveable feast but in July 2014 management fixed on December 2018 for the opening of the first section between Paddington and Abbey Wood. For the next four years that deadline held, at least in public, until with 100 days to go TfL suddenly owned up and admitted the line wasn't ready. They weren't joking, given three years later it still isn't ready.
Initially the delay was only a year but there have been six further delays since, the most recent in summer 2020. It's all still very much up in the air because it relies on a software update that hasn't yet been implemented and which could still completely scupper things. But the "first half of 2022" window is very wide so should still encompass best- and worst-case scenarios, with the best-case scenario being just 13 weeks away.
Here's a date for your diary.
Sunday 6th March 2022
I've been told this opening date by... i) a friend who 'knows' people ii) an anonymous commenter on this blog iii) a Crossrail train driver
The train driver is probably the most significant. You can't just magically open a railway on a particular date, you need staff in place and that means shift patterns have to be planned well in advance. Drivers were told the potential opening date on Saturday 20th November, fifteen weeks beforehand, so if everything does go ahead there will at least be someone to operate the trains.
At this stage 6th March remains an aspiration rather than a shoo-in, which is why TfL won't be announcing the date to the public any time soon. They did the same with 9th December 2018, keeping the precise date under wraps despite it being an open secret within the organisation. They know never to announce an opening date they might not meet, which last time they didn't, for fear of making scathing headlines worse.
It may not happen. One bodged software update and everything'll be careering into the summer, if we're lucky, and even then Bond Street station still might not be ready for passengers. But bear Sunday 6th March 2022 in mind over the next three months because it is the opening date everyone's (currently) working to.
87 days and counting... which, excitingly, is the closest it's ever been.
