Crossrail - Management and Franchise

Management and Franchise

Crossrail is being built by Crossrail Ltd, jointly owned by Transport for London and the Department for Transport until December 2008, when full ownership was transferred to TfL. Crossrail has a £15.9 billion funding package in place for the construction of the line. Although the branch lines to the west and to Shenfield will still be owned by Network Rail, the tunnel will be owned and operated by TfL.

It is intended that Crossrail be operated as a concession let by TfL London Rail, like London Overground. It is planned to initially let the franchise for 7 years from 2014, taking over control of Shenfield metro services from Greater Anglia and then the Maidenhead / Heathrow services from First Great Western in 2016.

In anticipation of an April 2015 transfer of Shenfield to Liverpool Street services from the Greater Anglia franchise to the new Crossrail concession, the invitation to tender for the 2012-2013 Greater Anglian franchise requires the new rail operator to set up a separate "Crossrail Business Unit" for those services before the end of 2012. This separate unit would allow transfer of services to the new Crossrail Train Operating Concession (CTOC) operator during the next franchise, or if the 2012-2013 franchise implements the optional 1-year extension. The scope of the franchise may include, in addition to the main Shenfield-Liverpool Street services, additional peak services terminating at Liverpool Street main line and the Romford to Upminster shuttle.