From http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?...de=3129220&c=3

[begin quote]
The City of London Corporation has at last signed up to contribute at
least £250m to the construction of Crossrail, the £16bn proposed east-
west rail link across the capital, two months after the original
deadline.

The Corporation said it will pay £200m directly to the project, and
ask city businesses for a further £150m. It has promised to underwrite
at least £50m of this contribution if it is not forthcoming.

[...]

The GLA said it now had all the “core” finance agreements in place to
push ahead with the project, and launched a consultation on how to use
further contributions from developers to fund part of the project.
Under the heads of terms, a developer planning charge is required to
raise a further £300m towards the cost of the project.

It also needs to raise £3.5bn through a supplementary charge on
business rates in the capital, which requires new primary legislation
to be introduced before it can be enforced. This was outlined in the
Queen's Speech yesterday, but is facing major opposition from
businesses concerned extra charges will just compound the current
downturn.

In addition today's agreements mean the scheme's delivery agency Cross
London Rail Links will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport
for London. Despite the continued funding uncertainty, London mayor
Boris Johnson said Crossrail's construction would now move forward
“full speed ahead”. He said: “The pace of delivery will now quicken -
with Crossrail transferring to TfL tomorrow, work at Tottenham Court
Road beginning in the spring, and delivery partner companies being
appointed early next year.”
[end quote]

Hurrah!

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org