Transport for London board member Daniel Moylan has been appointed as the interim head of the new Crossrail 2 delivery company which was set up in December.
The company will oversee all future development and, subject to funding, construction of the proposed Crossrail 2 rail link which could open in 2030.
City Hall says the proposed service would provide a boost to the UK economy of up to £102bn by linking Cheshunt in Hertfordshire to Epsom in Surrey and so providing additional capacity for up to 270,000 passengers travelling into London in peak periods.
Mr Moylan, who is also Boris Johnson’s advisor for aviation, has been appointed until “shortly after” the Mayoral and Assembly elections in May 2016 to allow London’s next Mayor the flexibility to make their own appointment.
Mayor Johnson said: “Crossrail 2 will not only increase rail capacity but act as a catalyst for hundreds of thousands of new homes and jobs and I have no doubt that Daniel Moylan is the ideal person to drive forward progress.”
The Mayor’s office say further appointments to the Board, which will include independent directors, representatives from the Department for Transport and Network Rail and senior TfL officers, will be made “in the coming weeks.”
Mr Moylan commented: “Crossrail 2 is a transformative new railway that will benefit not just London but the South East and the country as a whole. Much needed additional rail capacity will be provided as well as hundreds of thousands of jobs and homes.
“There is an overwhelming case to progress with the development phase so that we can get construction underway in just a few years.”
