Crossrail Chief Executive Rob Holden has announced plans to leave the company later this year, saying the scheme needed a boss who “can commit to lead right through to opening in 2018.”
New of Holden’s departure comes just weeks after the future of the £15bn rail scheme was assured by Ministers as part of the coalition government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
In a statement issued on Wednesday evening Mr Holden said he was “proud to have led the Crossrail team over the past two years, and to have seen the project receive an unequivocal green light from Government.
“I leave Crossrail confident that, with its funding firmly in place, a robust delivery plan, clear governance and a strong delivery team, Crossrail is now well set to move forward to a successful launch.”
Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan said the company “regret” Holden’s decision and paid tribute to his “effective and successful” negotiations with Ministers.
There have been calls for Holden’s successor to be paid less than his reported £550,000 salary.
Green Party London Assembly Member Darren Johnson commented: “Rob Holden was paid an astounding £554,495 last year, 27 times more than TfL’s lowest paid staff and 35 times more than the London Living Wage.
“I will be asking the Mayor to ensure that his successor will be paid substantially less, in line with his pledge that nobody in the GLA group should earn more than twenty times their lowest paid employee.”
