Continued investment in London’s transport infrastructure is “vital” if the capital is to continue to prosper, Boris Johnson told business leaders on Tuesday.

The European Investment Bank has agreed to provide a £1bn loan to Transport for London to help the capital’s transport authority fund its share of the Crossrail project.

The Greater London Authority is inviting comments on proposals to levy a Business Rates Supplement (BRS) to help finance the Crossrail scheme.

Londoners looking for more information on the capital’s ambitious Crossrail scheme can now pop along to a new visitor centre on St Giles High Street, close to the construction work on Tottenham Court Road.

Local authorities including the Greater London Authority have been granted the power to raise a supplement on the business rate and to help fund new projects aimed at developing their local economies.