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The two-year delay in opening the troubled Crossrail line could cost Transport for London £1 billion in lost income, it was feared today.

TfL had already announced it was missing out on £600 million over five years in the wake of last December’s opening date being abandoned.

Last night Crossrail’s new management team announced the central section of the £17.6 billion line would now open within a six-month “window” stretching from October next year to March 2021.

TfL told the London Stock Exchange there would be “no material impact” on its revenues this financial year. But the Elizabeth line, as Crossrail will be known when trains start running, had been expected to generate £795 million for TfL in 2020/21 and more than £1 billion a year subsequently.

Crossrail: January 2019 15 show all Crossrail: January 2019 1/15 Building site: a view of the unfinished Bond Street station today Julian Glover 2/15 Bond Street's Crossrail station is months away from completion Julian Glover 3/15 The unfinished escalators at Bond Street station Julian Glover 4/15 Julian Glover 5/15 Julian Glover 6/15 Julian Glover 7/15 Julian Glover 8/15 Julian Glover 9/15 Julian Glover 10/15 Julian Glover 11/15 Julian Glover 12/15 Julian Glover 13/15 Julian Glover 14/15 Julian Glover 15/15 Julian Glover 1/15 Building site: a view of the unfinished Bond Street station today Julian Glover 2/15 Bond Street's Crossrail station is months away from completion Julian Glover 3/15 The unfinished escalators at Bond Street station Julian Glover 4/15 Julian Glover 5/15 Julian Glover 6/15 Julian Glover 7/15 Julian Glover 8/15 Julian Glover 9/15 Julian Glover 10/15 Julian Glover 11/15 Julian Glover 12/15 Julian Glover 13/15 Julian Glover 14/15 Julian Glover 15/15 Julian Glover

Sources today said it was too early to calculate the full impact but said TfL’s five-year business plan is due to be revised later this year.

TfL commissioner Mike Brown said it had already lost out on £20 million in Crossrail fares in 2018/19 and £200 million this financial year, though he hoped to “mitigate” that by running Crossrail trains between Reading and Paddington from December.

TfL will also retain fares from passengers who will continue using the Tube until Crossrail opens. It said it will continue to assess the “potential net impact” on its finances.

Crossrail will open without Bond Street station being ready, meaning no interchange with the Jubilee line or service to the heart of Oxford Street.

No station is complete but Tottenham Court Road is due to be finished in a couple of months. Bond Street is so far behind schedule that Mr Brown said it kept him awake at night. Testing of the £1 billion fleet of new trains is also significantly behind schedule.

Trains will initially run between Paddington and Abbey Wood, with no date yet for running to Heathrow and Reading or Shenfield via Liverpool Street. Crossrail hopes trains will run the full length “as soon as possible”.

The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it “is of huge importance to London” and Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild said it “really will be worth the wait”.