Plans for Crossrail 2 have been shelved as part of the Government's latest financial deal with Transport for London (TfL), which also stipulates another review of driverless Underground trains.
In a letter to London mayor Sadiq Khan, providing further details on the £1.7bn deal, transport secretary Grant Shapps wrote that TfL would bring 'an orderly end to consultancy work [for Crossrail 2] as soon as possible'.
'DfT will support such safeguarding activity for this project as required,' he added.
Staff who had been working on Crossrail 2 have already begun being moved away from the project through secondment to other areas, it is understood.
Construction on Crossrail 2 had been expected to start in the next few years at an estimated £33bn cost. The line was set to run North to South across London, stretching from Broxbourne in Hertfordshire to Epsom in Surrey.
The extra investment for London had raised complaints across the country, and Crossrail 1 has exceeded its budget of £18bn and is not expected to be fully operational until 2022, years late - making Crossrail 2 an unsurprising candidate for long the grass.
The land required for the scheme will be protected however, allowing it to be revived in the future potentially.
TfL also committed to give further consideration to driverless tube trains, a passion of prime minister Boris Johnson ever since his troubles with unions when he was London mayor himself.
The letter states that TfL will work with a government-led expert review 'on the possible implementation of driverless trains'.
The news comes after a leaked TfL report claimed driverless trains were 'poor value for money' at a £7bn capital outlay in order to implement them across the network.
Also under the detail of the deal, TfL has committed to set aside at least £75m in the next six months to continue the delivery of healthy streets and active travel programmes including funding for the London Boroughs under the local implementation plan process.
Within this funding, TfL will prioritise temporary walking and cycle ferry as a replacement crossing for local communities affected by the closure of Hammersmith Bridge.
It will also put a fixed contribution of £4m in for the stabilisation and repair of Hammersmith Bridge.
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