The construction of London’s major Crossrail project could grind to a halt without a £1.1b support package from the Government, with transport bosses warning funding for the scheme was becoming an “increasingly critical issue”.

A document tabled at a Transport for London finance committee this week paints an alarming picture for the project, with the firm behind its construction at risk of collapsing if a financial handout isn’t secured.

Any halt to the project would be a disaster for south-east London – with the long-awaited connection to Abbey Wood among the stations yet to be opened on the line.

Among the revelations are that Crossrail Limited, the firm building the city-spanning project, need £1.1b in funding to complete the scheme, after work froze during the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year.

The document states the funding is becoming an “increasingly critical issue” because it will have soon spent all £14.964b in its current funding envelope.

“At this point, the project will be no longer be able to make financial commitments and will be forced to shut down,” the document states.

News Shopper: The proposed Crossrail line (purple) would improve links to the south-east of London as the DLR extension (green) was confirmed as one of TfL's priority projects. The proposed Crossrail line (purple) would improve links to the south-east of London as the DLR extension (green) was confirmed as one of TfL's priority projects.

“This would have catastrophic consequences for the project’s progress, resulting in a significant, and a potentially permanent, loss of critical resources, significant claims and lengthy delays to completion of the project.”

“There will also be additional costs – both of safely decommissioning the project, along with additional prolongation costs if the project is to be restarted at a later date.”

The grim revelations were among the details included in a finance report presented at a Transport for London finance meeting.

The document also contained mixed news for south-east London – with TfL resolving to ask the government for £800m to extend the DLR to Thamesmead, while a long-touted extension of the Bakerloo Line to Lewisham appears to have been placed on the back-burner.

Crossrail bosses announced in August that completion of the project between the central Paddington to Abbey Wood line would be delayed until 2022 and could require an extra £1.1billion to be completed.

Greenwich Council leader Dan Thorpe described the announcement at the time as “deeply disappointing and incredibly frustrating”.

Known as the Elizabeth Line, it was initially due to open in December 2018.

Outside of the Crossrail project, TfL expect a remaining budget gap of £2b for 2020/21.

The transport body are asking for £4.9b in Government funding to help them survive and complete all projects in their revised budget until the end of 2021/22.

“This is the bare minimum we need in order to secure London’s recovery,” the document states.