Standards and levels of service on Crossrail, the £16bn east-west London rail link that received the go-ahead last week, are to be tightly controlled by the London mayor’s transport body under plans that emerged on Tuesday in the wake of the comprehensive spending review.

Transport for London is to take over sole ownership of Cross-London Rail Links, the company in charge of building the link – currently a 50-50 joint venture between TfL and the Department for Transport.