The £10bn rail project will provide a link from Heathrow and Kingston to East London and beyond, and is considered an essential part of the city's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. However, a new station will be required between Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, and insiders (who are these people, really, and what are they inside of?) say that this will mean that The Astoria will have to be demolished.
The 2,000-capacity venue is part of the Mean Fiddler empire. A spokesman for the group told the BBC that Mean Fiddler had been in talks with Crossrail, and that they hoped The Astoria would not be affected. Fingers crossed, I suppose.