Sir Terry Morgan has resigned as chairman of HS2 Ltd and Crossrail Ltd, the Department for Transport (DfT) has said.

The announcement was made just days after Sir Terry revealed he expected to be sacked from the HS2 role.

Crossrail - London's new east-west railway - was due to open this month but its launch has been pushed back until at least autumn next year due to delays in completing infrastructure and testing.

The project's budget was increased from £14.8 billion to £15.4 billion in July due to "cost pressures", and in October the Mayor of London was offered £350 million of additional Government funding.

Sir Terry became chairman of HS2 Ltd in August but there has been growing speculation that the high-speed railway will exceed its £55.7 billion budget.

Speaking on Saturday, he said there was disappointment at Westminster about the Crossrail delays and he expected his sacking to be "confirmed more formally in the next few days".

Asked why he thought he was being forced out, Sir Terry told BBC Radio 4's PM: "I can only but assume, because I've not yet been told, that because HS2 is such a critically important programme and with the sense of disappointment around the performance of Crossrail, that it was considered to be too risky for a programme like HS2 to continue in my role as chairman."

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "Sir Terry has been an integral part of Crossrail for almost a decade and I would like to thank him for his dedication and the expertise he brought to the role.

"I am also grateful to him for his work as chair of HS2 Ltd."

Allan Cook has been announced as Sir Terry's successor at HS2 Ltd.

He is a chartered engineer with more than 40 years' international experience in the infrastructure, automotive, aerospace and defence industries, according to the DfT.

Mr Grayling added: "HS2 is the country's biggest infrastructure project and, with his wealth of experience, Allan Cook CBE is the right person to oversee the project as it progresses towards full construction."

Stop HS2 campaign manager, Joe Rukin, said: "You cannot blame Terry Morgan for the mess at HS2 because it was years late and billions over-budget well before he arrived in July.

"Because his face didn’t fit, we now have another identikit boss through the revolving door at the jobs-for-the-boys gravy-train that is HS2 Ltd.

“The bottom line is that HS2 is a mess, it’s always been a mess, and imagining that this is the fault of a man who has only been in charge for four months is a delusional attempt by politicians to absolve themselves of the reality that it is their lack of scrutiny and objectivity that is responsible for HS2 being a disaster.”