Construction news: First Crossrail train enters service
As Crossrail approaches the final stages of completion, we can only praise the contribution this has made to the construction industry and to the economy as a whole for the UK. Personally, I’ve loved watching the documentaries about the project and I’m fascinated by what’s involved and how it’s transforming London.
As I look after engineering recruitment at Dovetail, it’s proving great insight for me – bringing to life some of the sorts of roles that I look after.
Last month, the Crossrail project reached a major milestone. The first of the new trains entered passenger service on the TfL Rail route between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
“This is the first stage of the phased introduction of the new service that will be named the Elizabeth line when it opens through central London in December 2018.
The Elizabeth line is set to increase central London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent when it is fully operational. The accessible railway will serve 40 stations, with up to 24 trains per hour in each direction, giving an additional 1.5 million people better access to jobs and opportunities in London’s major employment centres.”
Read the full update from Crossrail – Construction update on Crossrail.
Crossrail in numbers – A few stats for you!
- Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project – work started in May 2009.
- Over 100 million working hours have been completed on the Crossrail project so far.
- Crossrail will transform rail transport in London and the south east, increasing central London rail capacity by 10%, supporting regeneration and cutting journey times across the city.
- The Crossrail route will run over 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
- There will be 40 Crossrail stations including 10 new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich and Abbey Wood.
- Crossrail will bring an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London and will link London’s key employment, leisure and business districts – Heathrow, West End, the City, Docklands – enabling further economic development.
- The first Crossrail services through central London will start in late 2018 – an estimated 200 million annual passengers will use Crossrail.
- Construction of the new railway will support regeneration across the capital and add an estimated £42bn to the economy of the UK.
- The total funding envelope available to deliver Crossrail is £14.8bn.
We can only keep our fingers crossed that the newly elected government will continue to back the Crossrail 2 project that is currently planned – to connect North and South London. This will continue the boost to the construction industry that we’re currently experiencing!
Source: Crossrail.co.uk
