Crossrail unveils its stations

The images are unveiled today as transport minister Rosie Winterton officially confers powers on the Cross London Rail Links company to carry out the £16 billion project.

CLRL, currently owned 50/50 by the Government and Transport for London, will become wholly-owned by TfL, leaving Mayor Boris Johnson at the helm.

The drawings show spacious new ticket halls flooded with light from huge windows and skylights and triple banks of escalators at some stations to cope with the huge numbers expected to use the east-west link.

The route is expected to carry 200 million people each year, relieving pressure on Tube lines.

Safety features will include automatic doors on the platforms at Paddington, which will open for passengers to access trains. A space-age design has been chosen for the new Whitechapel station.

Clinton Leeks, Crossrail's corporate affairs director, said: "Design of the new stations will be at the cutting edge of railway engineering, to ensure commuters can move swiftly through onto our fleet of airconditioned trains and visitors get a positive first impression of London on a world-class railway system."

Crossrail will run from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west through tunnels under central London out to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

There will be new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Whitechapel, Liverpool Street and Isle of Dogs.

At peak times, 24 trains per hour will run in each direction through central London. They will reach speeds of up to 100mph on open stretches and 60mph in tunnels.

Heathrow will be 31 minutes away from the West End and 43 minutes from Canary Wharf.

Crossrail will cut journey times to the West End from many parts of the capital. It will be 19 minutes from Southall, 22 minutes from Woolwich, 20 minutes from Ilford and 31 minutes from Romford.

The route will bring an additional 1.5 million people within 60 minutes' commuting distance of London's key business districts.

It is predicted the project will create 30,000 jobs and add at least £20 billion to the British economy. Up to 14,000 people will be employed at the peak period of construction.

The scheme cleared a major hurdle earlier this week when the Crossrail Bill was approved by Parliament and received Royal Assent.

Land on the route will now be purchased and detailed design studies carried out.

Major enabling works should start next year and the main construction in 2010. Detailed planning consent from councils will still be required for specific developments.