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Crossrail unveils its stations
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent28 Jul 2008
These are the new stations that will be built across central London for Crossrail.
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.
Reader views (8)
I live in W10 and work in E16 Until 2 years ago I could go across London in 50 minutes on the North London Line - until it was shut down beyond Stratford for "improvements" to the DLR (a light railway i.e. glorified tram). Before closure the contractor was allowed to run the service down, self-justifying cutting out less attractive and more expensive services to areas of recognised deprivation. So what's the point of Crossrail except as a construction project? No bunce in running railways but plenty in new construction.
- Eric, London, 28/07/2008 11:30
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Charles Cooper - That is a great idea. And why not connect to Luton and Gatwick airports as well why they are at it. Come to think of it why not connect to Bristol, Manchester and East Midlands airports as well. There is not a bottomless pit of money to create crossrail, and most of it will come from the taxpayer. There are simple connections via British Rail and Underground to those airports.
- Daniel S, London, 28/07/2008 10:56
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Great news. However, lets start planning some other new links rather than waiting 20 years until we are at bursting point again. London is a world class city and it needs a transport infrastructure to match. Come on Boris show us you have a vision beyond looking after your Chelsea tractor friends.
- David, London, 28/07/2008 10:42
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If the land isn't purchased already, and the detailed design has not been done, how do we know what the cost is?
- Mdj, Leyton, e10 london, 26/07/2008 13:34
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I bet there is no connection to the City Airport or Southend Airport, or is that too sensible that only I can think of it.
- Charles Cooper, Kendal Cumbria, 25/07/2008 22:52
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Oh, great. Another thameslink designed with a woeful lack of capacity. It seems clear this will become an exceptionally popular line After a year or two people will be clamouring to the papers because we'll all be packed in like sardines whilst paying a small fortune to travel. Why can't we show some real vision and build four tunnels? Nice idea, shame about the miserly lack of vision.
- Dj, ec2, 25/07/2008 22:13
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I hope this doesn't destroy the pleasant ambience that exists at Paddington Station. Will it be underground platforms with access from the existing main concourse of Paddington Station?
- Phil Jones, London UK, 25/07/2008 19:03
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From your graphic of the new Liverpool Street station it looks to me as if the pavement exit for the escalators is facing into the prevailing wind. Is there symbolism here or just carelessness?
- John Johnson, London, UK, 25/07/2008 16:59
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