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Crossrail gets out of the sidings after two decades
Robert Mendick and Katharine Barney15.05.09
Work started today on a new railway under London that will transform travel across the capital.
Crossrail, the rail link that joins east and west London, is finally getting built after 20 years of wrangling and at a cost of at least £16 billion.
Gordon Brown today hailed the start of construction as a historic moment for the city. He said: “Many people said it would never be built, but today we are celebrating a defining moment for London, as Crossrail's construction gets under way.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson this morning pressed the button that drove the first concrete pile into place on a building site at Canary Wharf. It is the first stage in a massive building project — the largest in Europe — that will see two huge tunnels bored about 100 feet below London. If all goes to plan, the high-speed rail link, joining Maidenhead in Berkshire with Shenfield in Essex along 73 miles of track, should be completed by 2017.
It will see new stations the size of cathedrals built at Canary Wharf, Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel. The project, described as “epic” in scale, will employ as many as 14,000 people.
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When completed, Crossrail will be capable of operating 24 trains an hour at peak, each travelling at up to 100mph. Mr Brown said: “Crossrail will not only mean faster journey times across the capital and beyond, it will also bring a massive economic boost to the city, creating thousands of jobs and adding at least £20 billion to our economy.”
Crossrail first received official backing as far back as 1989 when Margaret Thatcher's government published a study advocating an east-west service. Its then projected cost was £900 million.
But Crossrail's chances of ever being built appeared to have vanished when in 1994 the Conservative government scrapped it on cost grounds. It was periodically revived in the following decade but finally got the green light in October 2007, when — only days before he was expected to call a general election which he shied away from — Mr Brown officially gave it the go-ahead.
Mr Johnson said today: “The years of hesitation, irresolution and vacillation are over, the shovels have tasted earth and the construction of a railway that is crucial to the economic prosperity of this great city has begun.
“This will create and support thousands of jobs and relieve congestion. When the first of Crossrail's chariots glides smoothly along its lines it will change the face of transport for ever.”
The scheme, which also includes a section running through to Abbey Wood in south-east London and a spur line to Heathrow, will be funded by central government, Transport for London and the private sector.
But Baroness Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, said: “Crossrail will bring 72,000 people per hour at peak time to and from the capital's centre, linking Heathrow directly to Canary Wharf and the Thames Gateway to the City and the West End. It will add 10 per cent to London's rail capacity.
“Some may ask if we can afford it. It's the wrong question. Can we afford not to build Crossrail?”
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Reader views (30)
Pointless
Its just another tube line that will be built in
North london which already has exsisting tube links anyway
SE london wont even get anything from it only Abbey Wood (scabby wood) of all
Places how about creating new lines using exsisting track
In south london or another version of crossrail that runs mostly in s. London
Like extending the east london line to woolwich from new x
- Nat Harvey, London, England
The Parisians had the RER express trains 20+ years ago which makes the old Metro look very slow indeed.
I wonder how many people admire the Continentals' public transportation, yet somehow think that we shoudn't have it?
- George, London
Just hope the Tories don't get a chance to reverse the scheme, their "track record" on Crossrail is not good!
& just a pitty that there isn't going to be a Crossrail connection from Paddington in the direction of South Ruislip.
- Anthony., London
Cancel it and put the cash into smaller London and countrywide extensions to places which are poorly served by rail or metro. Do it Gordon! Because piling more cash into the city will lose you votes like air out of a burst tyre!
- Mark, Venice, Italy
So South Londoners you can now officially forget about having the tube south of the river.
With 20 billion plus being spent on Crossrail,it will be years and years before it will come onto the agenda again
- Mr S.Port, London
Fantastic that it has started. Well overdue. Is it just me, but it will be non-Londoners that will benefit from this scheme. Makes it good for for the South East all round.
- Aaron, Bounds Green, London
Anyone who has to catch the Central Line during rush hour, will know exactly why we not only need Crossrail, but that it should have been built in 1994. Trains on the Central Line have a frequency of every 1 to 4 mins and are so disgustingly over-crowded and frankly, damn right dangerous, that Crossrail is needed right now. John Major's government wimped out, let's hope Cameron has the intelligence and nerve to see it through, or we'll be saying... 'the last Tory leader to have any balls was Margaret Thatcher'...
- S Robertson, Mile End, London
I can imagine the conversation at No.10 :
Gordon: "What can we do to divert the public's attention from this awful expenses embarrasement"?
Darling: "I know, lets roll out the old Crossrail story. We haven't used it for at least 6 months".
- Simon, London
Is anyone ever going to do anything about Clapham Junction???
- Catherine Moorhouse, London
ANY BRITISH FIRMS INVOLVED/
- Alan Green, Woodford Green
£16bn - is someone having a laugh, I bet there is a bit of gravy in this for someone. Not sure how this helps SE London as much as some of the other comments suggest - Woolwich DLR already goes to Canary Wharf. What about the likes to Bromley, Catford and the other fringes of SE London and N Kent - for a fraction of this amount transport infrastructure projects could have helped these areas immensely and offered people the opportunity to access Cananry Wharf etc. I see Bromleys unemployment has doubled - not sure what has happened in Berkshire but i think people in SE London are getting fed up with all of the transport projects, large regeneration projects etc going north of the river with the government and GLA taking cash from the hard up of SE London and N Kent to pay for these. What else could have been done for £16bn??????
- Tonyy, London
Along with the third runway at Heathrow, this is a project that the Conservatives intend to scrap once in power. Why start it? This bankrupt E.U. province simply cannot afford it.
- Phil Jones, London UK
Oliver D. Brinston...Boris had nothing to do with getting this project going..it was being planned when Boris was still filling his soporific mouth as a memeber of the Bullingdon Club dining society...and it's imlipmentation had all but been agreed well in adavnce of him taking office..yet another project that Boris would like to claim credit for but in fact has had nothing to do with...
- Ade, London
Shouldn't this money be spent on hospitals, schools and maybe a new airport in the Thames estuary?
- St, London
Here, here Proud Car owner, I don't get ill so I shouldn't pay hospitals, I don't have children (we sold them on ebay) and I don't drive so I shouldn't pay for roads. I do walk though so I suppose I have to pay for pavements - damn.
I live in Surrey - why should I pay for anything outside my mansioned domain?
- Clarkson Jeremy, Surrey
What an utter waste of money, they should bring the tube into the 21st century rather than this private train for shipping in the wealthy from their Berkshire mansions.
- Chris, London, England
I live in Hampstead and this line goes nowhere near me, why should I have to pay for it? If people want new railways near them let them pay for it, not people who will never use it like myself.
- Proud Car Owner, London
Oliver: That's just completely not true. This project was approved and funded while Ken was still our mayor. Boris has scrapped a whole number of transport projects and has been very vague about any kind of tube extension.
I'm glad it's happening, although I'd prefer the Chelsea-Hackney line which I hope will get planning permission as well. It'll be harder to fund as it's less useful for business (as appos4ed to Heathrow - West End - City - Canary Wharf) but more useful for most Londoners and providing relief for the busiest lines and connecting the two of the inner London boroughs that lack tube access.
- Lucas, Londoin NW1
Crossrail is a total waste of money and I am saddened to see how many people have been taken in by it. This money would have been better spent on modernising the existing underground and overground railway lines in London and on extending the existing routes. It will also no doubt encourage more businesses to be based in the capital and hundreds of thousands more people to move to London over the coming years, when it is bursting at the seams already.
- Matt, London, UK
The East-West Crossrail was first envisaged about half a century ago when it was seen as the most needed improvement to london's public transport network. It's construction subsequently became an iconic political aspiration. Over the decades, however, the pattern of travel in London will have changed. Would independent transport planners, free from politicians and the influence of property developers, still regard Crossrail as the top priority?
- James, London England
Oliver D Brinstone What a load of nonsense you speak. It is thanks to Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone that this project is finally underway.
While all David Cameron can do is threaten this project noo doubt in the same way as Boris has cancelled other vital upgrades to Londons transport like DLR to Dagenham Dock, Cross River Tram and East Thames Crossing.
Canary Whalf Station is actually being funded by Camnary Whalf and it is vital that it and crossrail get built if this area and the North Greenwich Peninsular are to be developed.
Much nonsense is talked about Crossrail but all it basically is a tunnel that links the former GER with the GWR which is what the French having been doing for many years with the RER network that Paris now has.
We should be looking at further schemes that link Euston to Charing Cross/Waterloo East and another tunnel linking Liverpool Street to Victoria. Similar schemes like the Picc-Vicc scheme in Manchester also need to be built.
The fact is oli is running out while demand will soon outstrip supply so we need to move back to a rail based culture which also includes Trams and Trolley-Buses.
Talk of electric cars is like a drug addict asking for methadone the fact is where will the fuel come from to waste on electricity for electric cars containing 1 person!
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
It's just a shame that it is going to take such a long time for the project to be completed. It will definitely re-energise the south east London area!
- Jane, London
Thank god they managed to start it before he Tories get in, looks like this will be the last piece of transport investment for another generation.
- James, London
When I worked on Crossrail in the 1990's, the value was 2.5 Billion. There's inflation for you.
- Barry, Bedford England
Wgy is there a pic of Boris Johnson accompanying this story when he and his party have been opposing Crossrail for years and only last week threatened to pull the plug on it if they get into power ?
- Keith Price, Luton, England
It's about time. The seven million people who live in London and the millions who live in the South East will benefit from it when it's done.
- Sean, London
Congrats to everyone who showed vision in getting this project off the ground.
- Jamoco, Old st, London
Its not just banks and MPs - there is a view among some seasoned professionals that, increasingly over the past 20 years, some of these mega projects in the UK have, like some banks, become feeding grounds for private sector firms to make super profits through poorly scoped out contracts and use of very expensive consultants who could have been recruited directly to the public sector for one of third of the price - all at taxpayers expense. Given that the projects involve vast sums of public money (CrossRail is £16 billion!) the sector requires specialist regulation, the current level of which inadequate to even begin to identify potential misuse of funds.
Let us hope that CrossRail does not overpay on our behalf for delivering the necessary east-west link.
- Jim, london
This project is why Boris is the man to lead London to success. Under his predecessor Crossrail was nothing more than political soundbites, photocalls in front of computer generated fantasies and an inflated budget that meant no-one was willing to get down to the real hard work of building it. Since Boris has become Mayor he has worked tirelessly to drive costs to acceptable levels, get to the nitty gritty of construction work and finally, today, we see the fruits of this hard-work. Crossrail is going to revolutionise travel across London, making it easier, faster and cleaner and this is all down to the Mayor. Thank you Boris, all Londoners owe you an extreme debt of gratitude today, and this will be shown by your re-election in 2012 and hopefully 2016 when you officially open this new route through our capital.
- Oliver D. Brinston, Belgravia Village, London
What is the aim of building this line and who will it help when it is finished?
- Mike M, Bedford England
