24th July 2008

Crossrail given go ahead by Parliament

The Crossrail project has received its final Parliamentary approval. The Crossrail
Act grants powers to acquire the land to build the new rail link and tunnels that
will run from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west through tunnels under
central London - with new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court
Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Isle of Dogs (Canary Wharf) -
then out to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

Crossrail is expected to cost over £16bn with the 8 year construction programme
starting next year. Up to 14,000 people will be employed in building the line.

Twin bore tunnels will be built that are wide enough to carry mainline passenger
trains beneath the heart of the city. The internal diameter of the tunnels will be
6 metres, compared with 3.8 metres on the existing Tube system. In all, 13
miles of twin-bore tunnels will be constructed.

Trains will travel at up to 100 mph on the surface and 60 mph 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 – 19 minutes from Southall, 22 minutes from Woolwich,
20 minutes from Ilford and 31 minutes from Romford. The service will be
delivered by a new and dedicated fleet of approximately 600 air conditioned carriages.

Project Website:
www.crossrail.co.uk