Media centre

Wednesday 30 Mar 2016

Major Crossrail work successfully delivered by Network Rail over Easter

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

| Southern

• £30m of work completed as part of preparing the existing railway for the Crossrail programme in outer London, Berkshire and Essex
• Half of Network Rail’s £60m national Easter upgrades invested in delivering improvements for the Crossrail programme
• Click here to download a selection of images of the Easter work

Network Rail has successfully delivered a £30m package of work for the Crossrail project as part of one of the biggest Easter investment programmes ever carried out on Britain’s railways.

More than 3,000 workers were out on the railway over the four-day Easter weekend carrying out carefully planned work which will ultimately integrate the new Crossrail tunnels beneath London with the existing rail network. This is vital as three quarters of the Crossrail route – which will be known as the Elizabeth line from December 2018 – will run above ground through outer London, Berkshire and Essex, bringing 1.5 million more people to within 45 minutes of central London.

Network Rail’s Easter work for the Crossrail programme included: 

• Work to electrify the railway in west London and Berkshire and improvements to the infrastructure in Essex near Brentwood and Gidea Park, paving the way for the introduction of new, quicker, quieter, more reliable electric trains from 2017
• Platform extensions at a number of locations including West Ealing, Southall and Hayes & Harlington stations in order to accommodate the longer trains
• Major track work at locations including Maidenhead, Old Oak Common, Stockley and Shenfield to increase capacity and improve the reliability of the railway
• Construction of the landmark new station at Abbey Wood began with several huge pre-cast concrete slabs lifted into place to form the base of the new two-storey building.

Matthew Steele, Crossrail programme director at Network Rail, said: “I would like to thank passengers and our lineside neighbours for their patience and our team of staff and contractors for their dedication during the Easter period. Our orange army worked tirelessly over the Easter weekend to deliver a staggering amount of complex work. As three quarters of the route will run above ground on the existing rail network the improvements we have delivered are crucial to the successful completion of the new railway.”

Matthew White, surface director at Crossrail, said: “The Crossrail project will provide a step change in public transport for many thousands of people in outer London, Berkshire and Essex. The programme of work delivered by Network Rail over Easter brings us a step closer to delivering quicker journeys, improved stations and better connections for local people along the route."

Key facts and figures:

• £30m programme of work
• 100,000 hours worked
• 16 different sites on the rail network across Berkshire, west London, Essex and Kent
• 42 engineering trains
• Two 116 tonne Kirow cranes
• Over 1.5km of track renewed or moved

ENDS

About Crossrail and Network Rail:

Network Rail is a key partner in delivering the Crossrail project. It is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of the route that are on the existing rail network in outer London, Berkshire and Essex. Network Rail’s work, which will integrate the new rail tunnels beneath London with the existing rail network, includes upgrades to track, major civil engineering projects, new overhead electrification equipment and improvements to stations and bridges.

The route will pass through 40 stations from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km tunnels to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The Transport for London (TfL) run railway will be named the Elizabeth line when services through central London open in December 2018. The Crossrail project is being delivered by Crossrail Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TfL, and is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport and TfL.