First Look: Crossrail Royal Oak to Bond Street
Crossrail Ltd. have released new images of their fit-out activities taking place in the tunnels linking Crossrail Royal Oak to Bond Street.
As part of the permanent track installation in the west, concrete is transported on a concrete shuttle from the temporary railhead at Westbourne Park. The pre-mixed reinforced concrete is delivered into the tunnels and pumped into place.
The machinery used in the fit-out process is all customised for Crossrail to meet the high specifications for the tunnels, stations, shafts and portals.
About Crossrail
The Crossrail construction is the largest infrastructure project in Europe. The project will connect Shenfield in Essex with Reading in Berkshire. Construction began in 2008, and is scheduled to be fully operational in 2019. Crossrail will increase the city’s rail transport capacity by up to 10% and bring an additional 1.5 million people within commuting distance to Central London. This will allow up to 30,000 new jobs in the capital within a decade of opening, sustaining the growth of the UK economy.
The service will operate 24 trains per hour at peak times in each direction from Paddington to Whitechapel, taking twenty minutes off the travel time from Heathrow to Central London. It is estimated by Crossrail that approximately 200 million passengers will use the service annually.
The 40 stations that Crossrail will call at each require 250m platforms to accommodate the long trains. In order to ensure the final dimensions of the stations, a perfect mockup of the platform was constructed from foam and plywood, experimenting with various materials and finishes for both an aesthetic and practical effect. Some of the stations will be as deep as 40m below the surface, with many of the mainline, London Underground and DLR stations enjoying a facelift as part of the works.
