Crossrail/Elizabeth Line. From construction to operation - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

Good summary but we do seem to painted ourselves into a corner with Crossrail being an Act of Parliament whilst reading Rebuild and Electrification are Works Orders. Presumably DaFT^» (Department for Transport - critical sounding abbreviation I discourage - about) don't want to have to go back to parliament and get the Crossrail Bill amended even if makes sense.

Yep that quite correct.   The reason for the Crossrail Bill was to enable compulsory purchase also it is building a new railway where as GW^▸ (Great Western) electrification and Reading rebuild a alterations under permitted development; the Bills and works orders only apply to the construction and not the final use

[Network SouthEast]

I think you are right Electric train, they've still got to work out how to get rid of 14tph at Eastbourne Terrace in under 2.5 minutes each.

Heard an odd unsubstantiated rumour last night that once Crossrail is running out of the tunnel that there would be as shuttle between Reading and Maidenhead requiring a change to Crossrail   for local passengers from Reading for stations to Ealing Broadway and everyone from Twyford (of which there are considrable number of both). Originally when there were no sign of wires to Reading there was going to be diesel shuttle from Reading to Slough which was bad enough.

No no! There will be a half hourly shuttle from Reading to Slough calling at all stations once Crossrail is running, plus a half hourly service from Reading to Paddington calling at Tywford, Maidenhead, Slough, Hayes & Harlington and Ealing Broadway.

It's on the Crossrail site, and has been discussed on this very forum before.

Crossrail are going to have problems in 2019 because TV commuters will have had 2 years of an electric commuter service which even with 319s (let alone 377s)  will be faster, cleaner and quiter than the Turbos.

Commuters from West of Maidenhead for stations to Ealing are not going to like and having to change at Maidenhead and be hearded on to 378 type cattle wagons.

As Gerry Fienes was told we don't blow whistles at commuters from Newbury!

They aren't though.

There are the services I've mentioned above, plus if you read the Network Rail L&SE RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy) (which again, has been discussed on this forum), there are plans for fast services from Reading to Paddington, all calling at Maidenhead with alternating services stopping at Twyford or Slough.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From wharf.co.uk:

VIDEO: Crossrail machine breaks through to huge East End mined cave



One of Europe's largest underground caverns has been broken through to in the latest milestone for the London-wide construction.

The stunning caves, 40 metres below ground, were reached on Thursday. It will form part of the tunnel linking the East End to Farringdon.

It is the point where the line divides westbound with one spur going to Canary Wharf and the other heading to Stratford.

The caverns at Stepney Green are approximately 50m long, 17m wide and 15m high.

Scroll down for photos and a video.

... and that's a cracking video! CfN

[Electric train]

I agree CfN a ground breaking video 

[TonyK]

I agree. The earth moved for me also. 

As a one-time tin miner, I am enormously impressed by all this project has to offer.

[IndustryInsider]

Lord Adonis has joined the list of people who think Crossrail should operate to/from Reading rather than Maidenhead:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-25007350

[anthony215]

This article I found posted on district dave maybe of interest :

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2013/dec/31/london-underground-writers-on-tube-future

[wabbit]

Just in from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about):

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/crossrail-rolling-stock-and-depot-contract-to-be-awarded-to-bombardier

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I did a quick search for a Crossrail thread.

[Rhydgaled]

Hurrah, UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rolling stock manufacturing supported for a while longer. Long may it continue.

Interesting that Crossrail have registered class 345 for the new trains though, whereas Thameslink and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) have apparently jumped to 700 and 800. On that basis Crossrail stock would have been given something like class 705.

[IndustryInsider]

Good news for Derby, though I would have been equally pleased had the contract gone to Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe.  Perhaps those that have bleated on for the past few years about everything being unfair and being given to 'foreign' firms can reflect on the order book for Bombadier, which has several other jobs on its books as well as this Crossrail order.

Let's hope the Class 345s work well out of the box.  Bombadier have a pretty poor record at providing new designs of trains which work properly and enter service on time!

[paul7575]

Hurrah, UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rolling stock manufacturing supported for a while longer. Long may it continue.

Interesting that Crossrail have registered class 345 for the new trains though, whereas Thameslink and IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) have apparently jumped to 700 and 800. On that basis Crossrail stock would have been given something like class 705.

Crossrail had already reserved Class 345 some time before the new 700 series was introduced (by amendment of the 'train identification' group standard in 2011).  There was no real requirement for Thameslink to be 700/701 as far as I can see, there are plenty of unused class numbers in the equally relevant 300-399 series.

Paul

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Bombardier wins ^1bn Crossrail deal

Bombardier has won a ^1bn contract to provide trains for the London Crossrail project, the government has announced. The company will provide 65 trains for the Crossrail service, which is set to open in 2018. The trains will be manufactured and assembled at Bombardier's plant in Derby.

The Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) said Bombardier's contract would support 760 manufacturing jobs and 80 apprenticeships.

In total, up to 340 new jobs will be created, said a spokesperson for Bombardier.

The DfT also said that about 74% of the amount spent on the contract would stay in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) economy.

Canada's Bombardier beat Japan's Hitachi and Spain's CAF to secure the deal.

'Great boost'

The Crossrail system is due to run from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport in the west, to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east. It will aim to provide faster journey times and up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the decision gave the Midlands a "great boost" and represented a "real vote of confidence in British manufacturing". He said: "The government has been working hard with industry to support the UK rail supply chain to maximise growth opportunities through contracts like this."

'Relief'

The government said the network will boost London's rail capacity by 10%. It also estimated the new service would support 55,000 full-time jobs around the country.

Bombardier lost out to German firm Siemens to build new train carriages for the London-based Thameslink route in 2011.

Unite national officer Julia Long said: "This is great news for the workforce at Bombardier and for Derby. After the disastrous handling of the Thameslink contract this news must come as a massive relief for the skilled men and women at Bombardier." She said the jobs would be "valuable" for young people wanting a future in manufacturing, and that the decision was a "tribute to the skills and dedication of the Derbyshire workforce".

Labour MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Derby South, Margaret Beckett, said after Thameslink, Bombadier's workers were "very much put on their mettle". She said: "Everybody was devastated by the Thameslink decision, but they have really got stuck in and proved that they are the right people to have this contract, which I have no doubt they are."

Each new train will be 200 metres long and be able to take up to 1,500 passengers. The trains will also be air-conditioned, with linked, walk-through carriages, and provide live travel information.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said the trains would "revolutionise" rail travel in the capital and lead to economic growth in Derby and across the UK. He said: "With a firm on board to deliver a fleet of 21st century trains and the tunnelling more than halfway complete, we're on track to deliver a truly world-class railway for the capital."

Bombardier has built, or has on order, 60% of the UK's rail fleet.

[TonyK]

Excellent news! ^15 million apiece seems a lot, but presumably that includes servicing and the Old Oak Common depot? Seems you get a lot of train, at up to 1500 pax per Aventra / class 345.

And they do make very good trams and planes.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place, I did a quick search for a Crossrail thread.

No problem, wabbit: I've simply moved your topic from 'the wider picture' and merged it with this existing topic in 'across the west'. 

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Worker dies in Crossrail tunnel after being hit by concrete

A construction worker on the Crossrail project died after a piece of concrete fell on to his head.

The 43-year-old was spraying concrete 32ft (10m) down in a tunnel in Holborn, central London, when he was killed in the early hours.

Work at the site is suspended as an inquiry takes place and the Health and Safety Executive has been informed.

The ^15bn line is due to run from Maidenhead in the west, to Shenfield in the east via central London.

Full investigation

London Fire Brigade said it sent crews at about 05:40 GMT to help rescue the workman.

Ambulance crews also attended, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A Crossrail spokesman said: "Sadly, at approximately 5am this morning a contractor working at our site in Fisher Street, London was fatally injured. Our first and foremost thoughts are with the family and friends affected by this. We are establishing the facts and a full investigation into the incident has commenced. Safety is our number one priority and Crossrail sets the most stringent safety requirements in the industry. Despite this terrible incident, Crossrail's accident rate is below the industry average."

Crossrail is Europe's largest infrastructure project and involves more than 60 miles (97km) of track, including 13 miles of new twin-bore rail tunnels, and nine new stations.

Tom Fitzpatrick, news editor at Construction News, described the death as "sad and surprising", but added that work undertaken in the tunnels was extremely complex, with workers "digging into the unknown".

"It is a real blow to the project. It is very much the biggest engineering project in Europe at the moment and it is trying to set a benchmark for the industry," he said. "Crossrail has taken some of the team across from the Olympic site, which was the first Olympics project not to have any fatalities, and they were taken with the hope that they would take across that record."

He added that one worker had been injured during an electrical explosion at one of the sites in 2012, but the project had never had a fatality before.

The rail route is due to open in 2018.