Striking images reveal progress of Crossrail engineering work, with 18 months to go until opening

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Hatty Collier4 July 2017

Striking images of the new Elizabeth Line tunnels taking shape beneath London have been revealed.

With less than 18 months until the Crossrail line opens, engineers are working around the clock to install the overhead power system for the new trains.

The images show engineers installing the cabling and power supply system inside the vast tunnels which run for 26 miles beneath the capital.

Each Elizabeth line train will draw power in the tunnels from a rigid “overhead catenary system” including an aluminium conductor bar housing copper wire. The bars are currently being installed in 10 metre sections.

An 'overhead catenary system' installed in the Thames Tunnel (Network Rail)
crossrailtunnel0407

More than 1,500km of cable is being installed to supply power, lighting and ventilation systems to the new railway – about the equivalent of 100,000 double-decker buses.

The main power supply in the tunnels under central London will come from two new bulk supply points, which are being built at each end of the new railway.

The images, released by Crossrail this week, show work being carried out in the Connaught tunnel in Docklands and the tunnels beneath the River Thames and in Stepney Green.

Crossrail will run for more than 60 miles from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through London via the tunnels, and out the other side to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

The first Crossrail services began to run between Liverpool Street heading east to Shenfield last month.

The route will officially be named the Elizabeth line when services through central London open in December 2018.

The images were revealed as new services were agreed for the Elizabeth line with trains from central London to Heathrow increasing to 22 an hour.

Route: The Crossrail Elizabeth line route.
Crossrail

The services will begin in 2019 with journeys from Bond Street station to the airport taking 27 minutes.

Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said the agreement between the airport, Transport for London and the Department for Transport for extra trains would give passengers more choice.

As well as the regular Heathrow services on the Piccadilly Line and the Heathrow Express, four of the six new Elizabeth Line trains will serve terminals 2, 3 and 4 and two trains will cover terminals 2, 2 and 5. Passengers will be able to use their Oyster cards.

Around 200 million passengers are expected to travel on the Elizabeth line each year with 10 new stations being built to deal with the capacity.

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