THE ELIZABETH LINE IS ON COURSE TO OPEN NEXT YEAR, BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN, REPORTS DAN HARVEY
Permanent track laying for the Elizabeth Line is complete. Crossrail is no longer just a programme, it is a railway. Supply trains can, and are, travelling from portals in Plumstead and Pudding Mill Lane all the way under central London to and through Royal Oak portal in the west. All being well, passenger services will follow and be operating in the tunnels under London in just over a year from now with the December 2018 national rail timetable change. Overall, construction of the Elizabeth Line is more than 87% complete. The major physical activities remain fitting out of stations, installation of the mechanical and electrical systems including cabling, ventilation, lifts and escalators, communications, power, signalling, overhead line electrification and platform edge doors. Much of this work is well underway; more than half the escalator structures have been installed and photos documenting progress show steelwork for the platform doors in-situ.
By the end of 2017, dynamic testing will be underway with a Class 345 passenger train brought into part of the Crossrail tunnels for the first time. For this to h…
