Crossrail have announced the near completion of the new Tottenham Court Road station. We are still months away though until the main core of Crossrail opens up in December 2018.
Excerpts from Crossrail news
New images showing progress at Tottenham Court Road have been released, highlighting the critical role played by businesses across the UK in the delivery of the Elizabeth line. Tottenham Court Road station will be at the centre of London’s first new underground railway in a generation, which will run from Berkshire and Heathrow in the west to south east London and Essex in the east.
The Elizabeth line will redefine transport in London with quicker, easier and more accessible journeys. The large-scale infrastructure project is now in its final phases, with the new Elizabeth line trains being tested in the tunnels and the stations being fitted out with architectural finishes. The line will open in stages from December with new state-of-the-art stations – all step-free.
Tottenham Court Road station now stretches nearly a kilometre, from a new plaza with striking asymmetrical glass-and-steel canopy entrances in front of the Grade II listed Centre Point tower westwards towards Dean Street in Soho. It has seen a dramatic transformation from its cramped Victorian origins; in recent years, the existing ticket hall has been enlarged to six times its original size. Meanwhile, the new Elizabeth line station has seen the construction of 234m long platforms, banks of escalators and a dedicated entrance at Dean Street which will serve the 200,000 customers who are expected to use the station every day.
Mark Wild, London Underground & Elizabeth line Managing Director, said: “The Elizabeth line will redefine our city for a new generation. At Tottenham Court Road, our staff are busy preparing for a 50 per cent increase in passengers each day, which has been made possible through extraordinary feats of civil engineering and an impressive supply chain that stretches from Inverness to the Isle of Wight.”
Sir Terry Morgan, Crossrail Chairman, said: “The construction of the Elizabeth line through the heart of London is one of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Europe. It has been made possible thanks to the skill and dedication of suppliers from every corner of the UK, who are not only using their expertise to deliver this project, but also other projects here in the UK and abroad.”
David Shillito, Operations Director, GRC UK, said: “Everyone at GRC was delighted to play such a pivotal role in the delivery of this major transport infrastructure project, whose legacy will be felt for years to come. The Crossrail project required specialist cladding across five of the central London stations, with each element modelled in a 3D environment and laser-scanned. To succeed we’ve had to innovate, developing this form of digital manufacturing capability which has been both a fantastic and rewarding challenge for us as a supply-chain partner. The panels will be a distinct, recognisable feature of the Elizabeth line, so it’s been a great privilege to be involved.”
The Crossrail project is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport and TfL. Vital support has also been provided by London’s business community including financial contributions. Construction of the Elizabeth line is now in its final stages. Significant work continues to complete the stations and to bring together the complicated interfaces such as track, power, signalling and trains. Later this year, the first completed infrastructure will be handed over to Transport for London, who will lead the trial operations phase ahead of the opening of the Elizabeth line in December.
After all those years we are approaching the full completion which includes the opening up of the main core of the Crossrail Elizabeth Line to the passengers. This will reduce pressure on the London Underground’s Central Line. We are just months away now until the opening of the new Crossrail Elizabeth Line.
Here are the London Bus tender awards from LOTS:
LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:
| Route | Current Operator | New Operator | PVR | Vehicles |
| 51 | Stagecoach | Go-Ahead Metrobus | 19 | 2011 Euro V diesel double deck |
| 61 | Stagecoach | Stagecoach | 10 | 2913 Euro V diesel double deck |
| 207* | Metroline | Abellio | 28 | New & existing double deck (a) |
| 261 | Stagecoach | Stagecoach | 13 | New & existing double deck (b) |
| 607 | Metroline | Metroline | 19 | New Euro VI hybrid double deck |
| R5/10 | Stagecoach | Go-Ahead Metrobus | 1 | Single deck (details TBC) |
* Includes night route N207.
(a)16 Euro V diesel built 2012 plus 15 new Euro VI hybrid (TVR 31).
(b) 3 Euro V diesel built 2013 plus 11 new Euro VI hybrid (TVR 14).
All Euro V vehicles will be upgraded to Euro VI emissions standards.
The above contracts will commence on the following dates:
1st December 2018: Routes 61 & 261.
8th December 2018: Routes 51 & R5/R10.
6th April 2019: Routes 207/N207 & 607.
As with the previous London Bus tender awards, I think all new route contracts should require bus operators to purchase hybrids or zero-emission battery electric buses in order to reduce emissions.
I would like to mention that route 607 is the express service route of route 207 which runs from Uxbridge to White City.
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