Background

1.1 Crossrail is a major programme to run new, direct rail services between Reading and all passenger terminals of Heathrow Airport at the western ends of the railway, through a new underground section beneath central London to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south-east London at the eastern ends. In February 2019 we published A memorandum on the Crossrail programme,1 which sets out more background about the programme, and the recent events that have occurred on it.

1.2 The main objectives of Crossrail were to increase rail capacity, reduce crowding and improve connectivity to destinations in London and the south east of England. Crossrail Ltd estimates that the programme will increase capacity in central London by 10%. Figure 1 sets out the route of the railway and the stations which Crossrail will serve.

1.3 Crossrail is one of the biggest civil infrastructure projects undertaken in the UK for many years. It is a highly complex undertaking involving:

• the construction of around 26 miles of tunnels beneath London;

• building 10 new, bespoke stations, including eight new underground stations that are substantially bigger than most existing underground stations and have interchanges with underground stations and lines;

• construction work in central London and in enclosed construction sites underground and in built-up areas, which increases the logistical and engineering challenge;

• new electrification work, signalling and improvements to 31 existing stations being carried out on the Great Western and Great Eastern main lines by Network Rail, which together constitutes one of Network Rail's biggest enhancement projects; and

• design and construction of a new fleet of trains and the development of software and equipment to enable the trains to switch between three different signalling systems to ensure safe and efficient services.

1.4 MTR-Crossrail began operating services using the new class 345 trains between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from June 2017, and began operating services between Paddington and Heathrow in May 2018. From 2010, sponsors planned for the central section of the railway to open from December 2018, with further staged openings of eastern and western services in 2019.

1.5 In April 2019, based on its completed, revised plan, Crossrail Ltd announced that it will introduce 12 peak-time services an hour on the central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood at some point between October 2020 and March 2021. These services will not initially stop at Bond Street because that station is significantly delayed because of design and delivery challenges. A four trains an hour peak service between Paddington and Reading will start from December 2019. It remains unclear when a full 24 trains an hour service between Heathrow and Reading in the West and Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east will begin.

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1 Comptroller and Auditor General, A memorandum on the Crossrail programme, Session 2017–2019, HC 1924, National Audit Office, February 2019.