History of the Crossrail project

Crossrail has a long history. In 1974 and 1980, feasibility studies concluded that it would be too costly a scheme to build and in 1994 a private members bill to build Crossrail was defeated. The current incarnation of Crossrail goes back to 2002, when the newly formed Cross London Rail Links (which became Crossrail Ltd in 2009) assessed the feasibility of the scheme again, after the Strategic Rail Authority recommended that new rail links should be built across London to relieve existing and forecast overcrowding and to reduce congestion on the rail network between east and west. Legislation required to build the railway gained Royal Assent in 2008 in the form of the Crossrail Act. Construction started in 2009 on the first Crossrail site, Canary Wharf station.