Crossrail has started the trial running of four trains an hour on the Elizabeth Line ahead of the scheduled opening of the railway in the first half of 2022
The milestone was reached after the Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth Line station, built by Laing O’Rourke, became the third new central London Crossrail station to be handed over to TfL.
The trial programme involves integrated testing of the railway to demonstrate that the Elizabeth Line is safe and reliable, and that it meets the capacity and performance requirements needed to move to the final stage before opening. This final stage will ensure the safety and reliability of the railway for public use and will involve exercises such as evacuations of trains and stations later this year.
Crossrail will steadily ramp up the numbers of trains running in the 42km of tunnels that have been built below London and on the existing rail network to allow the railway and the supporting systems to be operated as close as possible to an operational timetable.
Ahead of Trial Running commencing, the Great Western Main Line and Great Eastern Main Line were fully integrated with the Elizabeth Line central section to form an operational railway ready for trains to run across the route.
‘An incredibly significant moment’
Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild said: “We have now started the trial running of trains on the Elizabeth Line and this is an incredibly significant moment.
“It marks the moment when our focus shifts to commissioning of the new railway and it puts us firmly on the path to Trial Operations and ultimately the opening of the Elizabeth Line.
“I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard over many years to get us to this point. There have been real challenges along the way but the start of Trial Running is an important milestone for the Elizabeth Line and for London.”
Location: Elizabeth Line, London
Project team: Laing O’Rourke
Completion: 2022
