Abstract

Crossrail will be a major new high frequency metro rail service that will connect East and West London from the City and Canary Wharf, via the West End, to Heathrow Airport and commuter areas on either side of the capital. The network will offer faster, easier and direct ways to get into and across London. New lines and tunnels will carry trains with twice the number of passengers as the Central and Jubilee lines. As a result, existing rail and tube routes will be less crowded and everyone’s journey will be more pleasant. The new service will connect 37 stations and will operate 24 trains an hour in each direction in the central underground section at peak time. The Crossrail Programme is currently the biggest engineering project in Europe with construction work taking place across the whole route. Eight tunnel boring machines, TBMs, have been driving their way under London since early 2012, and when they have finished their boring task, they will have completed 42kms of tunnel. Simultaneously construction is underway on new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich.

Patrick Griffin has worked for Crossrail since 2007. Prior to this he spent 10 years as Council Officer at the Institution of Civil Engineers. Patrick’s current role is Freedom of Information Officer which requires him to respond formally to requests from members of the public seeking information on a wide range of subjects. One request asked how many times our vehicles had been filled with the incorrect fuel!

Patrick is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In an earlier life he spent a full career as an officer in the Royal Engineers culminating in managing the infrastructure at RAF Marham.