Paddington Central / Connections / Crossrail / What Is Crossrail?

• What is Crossrail?
• Crossrail at Paddington

• A new railway for London and the South East running from Maidenhead 
in the West through Central London into Essex and Kent in the East with 
a direct link to Heathrow
• Underground through Central London via new stations at Paddington, 
Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street 
and Whitechapel
• 200 million passengers a year capacity
• Main line trains carrying more than 1500 passengers
• 24 trains an hour through the central section in each direction at peak times

Timing

• October 2007 – Funding approved in Government’s 
Comprehensive Spending Review
• Summer 2008 – Royal Assent to the Parliamentary Bill 
necessary to give the powers to construct Crossrail.
• 2009 – Enabling works scheduled to commence.
• 2010 – Construction works scheduled to commence.
• 2017 – First trains scheduled to operate