Transport min. visits London's Crossrail project

Transport Minister Hisham Arafat on Tuesday paid a visit to Crossrail, the biggest construction project in London.

During the visit, Arafat was keen to know more about the railway system in Britain and the infrastructure of transport-related projects.

The minister is currently on a visit to the UK to attend the election of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). 

The Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project, work started in May 2009, according to the company's website.

Crossrail will transform rail transport in London and the south east, increasing central London rail capacity by 10%, supporting regeneration and cutting journey times across the city.

The Crossrail route will run over 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

There will be 40 Crossrail stations including 10 new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich and Abbey Wood.

The Crossrail will bring an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London and will link London’s key employment, leisure and business districts – Heathrow, West End, the City, Docklands – enabling further economic development.

The first Crossrail services through central London will start in late 2018 – an estimated 200 million annual passengers will use Crossrail