London & South East Premier Rail

Crossrail South East

Network Rail- Crossrail South East
Written by Roma Publications

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

Works to install a new two-mile section of track between the Crossrail tunnel portal at Plumstead and Abbey Wood station is progressing well and is due to complete in 2018.

More than a mile of new track has been laid by Network Rail so far, representing the first section of dedicated Crossrail track to be installed anywhere along the route.

The principal contractor for the work at Abbey Wood is Balfour Beatty.

Work has included the re-alignment of the existing North Kent line, which serves trains between London and Kent, and the replacement of the Church Manor Way footbridge.

The works also included the installation of two new overhead electrified Crossrail lines to the north of the North Kent Lines, starting from a tunnel portal at Plumstead and continuing to Abbey Wood, which is the terminus station on the south-east section of the Crossrail route.

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

The works have also comprised modifications to several bridges and a major remodelling of Abbey Wood station in addition to the creation of a new Crossrail platform.

Crossrail will operate up to 12 trains an hour to and from Abbey Wood at peak times. At Abbey Wood there will be an easy interchange between Crossrail and North Kent Line services.

Crossrail’s new tracks will mean that services on the North Kent Lines will not need to be reduced for Crossrail. Crossrail will operate in addition to existing services to London terminals.

There will be significant relief of overcrowding for passengers on existing North Kent Line services because of the passengers who transfer to Crossrail.

Ahead of Crossrail services beginning in 2018, the tracks will now be used to support the fit-out of the new tunnels to create a fully functioning railway beneath the streets of London.

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

Matthew White, Crossrail Surface Director said:

“Crossrail will help to transform Abbey Wood, providing a step change in public transport and encouraging investment and development in the local area. At peak time, 12 Crossrail trains an hour will make it significantly quicker and easier to get to range of destinations across London and the South East.”

Matthew Steele, Crossrail Programme Director at Network Rail, said:

“Completing this section of track on time is important because it means that Crossrail can get on with the job of fitting out the new tunnels. Once fully open in 2018, the new tracks will link Abbey Wood to the rest of London like never before, providing local people with a dramatically improved rail service.”
Crossrail represents the single biggest addition to the local rail network since the North Kent line was built in 1849. From 2018, a train every five minutes during the peak will allow residents to travel right through the capital without having to change trains. The journey from Abbey Wood to Canary Wharf and Bond Street will be around 20 minutes quicker and passengers travelling to Heathrow will be able to cut around 40 minutes off their journey.

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

Network Rail is responsible for the design, development and delivery of the parts of Crossrail that are on the existing network.

The total funding available to deliver Crossrail is £14.8bn. The Crossrail route will pass through 40 stations and run more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km (13 miles) tunnels below central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

Crossrail is being delivered by Crossrail Limited (CRL). CRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London. Crossrail is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport and Transport for London.

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

DMG Steelworkers Ltd

DMG Steelworkers specialise in the fabrication and installation of steel structures for the rail industry including footbridges, rail bridges, access for all station structures, and the fabrication and installation of road bridges and other steel frame structures.

The firm has been in operation for more than 20 years and since their inception have worked with a number of high profile contractors including Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Buckingham’s, Amco and Storey Rail.

The firm has recently worked on Crossrail South East Section supplying and installing a 27 metre span footbridge at Church Manorway. The team has also supplied and installed new and temporary foot bridges and a new 42 metre span foot bridges at Bostall Manorway, as well as an all new bridge to accommodate the new Crossrail link.

Network Rail- Crossrail South East

Rebecca Outram from DMG commented:

“This project was important to be involved with as it helped us establish new links in South England and London and new clients.

“We pride ourselves on our expertise in delivering major steel structures on time and within budget, to a very high standard.”

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