15.10.15
Work kicks off at Abbey Wood’s new Crossrail station
Network Rail has kicked off work to build the new Crossrail station at Abbey Wood ahead of its launch in 2017.
The first of more than 100 piled foundations to support the new station have been installed and will continue to be added until the end of the year, at which point the building will start to become visible above ground.
The station will be built over two new Crossrail tracks and those used by North Kent services.
Work has been underway at the site since 2013, including the construction of an interim station in 2014 in order to provide basic services such as a staffed gate line, ticket machines and lifts to all platforms.
The existing station building was removed shortly after that, alongside the installation of a new one mile section of track.
Matthew White, Crossrail surface director, said: “Crossrail will help to transform Abbey Wood, dramatically improving transport links and bringing a state-of-the-art station.
“A train every five minutes at peak times will make it quicker and easier to get to a range of destinations across London and the south east.”
And Crossrail’s programme director at Network Rail, Matthew Steele, guaranteed that work was on schedule to build the new station.
When ready, the building will include a spacious concourse that leads directly onto a wide forecourt linking the station to the Harrow Manorway flyover that runs above the station.
It will also boast two new ‘island’ platforms for Crossrail and North Kent services, as well as six lifts to increase in-station mobility and step-free access to platforms.
And from 2018, trains every five minutes during the peak will allow for trips to the capital without any changes.
The journey from Abbey Wood to Canary Wharf and Bond Street with TfL-run Crossrail will also be around 20 minutes quicker, and passengers travelling to Heathrow will slash around 40 minutes from their travel time.
So far, Crossrail has already seen the first of its 10 new stations completed at Canary Wharf in September. Fit-out of the railway systems is now getting underway at the site.
And earlier this month, London Underground engineers excavated the final passageway linking the expanded Bond Street station to the new Crossrail station.