Victoria breakthrough completes Crossrail tunnelling

The total 26 miles (42km) of Crossrail tunnel under London is now complete, almost exactly three years after work began. May 23 marked the final breakthrough, with Tunnel Boring Machine Victoria arriving at Farringdon at about 0530.

The TBM continued to construct the remaining section of the tunnel into Farringdon station, before linking all the Crossrail tunnels and completing the final tunnel on May 26.

“The completion of Crossrail tunnelling is a truly symbolic moment for the project,” Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan told RAIL.

“Crossrail is not only the most significant addition to London’s transport network in a generation, it is also one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects undertaken in the UK. The scale of the engineering achievement is quite incredible and would not have been possible without the support and commitment of London, our contractors and everyone who works on Crossrail.”

Tunnelling began on the project on May 4 2012 and more than 70 million work-hours have been spent on the Crossrail programme to date. The total project is now 65% complete, and the focus will now switch to fitting out of the tunnels and completion of stations along the route. 

• For more on this story, read RAIL 776, published on June 10.