A “robust and realistic” plan to bring the Elizabeth Line into passenger service at the earliest possible date has been agreed by the board of Crossrail Ltd, following a detailed audit of what went wrong in the past. Over 100,000 interdependent tasks have been identified and re-sequenced.

As many risks and uncertainties remain in the development and testing of the train and signalling systems, Crossrail has identified a six-month delivery window — with a mid-point at the end of 2020 — and says it will make every effort to complete the outstanding works as soon as possible.

The central section of the Elizabeth Line (between Paddington and Abbey Wood) will be the first to open and will link the West End, the City of London, Canary Wharf and southeast London with initially 12 trains per hour during the peak.

Full services from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood and Shenfield will follow as soon as possible.

There are four major tasks that must be completed: the development and testing of the software required to integrate the train operating system with three different signalling systems; installing and testing vital station systems; completing the installation of the equipment in the tunnels and testing the communication systems; and undertaking thousands of miles of trial runs to ‘shake out’ any problems and ensure the highest levels of safety and
reliability when passenger services begin.

Crossrail (www.crossrail.co.uk) chief executive Mark Wild said: “I share the frustration of Londoners that the huge benefits of the Elizabeth Line are not yet with us, but this plan allows Crossrail Ltd and its contractors to put the project back
on track.

"Crossrail is an immensely complex project, and there will be challenges ahead, particularly with the testing of the train and signalling systems, but the Elizabeth Line is going to be incredible for London and really will be worth the wait.

"This new plan will get us there and allow this new railway to open around the end of next year.”