Crossrail
Crossrail is a railway construction project under way mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency suburban passenger service crossing the capital from west to east, by connecting two major railway lines terminating in London, the Great Western Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that will become part of the route, to be branded the Elizabeth line in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The main feature of the project is the construction of  a new railway line that will run underground from near Paddington Station via central London and Liverpool Street Station to Stratford. Another almost entirely new line will branch off the main line at Whitechapel in east London. It will run to Canary Wharf, cross the Thames and connect with the North Kent Line at Abbey Wood in southeast London. New nine-carriage Class 345 trains will run at frequencies in the central section of up to 24 trains per hour in each direction. At each end of its central core services it will divide into two branches: in the west  to and to ; in the east to and to . In May 2015, services on a section of one of the eastern branches, between and Shenfield, were transferred to TfL Rail; this precursor service also took control of Heathrow Connect in May 2018 and the to Reading line in December 2019. The Elizabeth line will be operated by MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Ltd as a London Rail concession of TfL, in a similar manner to London Overground. TfL's annual revenues from the line were forecast in 2018 to be nearly £500million in 2022/23 and over £1billion from 2024/25. The  total estimated cost rose from an initial budget of £14.8billion to £18.7billion by August 2020. Originally planned to open in 2018, the project continues to be delayed. The central section is planned to open in the first half of 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic paused works for several months and, in late 2020, reduced the number of workers that could be safely on-site. History. Early proposals. The concept of large-diameter tunnels crossing central London to connect Paddington in the west and Liverpool Street in the east was first proposed by railwayman George Dow in "The Star" newspaper  in June 1941. The project that became Crossrail has origins in the 1943 County of London Plan and 1944 Greater London Plan by Patrick Abercrombie. These led to a specialist investigation by the Railway (London Plan) Committee, appointed in 1944 and reporting in 1946 and 1948. The term "Crossrail" emerged in the 1974 London Rail Study Report. Although the idea was seen as imaginative, only a brief estimate of cost was given: £300million. A feasibility study was recommended as a high priority so that the practicability and costs of the scheme could be determined. It was also suggested that  the alignment of the tunnels should be safeguarded while a final decision was taken. Later proposals. The Central London Rail Study of 1989 proposed tunnels linking the existing rail network as the "East–West Crossrail", "City Crossrail", and "North–South Crossrail" schemes. The east–west scheme was for a line from Liverpool Street to Paddington/Marylebone with two connections at its western end linking the tunnel to the Great Western Main Line and the Metropolitan line on the Underground. The City route was shown as a new connection across the City of London linking the Great Northern Route with London  Bridge. The north–south line proposed routing West Coast Main Line, Thameslink, and Great Northern trains through Euston and King's Cross/, then under the West End via , and Victoria towards and . The report also recommended a number of other schemes including a "Thameslink Metro" route enhancement, and the Chelsea–Hackney line. The cost of the east–west scheme including rolling stock was estimated at £885million. In 1991, a private bill was submitted to Parliament for a scheme including a new underground line from Paddington to Liverpool Street. The bill was promoted by London Underground and British Rail, and  supported by the government; it was rejected by the Private Bill Committee in 1994 on the grounds that a case had not been made, though the government issued "Safeguarding Directions", protecting the route from any development that would jeopardise future schemes. In 2001, Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), a joint-venture between TfL and the DfT, was formed to develop and promote the Crossrail scheme, and also a Wimbledon–Hackney scheme. While CLRL was promoting the Crossrail project, alternative schemes were being proposed. In 2002, GB Railways put forward a scheme called SuperCrossRail which would link regional stations such as  , , , , and via a west–east rail tunnel through central London. The tunnel would follow an alignment along the River Thames, with stations at , and . In 2004 another proposal named Superlink was promoted by a group of senior railway managers. Like SuperCrossRail, Superlink envisaged linking a number of regional stations via a tunnel through London, but advocated the route already safeguarded for Crossrail. CLRL evaluated both proposals and rejected them due to concerns about network capacity and cost issues. Approval. The Crossrail Act 2008 was given royal assent in July 2008, giving CLRL the powers necessary to build the line. In  September 2009, TfL was loaned £1billion towards the project by the European Investment Bank. Both Conservatives and Labour made commitments in their 2010 election manifestos to deliver Crossrail, and the coalition government following the election was committed to the project. Route. In the west, the route connects with the Great Western Main Line at Royal Oak, west of , and runs to , where it splits. One branch runs to and , both part of the TfL network since 2018, and Terminal 5; the other runs over the existing main line to via and . Crossrail's central section uses new east–west  twin tunnels under central London, splitting into two branches at the eastern end. The tunnelled sections are altogether approximately in length. In the east, the route splits east of at an underground junction. The north-eastern branch, part of the TfL network since 2015, emerges to join the existing Great Eastern Main Line via to . The south-eastern branch runs through then emerges from the tunnel at Custom House on a disused part of the North London Line, and continues under the River Thames to . Western branches. will be a major interchange for Crossrail. The main western section runs on  the Great Western Main Line from Reading to Paddington. Existing stations are being refurbished and upgraded, including the provision of step-free access at all stations and platform lengthening for the new, longer trains. A "dive-under" was constructed at Acton to allow passenger trains to pass slower freight trains leaving and entering a goods yard. It was completed in July 2016 and was brought into use in 2017. The Heathrow spur has three stations – Heathrow Central (for Terminals 2 and 3), Heathrow Terminal 4 and Heathrow Terminal 5. It joins the main route at Airport Junction, between West Drayton  and Hayes & Harlington. A flyover near Hayes & Harlington station will allow Heathrow Express trains to pass over the track used by Crossrail, avoiding delays caused by crossings. Crossrail had been planned to terminate at Maidenhead, with an extension to Reading safeguarded. Various commentators advocated an extension further west as far as Reading because it was seen as complementary to the Great Western Electrification project which was announced in July 2009. A Reading terminus was also recommended by Network Rail's 2011 Route Utilisation Strategy. On 27 March 2014 it was announced that the line would indeed extend to Reading. Central  section. The central tunnels run from a portal just west of Paddington to Whitechapel, with further tunnelling to Stratford and to Canary Wharf. There are new stations at London Paddington station|Paddington, , , , and Whitechapel, with interchanges with London Underground and other National Rail services. The stations in the central section all have distinctive architecture at street level; at platform level stations have identical "kit-of-parts" architecture, including full height platform screen doors with integrated passenger information displays. Due to the size and positioning of the new platforms, Farringdon station will also be connected to station, and Liverpool Street to station . Eastern branches. One of the two eastern sections runs underground from Whitechapel to Stratford, then on the surface on the existing main line. The service will replace the "Shenfield metro", with key stops at , (for interchange with London Overground services to ), (where some peak hour trains will start or terminate), and Shenfield. The other eastern branch runs underground from Whitechapel to Abbey Wood via Canary Wharf, Custom House and Woolwich. This branch takes over a stretch of the former North London line built by the Eastern Counties and Thames Junction Railway, and connects it with the North Kent Line via  a tunnel under the Thames at North Woolwich. Design and infrastructure. Name and identity. "Crossrail" is the name of the construction project and of the limited company, wholly owned by TfL, that was formed to carry out construction works. The "Elizabeth line" is the name of the new service that will be seen on signage throughout the stations. It is named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The Elizabeth line logo will feature a Transport for London roundel with a purple ring and blue bar with white text. "TfL Rail" is an intermediate brand name which was introduced in May  2015. It is used by TfL on services between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5 and Reading, as well as trains between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. Tunnels. of twin-bore tunnels were constructed by tunnel boring machines (TBM), each with an internal diameter of (compared with for the deep-level Victoria line). The wide-diameter tunnels allow for new rolling stock, which is larger than the traditional deep-level tube trains. The tunnels allow for the emergency evacuation of passengers through the side doors rather than along the length of the train. The tunnels are made up of three main sections : a tunnel from Royal Oak portal near Royal Oak station to Victoria Dock portal near Custom House station, a tunnel from portal connecting to the longer tunnel at an underground junction at Stepney Green cavern, and a separate tunnel from Plumstead to North Woolwich underneath the Thames. Crossrail has often been compared to Paris's RER system due to the length of the central tunnel. Stations. Ten new stations will be built in the central and south east sections of the line, and 31 existing stations will be upgraded and refurbished. All stations will be fully equipped with CCTV and , due to the length of the platforms, train indicators will be above the platform-edge doors in central stations. Although initially the trains will be long, platforms at the new stations in the central core are built to enable trains in case of possible future need. In the eastern section, and will not have platform extensions, so trains will use selective door opening instead. At Maryland this is because of the prohibitive cost of extensions and the poor business case, and at Manor Park it is due to the presence of a freight loop that would otherwise be cut off . A mock-up of the new stations was built in Bedfordshire in 2011 to ensure that their architectural integrity would last for a century. It was planned to bring at least one mock-up to London for the public to view the design and give feedback before final construction commenced. It was announced in July 2017 that Crossrail services would be extended to Heathrow Terminal 5, meaning that all Heathrow terminals will have a Crossrail service when the full service commences. The launch of the Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Abbey Wood is expected to happen in the first half  of 2022. Planned. As part of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail link from London to Birmingham, a new station would be built at between Paddington and Acton Main Line station. The new station would connect HS2 services with Crossrail and National Rail services on the Great Western Main Line, as well as London Overground services running through the area. The station would open with High Speed 2 in 2026, with preliminary construction beginning in 2019. Rolling stock. Crossrail will operate the Class 345 trains. These are currently being used on the two interim TfL rail branches that will later  become part of the Elizabeth line when it first opens. The requirement was for 65 trains, each long and carrying up to 1,500 passengers. The trains are accessible, including dedicated areas for wheelchairs, with audio and visual announcements, CCTV and speaker-phones connected to the driver in case of emergency. They will run at up to on certain parts of the route. In March 2011, Crossrail announced that five bidders had been shortlisted for the contract to build the Class 345 and its associated depot. One of the bidders, Alstom, withdrew from the process in July 2011. In February 2012 , Crossrail issued an invitation to negotiate to CAF, Siemens, Hitachi and Bombardier, with tenders expected to be submitted by mid-2012. In 2013, Siemens also withdrew from the bid, but will provide signalling and control systems for Crossrail. In December 2013, the European Investment Bank (EIB) agreed to provide loans to Transport for London for the rolling stock of up to £500M. On 6 February 2014, it was announced that Canada's Bombardier had been awarded a £1bn contract to supply 66 trains, with an option for 18 more. The first train entered service on 22 June 2017 on  the current TfL Rail route between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield as a seven-carriage unit, since, until the platforms can be lengthened, the complete nine-car sets cannot be accommodated at Liverpool Street station. In July 2017 an option for five more units was exercised taking the order to 70 units. Electrification and signalling. Crossrail will use 25kV, 50Hz AC overhead lines, already in use on the Great Eastern and Great Western Main Lines. The Heathrow branch started using the European Train Control System (ETCS) in 2020. The Automatic Warning (AWS) and Train Protection & Warning (TPWS) systems are  used on the Great Western and Great Eastern Main Lines, with possible later upgrades to ETCS. Communications-based train control (CBTC) is installed in the central section and the Abbey Wood branch. Depots. Crossrail will have depots in west London at Old Oak Common TMD, in south-east London at Plumstead Depot, and in east London at Ilford EMU Depot and at a new signalling centre at in Havering, East London. Construction. Chronology. In April 2009, Crossrail announced that 17 firms had secured 'Enabling Works Framework Agreements' and would now be able to compete for packages of works. At the  peak of construction up to 14,000 people were expected to be needed in the project's supply chain. Work began on 15 May 2009 when piling works started at the future Canary Wharf station. The threat of diseases being released by work on the project was raised by Lord James of Blackheath at the passing of the Crossrail Bill. He told the House of Lords select committee that 682 victims of anthrax had been brought into Smithfield in Farringdon with some contaminated meat in 1520 and then buried in the area. On 24 June 2009 it was reported that no  traces of anthrax or bubonic plague had been found on human bone fragments discovered during tunnelling. Invitations to tender for the two principal tunnelling contracts were published in the Official Journal of the European Union in August 2009. 'Tunnels West' (C300) was for twin tunnels from Royal Oak through to the new Crossrail Farringdon Station, with a portal west of Paddington. The 'Tunnels East' (C305) request was for three tunnel sections and 'launch chambers' in east London. Contracts were awarded in late 2010: the 'Tunnels West' contract was awarded to BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman and Kier Construction (BFK); the 'Tunnels  East' contract was awarded to Dragados and John Sisk & Son. The remaining tunnelling contract (C310, Plumstead to North Woolwich), which included a tunnel under the Thames, was awarded to Hochtief and J. Murphy & Sons in 2011. By September 2009, preparatory work for the £1billion developments at had begun, with buildings (including the Astoria Theatre) being compulsorily purchased and demolished. In March 2010, contracts were awarded to civil engineering companies for the second round of 'enabling work' including 'Royal Oak Portal Taxi Facility Demolition', 'Demolition works for Crossrail Bond Street Station', 'Demolition works for Crossrail Tottenham Court Road Station' and  'Pudding Mill Lane Portal'. In December 2010, contracts were awarded for most of the tunnelling work. To assist with the skills required for the Crossrail project, Crossrail opened in 2011 the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy in Ilford. The Academy was handed over to Transport for London in 2017, who have sub-contracted its management to PROCAT. In February 2010, Crossrail was accused of bullying residents whose property lay on the route into selling for less than the market value. A subsequent London Assembly report was highly critical of the insensitive way in which Crossrail had dealt with compulsory purchases  and the lack of assistance given to the people and businesses affected. There were also complaints from music fans, as the London Astoria was forced to close. In December 2011, a contract to ship the excavated material from the tunnel to Wallasea Island was awarded to a joint venture comprising BAM Nuttall Limited and Van Oord UK Limited. Between 4.5 and 5million tonnes of soil would be used to construct a new wetland nature reserve (Wallasea Wetlands). The project eventually moved seven million tons of earth. Restoration of Connaught Tunnel by filling with concrete foam and reboring, as originally intended , was deemed too great a risk to the structural integrity of the tunnel, and so the docks above were drained to give access to the tunnel roof in order to enlarge its profile. This work took place during 2013. Boring of the railway tunnels was officially completed at Farringdon on 4 June 2015 in the presence of the Prime Minister and the Mayor of London. Installation of the track was completed in September 2017. The ETCS signalling was scheduled to be tested in the Heathrow tunnels over the winter of 2017-18. The south east section of the infrastructure was  energised in February 2018, with the first test train run between Plumstead and Abbey Wood that month. In May 2018 the overhead lines were powered up between Westbourne Park and Stepney, the installation of platform doors was completed, and video was released of the first trains travelling through the tunnels. TfL Rail took over Heathrow Connect services from Paddington to Heathrow in May 2018. At the end of August 2018, four months before the scheduled opening of the core section of the line, it was announced that completion was delayed and that the line would not open before autumn 2019 . In April 2019, it was announced that Crossrail would be completed between October 2020 and March 2021, two years behind schedule, and that it would not include the opening of the Bond Street station, one of ten new stations on the line. The London Assembly's transport committee concluded that Transport for London (TfL) played down the prospect of delays to the project in updates to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and called for TfL commissioner Mike Brown to consider his position. Crossrail said major challenges before completion included writing and testing the software that would integrate the train with  three different track signalling systems, and installing equipment inside the tunnels. In July 2019, it was announced that the line would not open in 2021, with TfL not expecting the full line from Heathrow to Shenfield to open until the early part of the 2023/24 financial year. In August 2020, Crossrail announced that the central section would be ready to open "in the first half of 2022". In May 2021 trial running commenced. Tunnel boring machines. The project used eight diameter tunnel-boring machines (TBM) from Herrenknecht AG (Germany). Two types are used; 'slurry' type for the Thames tunnel, which  involves tunnelling through chalk; and 'Earth Pressure Balance Machines' (EPBM) for tunnelling through clay, sand and gravel (at lower levels through Lambeth Group and Thanet Sands ground formation). The TBMs weigh nearly 1,000tonnes and are over long. The main tunnelling contracts are valued at around £1.5billion. The TBMs were named (per tradition). Crossrail ran a competition in January 2012 in which over 2500 entries were received and 10 pairs of names short-listed. After a public vote in February 2012, the first three pairs of names were announced on 13 March and the last pair on 16 August 2013 : Health, safety, and industrial relations. In 2012, Crossrail faced accusations of blacklisting. It was revealed that an industrial relations manager, Ron Barron, employed by Bechtel, had routinely cross-checked job applicants against the Consulting Association database. An employment tribunal in 2010 heard that Barron introduced the use of the blacklist at his former employer, the construction firm Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (CB&I), and referred to it more than 900 times in 2007 alone. He was found to have unlawfully refused employment to a Philip Willis. Aggravated damages were awarded because Barron had added information about Willis to the blacklist. In  May 2012, a BFK manager challenged their subcontractor, Electrical Installations Services Ltd. (EIS), saying that one of their electricians was a trade union activist. Some days later, Pat Swift, the HR manager for BFK and a regular user of the Consulting Association, again challenged EIS. EIS refused to dismiss their worker and lost the contract. Flash pickets were held at the Crossrail site and also at the sites of the BFK partners. The Scottish Affairs Select Committee called on the UK Business Secretary, Vince Cable, to set up a government investigation into blacklisting at Crossrail. The electrician was reinstated. Further  allegations of blacklisting against Crossrail were made in Parliament in September 2017. In September 2012, a gantry supporting a spoil hopper, used to load rail wagons with excavated waste at a construction site near Westbourne Park Underground station, collapsed. It tipped sideways, causing the adjacent Network Rail line to be closed. On 7 March 2014, Rene Tkacik, a Slovakian construction worker, was killed by a piece of falling concrete while working in a tunnel. In April 2014, "The Observer" reported details of a leaked internal report, compiled for the Crossrail contractors by an independent safety consultancy. The report was alleged  to have pointed to poor industrial relations arising from safety concerns, and that workers were "too scared to report injuries for fear of being sacked". Three construction workers died from suspected heart attacks over six months in 2019, but Crossrail announced that, following extensive testing, the air quality at Bond Street station was within acceptable limits. Archaeology. Much like the Thames Tideway Scheme and the High Speed 2 projects, which were under development in London at the same time as Crossrail, the excavation works that took place during the project gave archaeologists a valuable opportunity to explore the earth underneath  London's streets that was previously seen as inaccessible. Crossrail undertook what was described as one of the most extensive archaeological programmes ever seen in the UK. Over 100 archaeologists have found tens of thousands of items from 40 sites, spanning 55 million years of London's history and prehistory. Many of the items were placed on show at the Museum of London Docklands from February to September 2017. Some of the most notable finds include: Operational testing. In the first half of 2021, Crossrail entered trial running stage of construction. This means that Crossrail in partnership with Transport for  London are running trains to a timetable through the core section, to check the reliability of the railway. In November 2021, Crossrail entered trial operation which is the final stage before opening. Expected completion. With an initial budget of £14.8bn, the total cost has risen to £18.25bn. As of August 2021, seven of the nine new stations have been handed over to TfL. TfL expects that the full line will not be completely operational until 2023, and Crossrail have indicated that the central section (the tunnels under Central London) would open "in the first half of 2022". Services . Once fully opened, the Elizabeth line will run a familiar London Underground-style all-stops service in the central core section and eastern branches, but initial timetable plans suggest that several trains on the western branches will run semi-fast. Initial proposals suggest , West Ealing and will be served only by Heathrow T4-bound trains. Like the outer sections of Thameslink, the Elizabeth line will share platforms and tracks with other services outside the tunnelled sections. Some run by other train companies will continue to call at various stations on the Great Western Main Line branch, and Heathrow Express will  continue to run between and Heathrow stations. The indicative timetable consists of the following services on the Elizabeth line during peak hours: there will be 24 trains per hour (tph) in each direction in the central section (Paddington to Whitechapel): of these, 12 will run between Shenfield and Paddington, 6 will run between Abbey Wood and Heathrow, and 6 between Abbey Wood and either Reading or Maidenhead. Some trains on the Reading/Maidenhead branch will not stop at all stations. Therefore, travel between stations west of Paddington to/from the north-eastern branch will require leaving the train in the  central section and a short wait for the next train. Also, travel between Hanwell, West Ealing or Acton Main Line to/from the Reading branch will require a change at Hayes & Harlington. The north-eastern section via is expected to see an additional four trains per hour (tph) during peak times between and the existing main line station's high level terminating platforms. Since these trains run over existing above-ground lines from Liverpool Street to , they will not call at . Timeline. Though the main tunnels under central London have not yet been opened, passenger operations on the outer branches  of the Crossrail system have been transferred to TfL for inclusion in the Crossrail concession - this took place over several stages beginning May 2015. During this initial phase of operation, services are being operated by MTR under the "TfL Rail" brand. Following the practice adopted during the transfer of former Silverlink services to London Overground in 2007, TfL will carry out a deep clean of stations and trains on the future Elizabeth line route, install new ticket machines and barriers, introduce Oyster card and contactless payment, and ensure all stations are staffed. Existing rolling stock has been rebranded with the  TfL Rail identity. Ticketing. Ticketing is intended to be integrated with the other London transport systems, but Oyster pay as you go will not be accepted on the western section between West Drayton (the limit of TfL's Zone 6) and Reading, with only contactless cards valid there. Travelcards and concessionary passes will be valid within Greater London. Like TfL Rail's Heathrow service (formerly Heathrow Connect), trips to or from Heathrow Airport will be priced at a premium owing to the additional cost of using the rail tunnel between the airport and Hayes & Harlington, but Heathrow will be included  within travelcards and daily/weekly fare capping as a Zone 6 station. Crossrail will be integrated with the Underground and National Rail networks, and it is planned to include it on the standard London Underground Map. Passenger numbers. Crossrail has predicted annual passenger numbers of over 200 million from its opening; this is expected to relieve pressure on London Underground's lines, especially the Central line. is expected to become one of the busiest stations in the UK, due to it being the key interchange stations with Thameslink services. Once Crossrail is fully open, TfL expects total annual revenues from  the line of nearly £500million per year in 2022/23 (its first full year of operation) and over £1billion per year from 2024/25. Further proposals. Additional stations. Silvertown (London City Airport). Although the Crossrail route passes very close to London City Airport, there will not be a station serving the airport directly. London City Airport has proposed the re-opening of Silvertown railway station, in order to create an interchange between the rail line and the airport. The self-funded £50m station plan is supported 'in principle' by the London Borough of Newham. Provisions for re-opening  of the station were made in 2012 by Crossrail. However, it is alleged by the airport that Transport for London is hostile to the idea of a station on the site, a claim disputed by TfL. In 2018, the airport's chief development officer described the lack of a Crossrail station as a "missed opportunity", but did not rule out a future station for the airport. The CEO stated in an interview that a station is not essential to the airport's success. In May 2019, the chief development officer confirmed discussions are ongoing about a station for the airport  as part of the proposed extension to Ebbsfleet. Extensions. To Ebbsfleet and Gravesend. In the 2003 and 2004 consultations into Crossrail, the South East branch was proposed to go beyond Abbey Wood, running along the North Kent Line to Ebbsfleet, linking up with the (then under construction) Channel Tunnel Rail Link. However, prior to the submission of the Crossrail Hybrid Bill to Parliament in 2005, the branch was truncated at Abbey Wood to cut overall project costs. Although dropped from the main scheme, the route was safeguarded by the Department for Transport as far as Gravesend and Hoo Junction, protecting  the route from development. With the Crossrail project nearing completion in 2018, local MPs, council leaders and local businesses began lobbying the government to fund the development of a business case for the extension to Ebbsfleet, with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan including the project into his Mayor's Transport Strategy. The Mayor's Transport Strategy estimated that an extension could assist in delivering 55,000 new homes and 50,000 new jobs planned along the route in Bexley and north Kent. In March 2019, the Government committed £4.8m on exploratory work into the extension as part of the  Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission. The following stations are on the protected route extension to Gravesend: , , , , , for Bluewater, , Ebbsfleet, , and . To the West Coast Main Line. Network Rail's July 2011 London & South East Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) recommended that a short railway line could be built to connect the West Coast Main Line (WCML) with the Crossrail route. This would enable train services that currently run between and London Euston to be re-routed via Old Oak Common to serve central London, and . The report argued that this would free up capacity at Euston for the planned High Speed  2, reduce London Underground congestion at Euston, make better use of Crossrail's capacity west of Paddington, and improve access to Heathrow Airport from the north. Under this scheme, all Crossrail trains would continue west of Paddington, instead of some of them terminating there. They would serve Heathrow Airport (10 tph), stations to Maidenhead and Reading (6 tph), and stations to Milton Keynes Central (8 tph). In August 2014, a statement by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin indicated that the government was actively evaluating the extension of Crossrail as far as and , with potential Crossrail stops at , , , , , , , , , , and . The extension would  relieve some pressure from London Underground and London Euston station while also increasing connectivity. Conditions to the extension were that any extra services should not affect the planned service pattern for confirmed routes, as well as affordability. This proposal was shelved in August 2016 due to "poor overall value for money to the taxpayer". To Staines. As part of the Heathrow Southern Railway scheme proposed in 2017, the western extent of the Crossrail route could be extended beyond Heathrow Airport to terminate at . This extension would form part of a wider scheme to create new rail links in west London  and Surrey serving Heathrow, and would require the construction of an extra platform at Staines station. This proposal has not been approved or funded. To Southend Airport. Stobart Aviation, the company that operates Southend Airport in Essex, has proposed that Crossrail should be extended beyond Shenfield along the Shenfield–Southend line to serve Southend Airport and . The company has suggested that a direct Heathrow-Southend link could alleviate capacity problems at Heathrow. The extension proposal has been supported by Southend-on-Sea City Council. Management and franchise. Funding for the project came from: Crossrail is being built by Crossrail Ltd , jointly owned by Transport for London and the Department for Transport until December 2008, when full ownership was transferred to TfL. In 2007, Crossrail had a £15.9billion funding package in place for the construction of the line. Although the branch lines to the west and to Shenfield will still be owned by Network Rail, the tunnel will be owned and operated by TfL. On 18 July 2014, TfL London Rail said that MTR Corp had won the concession to operate the services for eight years, with an option for two more years. The concession will be similar to London  Overground. It is planned for the franchise to run for eight years from May 2015, taking over control of Shenfield metro services from Abellio Greater Anglia in May 2015, and Reading / Heathrow services from Great Western Railway in 2018. In anticipation of a May 2015 transfer of Shenfield to Liverpool Street services from the East Anglia franchise to Crossrail, the invitation to tender for the 2012–2013 franchise required the new rail operator to set up a separate "Crossrail business unit" for those services before the end of 2012, to allow transfer of services to the new Crossrail Train Operating Concession  (CTOC) operator during the next franchise.