Crossrail latest: Here’s a look at how the new Paddington Elizabeth Line station is shaping up
Work on the £14.8bn Crossrail project is drawing nearer to completion, while the 10 stations being built in central London for the Elizabeth Line are nearly finished.
And today, Crossrail has unveiled new pictures of how the Paddington Elizabeth Line station is shaping up, which features the installation of one of the capital’s largest ever artworks.
Around 25m passengers a year are expected to use the new station when service through central London gets underway in December next year.
Read more: Cashing in on Crossrail: Elizabeth Line to bring in £3bn over five years
Take a look at how the Paddington Elizabeth Line station:
(Click or tap on the images to see them in full screen)
Architect’s impression of Paddington
Architect’s impression of how Paddington will look
First panels of the artwork being put into place
The route of the new railway will pass through 41 stations, and run from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through tunnels under central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
The first panes of glass are being fixed into place on a 120m long canopy at Paddington.
Artist Spencer Finch has designed “a cloudscape” that has been printed onto the glazed roof of the new station, hand-drawing 60 pastels that combine to create a collage of clouds. When printed onto the transparent canopy, the pastels will look as if they are changing according to the light, weather and the time of day.
The canopy is a steel grid that holds 220 glass panels, each weighing over a tonne, and the hand-drawn scene will be painted onto 180 of them.
The Paddington artwork was funded by Heathrow and the City of London Corporation, and marks one of many new works of public art being included across Elizabeth Line stations.
Installation of the massive artwork is underway:
Transport for London (TfL) is forecasting the Elizabeth Line, as it will be known when it opens through central London, to bring in £3bn in passenger income over the next five years.
Once it is fully operational, it is expected to carry more than 200m passengers a year.
Read more: Crossrail latest: Elizabeth Line train rollout stalls