Crossrail has unveiled a 20m long x 10m wide, with a ceiling height of 5m above the platform-edge doors, mock-up of a below ground station platform as will be found along the central tunnelled route of the project. The US$56o,000 mock-up will show if design modifications are needed before main construction of the stations begins later this year.
New Crossrail stations will be built along the central underground route of the line at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel and Canary Wharf. It is critical that Crossrail gets the internal design of stations right as the new stations have been designed to last for the next century.
Transport Minister Theresa Villiers said, “Good rail journeys start and end in stations which meet passenger needs – that’s why this station design is an excellent way for designers to test whether they are providing the best layout and facilities before they build the real thing.”
Crossrail Chairman Terry Morgan said, “The priority for Crossrail for the coming years will be the construction of the new stations and tunnels that will transform journeys across London and the south east from 2018 – but we also now need to give important consideration to the important final look and feel of stations. Making these decisions just before Crossrail opens in 2018 would be too late.”
Crossrail station platforms will be 250m in length to accommodate 200m trains that will pass through each station, as well as enabling longer 240m trains to operate in the future as passenger demand increases.
The mock-up platform has been built at VINCI’s Technology Centre in Leighton Buzzard, employing film set design techniques to replicate the feel of actual finishes without having to go to the expense of constructing a Crossrail platform area using solely traditional construction materials.
Film set design techniques used include creating light fittings made from painted plywood and spraying expanded foam onto wallpaper to create sprayed concrete lining for the tunnels. Real floor tiles and glass were used but the metal work is plywood coated in metal laminate to make it look like stainless steel.
Once the design and testing work with the station mock-up is complete later this year, Crossrail’s aspiration is to retain a section of the platform mock-up for future public display in London so that Londoners can experience first hand what travelling on Crossrail will be like.
For a full Crossrail review visit: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/7b0cd2e9 – /7b0cd2e9/11
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