Story of Crossrail

At the end of 2018, London's biggest engineering project will come to fruition. It has taken three-quarters of a century and cost £15bn. For the first time, trains will run through the tunnels built under central London between Paddington and Liverpool Street. Driving through a subterranean world of rock and mud; employing digital technology at the extreme cutting edge; and realising a vision of east-west metropolitan access conceived in the era of Attlee and Churchill – Crossrail is an engineering marvel of the twenty-first century. In The Story of Crossrail, Britain's best-selling railway writer tells its amazing story. Engaging with both historical and social perspectives, Wolmar outlines the postwar history of the idea of a trans-London east-west railway line, the proposals of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the passing of the Crossrail Act of 2008 and the lengthy and complex engineering processes that will bring the new line into being. A shrewd and critical observer of postwar transport policy, Wolmar pays due credit to the remarkable achievement of Crossrail, while avoiding hagiography.