As things currently stand, Shenfield station is extremely busy during peak travel times and according to passenger figures, the number of travellers passing through Shenfield continues to rise each year. In light of the every increasing demand on rail services at Shenfield station, many regular passengers and commuters have expressed concern about the congestion and whether the station will be able to cope with a huge influx of passengers once Crossrail services go live at Shenfield station.

In order to accommodate Crossrail services at Shenfield station, Crossrail are planning to construct a new platform, upgrade the ticket gates and add a new bicycle rack for commuters. Planning is still very much in the early stages, but Crossrail have ruled out the possibility of adding any further subways to improve passenger flow. However, local commuters feel that these improvements will not be enough to address concerns about passenger congestion during rush hour travel times.

One suggestion has been to extend the existing subway beneath the station and add a second entrance and exit at the opposite side of the station as this would improve the flow of traffic. This would help to alleviate congestion on escalators and areas where large numbers of people get on and off the trains. Many commuters feel that adding these improvements in the early planning stages of Crossrail construction work would be less disruptive than making further improvements at a much later stage in the process.

You have until February to come up with some fun names. Once the Crossrail panel of judges has a selected a shortlist of entries, the results will be published and the public can cast their vote in which names they think are the most appropriate.

“This competition is a chance for Londoners and those living along the Crossrail route to suggest the names of the tunnel boring machines that will construct the major new rail tunnels under London. In years to come the winners of the competition will be able to travel on Crossrail and not only say they named the machines that built the tunnels but that they watched history unfold as tunnelling started,” says Andy Mitchell, Programme Director at Crossrail.

The most popular names will be announced in March and the winners will see their choice emblazoned on the sides of two of the 1,000 ton tunnel boring machines. The winners will also have a choice of Eurostar vouchers or an annual family pass to enjoy the delights of the Merlin Theme Parks. Winning entrants will also be invited to attend the launch of the first tunnel boring machines at the Royal Oak portal.

The first two Crossrail tunnel boring machines will be launched from Royal Oak early this spring and they should reach Farringdon before the end of summer next year. The second pair of Crossrail TBMs is due to be launched later on this year, from Docklands, and finally, the last pair will be launched from Plumstead this winter.

Once tunnelling on the Crossrail project begins, teams of twenty operatives will be working night and day in rolling shifts to ensure the work is completed on time. It has been estimated that the TBMs will progress at a rate of one hundred metres per week, and by the time the Crossrail project has reached completion, a whopping six million tonnes of soil will have been excavated, most of which will be transported to Wallasea Island in Essex, where it will be put to good use in the construction of a new nature reserve.

As progress is made on the Crossrail tunnels, concrete reinforcement rings will be put in place to line each tunnel. These are being constructed at a factory in west London and each segment is so large that it takes a month to set hard. A further two factories will have to be built in order to accommodate the demand for concrete segments to line the Crossrail tunnels—a quarter of a million will be used by the end of the project.

Work on the Crossrail project appears to be relentless, but although plenty of people stand to benefit from the increased employment opportunities, some local business are not happy at having to make way for Crossrail construction work.

The first of the Crossrail tunnel boring machines is now fully assembled and is currently undergoing rigorous factory testing before it is dismantled and shipped over to London. The massive Crossrail tunnel boring machines have been built by the German company, Herrenknecht AG in Germany, the same company who were also responsible for supplying tunnel boring machines for the Jubilee Line Extension and the Docklands Light Railway Extension.

Crossrail tunnelling work is scheduled to begin in March next year and the first TBM will be sent underground at the Royal Oak Crossrail portal. A second tunnel boring machine will be launched from Royal Oak portal a few weeks later. The next TBM launch will take place at Limmo Peninsula towards the end of next year. Further launches are scheduled for 2013 and 2014.

In order to complete the tunnelling part of Crossrail construction, a further seven tunnel boring machines will be required. In total, there are ten tunnel drives planned at various points on the Crossrail route and by the time the tunnel boring machines have completed their work, a total of 21 kilometres of tunnel will have been bored beneath the city of London.

Each tunnel will be 6.2 metres in diameter and as the TBMs progress down the tunnels, pre-cast concrete reinforcement rings will be put in place to strengthen the tunnels. In order to maintain a ready supply of pre-cast concrete rings, a concrete segment factory has been constructed at Old Oak Common. This will supply concrete for the western running tunnels between Farringdon and Royal Oak.

If the HS2 rail link goes ahead, the controversial rail route will stretch over 100 miles and provide a fast link between London and Birmingham, reducing the travelling time for commuters to 49 minutes. However, HS2 has been deeply divisive and has threatened to split the government down the middle with many ministers deeply against the scheme, particularly those with constituencies around the planned route.

The main problem most people have with the planned high speed rail link is the adverse effect construction work will have on some areas of outstanding natural beauty. The planned route runs through the Chiltern Hills and those against the scheme say the area would be forever scarred if HS2 goes ahead.

The new tunnel currently under consideration would link two existing tunnels on the route and divert the HS2 link beneath the Chilterns, which would reduce the environmental impact on the area. However, it would require extra funding to the tune of £500 million, which is why the Transport Minister is looking for more time to see whether the money is likely to be available. The delay in making the final decision on the HS2 scheme will also allow the government to carry out some feasibility and environmental studies on the proposed tunnel.

Environmental groups, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England, are firmly in favour of extra tunnelling as they believe it is the only way to protect the Chilterns from the catastrophic effects of construction work. However, they have expressed concern that the extra funding could be gained by reducing environmental protection measures elsewhere on the HS2 route.