CROSSRAIL

Crossrail in-depth analysis

Abstract

The paper highlights a brief background about the British railway system and how it has been the pioneering breakthrough in the start of nineteenth century. However, the initial phase of the paper discusses how has the system transformed by intruding the latest technique along with technological advancements for Crossrail. Furthermore, the paper will highlight the major portion of Crossrail and provide with in-depth analysis and complete overview of the project. However, Crossrail plays an important role on the environmental issue and the transportation needs.

Crossrail in-depth analysis

Introduction

British railroads, the world's first, began with the Penydarren Tramroad in Wales in 1804, although it did not rely on steam power. In 1814, George Stephenson unveiled the first steam locomotive, and the British system expanded rapidly, including the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, one of a series of famous Newcastle railways. In 1830, the first interurban railroad connected Liverpool and Manchester. Early railroads achieved speeds between 20 and 30 mph (miles per hour), or three times that achieved by stagecoaches; later ones achieved speeds of up to 70 or 80 mph. By 1838, the London to Birmingham route opened to immediate success, reducing the time needed to travel the 112 miles in between from 12.5 to 5.5 hours. Other travel times fell accordingly: London to York, for example, took 96 hrs, to walk in 1754, 36 hrs, by stagecoach in 1776, and 20 hrs by railroad in 1830. (Pinto, 1988, pp. 67-72)

During a period of intense, widespread, and rapid urbanization, railroads soon became the dominant sign of the Industrial Revolution in much the same way as the Internet came to symbolize postmodern capitalism. The enormous costs of constructing and maintaining such networks, however, required high volumes of traffic to amortize expenses over numerous clients. Fortunately, the velocities of the new system were popular: British passengers increased from 5.4 million in 1838 to 170 million in 1862. Originally, British railroads deployed the 4-foot, 8-inch gauge of the coal mines. The integration of wider markets, however, required standardized tracks, which led other countries eventually to adopt the British standard. The standardization of different European rail gauges was finally accomplished with the International Railway Conference of 1882, which took more than a decade to unfold (Pinto, 1988, pp. 67-72).

Construction of numbering the total of more than 116 km high-speed rail network in London Crossrail is the largest transportation investment in the UK for at least several decades. However, it is stretching from east to west the capital of the United Kingdom railway line to connect to each other, Britain's biggest airport Heathrow, the West End and Canary Wharf. Furthermore, it will be on the road trains on the railway stations by Paddington and Liverpool Street. The railways of the UK represent the private sector and, they even imply according to economic and safety regulation by the arms of government. In 2006, when they used the power according to Railways Act in 2005, the Department for Transport (DfT) took over major ...