Crossrail: The Whole Story

by Christian Wolmar

The story of an engineering marvel of the twenty-first century, from Britain's bestselling railway writer. Crossrail, first conceived just after the Second World War in the era of Attlee and Churchill, has cost more than £15bn and is expected to serve 200 million passengers annually. From Reading and Heathrow in the west, the Elizabeth line will extend to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, including 42 kilometres of new tunnels dug under central London. The author sets out the complex and highly political reasons for Crossrail's lengthy gestation, tracing the troubled progress of the concept from the rejection of the first Crossrail bill in the 1990s through the tortuous parliamentary processes that led to the passing of the Crossrail Act of 2008. He also recounts in detail the construction of this astonishing new railway, describing how immense tunnel-boring machines cut through a subterranean world of rock and mud with unparalleled accuracy that ensured none of the buildings overhead were affected. A shrewdly incisive observer of postwar transport policy, Wolmar pays due credit to the remarkable achievement of Crossrail, while analysing in clear-eyed fashion the many setbacks it encountered en route to completion. With a new afterword to mark the opening of Crossrail in 2022.

Genres: Nonfiction, London, Politics, Transport, Railways

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2022

About the author

Christian Wolmar is a journalist, focusing on the history and politics of railways.

Reviews

[Colin Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable and not over technical read about the Crossrail Project in London. Provides some fascinating insights into both the engineering and political challenges faced.

[Chris Chasty · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable history of Crossrail. Knew some stuff already but learnt some new facts

[Paul Waring · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book on the Crossrail project, though if you followed the news then, like me, there might not be much in here that you didn’t already know.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book about Crossrail and how it came bout

[Prasanta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok