---
title: "Crossrail – Elizabeth Line – United Kingdom"
url: "https://www.systra.com/en/projects/crossrail-united-kingdom/"
type: projects
date_published: 2024-02-06
date_modified: 2025-06-02
schema:
  @type: WebPage
language: en-US
word_count: 631
reading_time: 4 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/en/projects/crossrail-united-kingdom/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2023-capa-uk-elizabeth_line-181.jpg"
type-market:
  - Urban mobilities
project-market:
  - Urban transit
  - Metro
project-service:
  - Design
  - Project Management and Construction
project-location:
  - United Kingdom
---

# Crossrail – Elizabeth Line – United Kingdom

![Crossrail – Elizabeth Line – United Kingdom](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2023-capa-uk-elizabeth_line-181.jpg)

**London, the city that invented the underground railway in 1863, had not welcomed a new underground line since 1979. The last line of the network came into service in 2022: the Elizabeth Line is a suburban line crossing the British capital from east to west. Its opening represents the end of the Crossrail project, one of the biggest mobility projects undertaken in Europe in recent decades.**

The aims of the Elizabeth Line are to reduce journey times for passengers,
provide better access to jobs and schools, and boost economic growth in the UK
capital. Thanks to this line, 1.5 million people are now less than 45 minutes
from central London, and the capacity of the city’s rail network has increased
by 10%.

### Key assignments for a major project

SYSTRA, in a consortium with Jacobs, provided project management support to
Bechtel from 2009 to 2022. The form of contract chosen, a PDP (Project Delivery
Partner), covered design, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning,
as well as the management of the various consultants and builders at each phase
of the project, right up to the handover of the works to the infrastructure
managers for the central section linking Paddington to Canary Wharf.

We provided expertise in railway systems and operations. The teams at SYSTRA UK
participated in most of the project packages while being in charge of all the
major equipment such as signalling, communications, traction power, track and
overhead line equipment, as well as expertise in tunnelling, noise and vibration
control, BIM, planning, commercial management, project management and
construction site management.

### Benefits from our international experience

SYSTRA’s strengths? To take part in all aspects of the project as part of the
integrated PDP team, and to contribute our
[ international experience in metro](https://www.systra.com/en/markets/metro/)
systems and electrification. For example, we were involved in selecting the
signalling system for the central section of the Elizabeth Line, managing the
complex interfaces at each end of the tunnel and interconnecting the new ETCS
(European Train Control System) level 2 signalling with the existing Network
Rail network.

Our teams also played a key role in the delivery of the project, with a number
of project managers involved in the rail systems as part of the Systemwide Main
Works Railway Systems strategic package, as well as in the construction of the
tunnels, the platform fronts, the power supply and management of high-voltage
electricity, the garage, the maintenance centre and the storage tracks at
Plumstead.

### A structuring response to London’s rail challenges

The interconnection of the rail lines on the outskirts of London is made
possible by a 21 km central section, bored in deep twin-tube tunnels with
minimal impact on the surface, serving 40 stations, including 10 new ones. All
of this will be operated by automatically controlled trains equipped to run on 3
different signalling systems. Crossrail will enable the construction of 180,000
new homes (70% of which are already under construction) by 2026, while property
values are expected to rise in east London, where transport services have been
lacking until now.

Some examples of projects in Urban transit, Metro, Design, Project Management
and Construction

[  Łódź Fabryczna railway station – Poland  ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/lodz-fabryczna-railway-station-poland/)
[  Mwanza Central Station – Tanzania  ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/mwanza-central-station-tanzania/)
[  The Tunis RFR (Rapid Rail Network) -Tunisia ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/the-tunis-rfr-rapid-rail-network-tunisia/)
[  Alexandria Raml Tramway – Egypt ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/alexandria-raml-tramway-egypt/)
[  Tanta-El Mansoura-Damietta railway line – Egypt ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/tanta-mansoura-damietta-railway-line-egypt/)
[  Technical expertise and programme management for BusConnects – Ireland ](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/technical-expertise-and-programme-management-for-busconnects-ireland/)

[ See a selection of SYSTRA's projects ](https://www.systra.com/en/our-projects/)