The new crossrail trains offer a host of benefits to people in and around London. It has is well-documented how the new technology will shorten travel times; no more so than in the Open Property Group’s Crossrail 2019 station graphic. Yet the new train carriages offer a whole lot more…

In fact, the trains will offer air conditioning, Wi-Fi and 4G as standard. These full walk-through carriages will also provide full access for wheelchair users.In many ways, the new Bombardier-designed carriages look much like the new design for the London Underground trains.

Extra Capacity

The Crosslink carriages add a much needed 10% of extra capacity to the standard London trains.Indeed, each one is 200 metres long; which is 1.5 times longer than a tube train! Every carriage will provide space for 1,500 passengers and four wheelchair users. There will also be step-free access across the entire length of each train.

The carriages will have three wide doorways to allow passengers to get on and off quickly. Wi-Fi will be free, and the service will provide customers with real-time travel information.

Energy Efficient

The crossrail carriages boast a lightweight design. In addition, each carriage regenerates electricity back into the power supply when braking. These factors ensure that the Crossrail carriages will use 30% less electricity than standard trains, while also being significantly faster.

When will the Trains Appear?

The first train should come off the production line atBombardier’s Derby factory next year. The service will be fully operational by 2019. Crossrail trains will run through to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east and Reading and Heathrow in the west.

According to Transport for London (TfL), the first crossrail trains to operate will appear in May 2017 on the Liverpool Street to Shenfield part of the Crossrail route. The trains will initially appear in smaller seven-carriage variants.

Following this early ‘Crossrail 1’ rollout, all trains will come in the full-length nine carriage version. These will be introduced in May 2018, between the Heathrow and Paddington stations. All seven-carriage trains will undergo a nine carriage conversion by the end of 2019.