LONDON TRANSPORT
their ability to manage risks and policy. All the elements of a team you would expect world- class supply chains to bring.
“Around 40% of the marks are awarded on costs and commercial issues. So, we start off on the premise that it is more important for us to get the right people with the right capability and capacity and track record to work within Crossrail. And, equally, it is important for us to make sure we have value for money for the taxpayer under the right commercial agreements.”
Wolstenholme has a strong background in civil engineering, including a period in the Royal Engineers and as a bridge designer. He was construction director on the Heathrow Express Rail Link in the 1990s, then programme director on the airport’s Terminal 5 project, before taking on other major roles at BAA and then Balfour Beatty. He has been Crossrail chief executive since 2011, and told RTM that his leadership style on all the projects he has been involved with has been based on collaboration.
He said: “You get the best out of a team if you can work together; if you can clearly define people’s accountabilities, the outputs and the targets. It has been essential that we have taken this collaborative approach in order for us to find ourselves where we are now, just over 50% complete on the overall programme.”
Second half
The second half of the Crossrail project will be delivered in several stages with joint venture partners being sought during 2014 for major above-station property developments at
Paddington Triangle, Tottenham Court Road (Dean Street), Farringdon East (Lindsey Street), Liverpool Street East, Woolwich and the Limmo Peninsula. Delivery and testing of trains is scheduled to start in 2017 ready for the opening of the new Crossrail tunnels to passengers in late 2018.
The Crossrail chief added that stages 4 and 5 of the project, which have always been planned for delivery in 2019, will bring the full service into play. “And, at that stage, we will have 24 trains per hour running through the central section, and we will have trains running right through to Reading,” he said.
Looking ahead to the second half of the programme, Wolstenholme told us: “The heavy civil and heavy structural works and the building of 10 new stations in central London is
logistically very complicated, as is feeding these stations and making sure one doesn’t clog up London. One has to have the right relationship with local residents, with local retail operators and commercial organisations.”
He also believes that the second half of the Crossrail project could be even more complex than the first stage, which has employed 10,000 people working across 40 construction sites.
“However, no-one should underestimate the infrastructure we’ve achieved and delivered in the first half of the project,” said Wolstenholme. “London is very congested both on its surface and underground. There has been an extensive amount of planning to make sure the alignment, both vertically and horizontally, fit.”
He added that the work the eight TBMs have done so far for Crossrail has also been “unprecedented” and that he is very proud of the quality of leadership, the quality of the supply chain and the quality of the tunnels Crossrail and its partners are delivering.
Each of the TBMs is very sophisticated, especially as they control the pressure at the head of their tunnels and the alignment very accurately. “So no-one should underestimate the fact that we have got through the first 77% of tunnelling without too many technical issues, and that has been a great effort on everyone’s part,” said Wolstenholme.
Extending Crossrail
Earlier this year, Crossrail’s joint sponsors – the Department for Transport (DfT) and Transport for London (TfL) – instructed Crossrail to extend the western route of the line out to Reading. The extension will see the east-west rail line serve two additional stations, Twyford and Reading.
Crossrail’s literal ‘halfway’ marker Continued overleaf > rail technology magazine Apr/May 14 | 127
© All images Crossrail Ltd
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