Crossrail have released this stunning interactive tour which lets you take a trip through the tunnels of the forthcoming Crossrail service across London.
Although it looks like an ordinary video, clicking and dragging your mouse on the movie (or using the control panel in the top left) lets you see a full 360 degree view of a construction locomotive moving through the Crossrail tunnels between Stepney Green and Farringdon.
It’s taken three years to complete the tunnels for the Crossrail service, with eight, 1,000-ton tunnelling machines doing the heavy work.
A total of forty-two kilometres (26 miles) of new tunnels have now been created underneath London and its surrounding areas for the rail service.
The project started in 2009, and overall construction now stands at 65% complete, with the eagerly awaited Crossrail service scheduled to to kick off in 2018.
Here’s the full text from the Crossrail Project:
This interactive 360° film was shot from the front of one of Crossrail’s construction locomotives as it journeyed from Stepney Green cavern to Farringdon. The construction locomotives are used to carry people and materials through the tunnels. This gives passengers a unique opportunity to explore Crossrail’s recently completed tunnels 40 metres below their feet.
The viewer can move the screen to look back at the driver or around the tunnels, cross passages and enlarged platform tunnels at Whitechapel and Liverpool Street Crossrail stations.
This 360° video shows the completed tunnels, shortly before work to install the railway and fit out the station begins.
Watch this video on the latest version of Chrome or Firefox on desktop or laptop and use your mouse or the control panel in the top left hand corner to scroll around the image. On mobile or tablet devices, use the latest version of the YouTube app for Android or iOS and scroll around the video using your touch screen, or by moving the device left, right, up or down.
Crossrail tunnelling completed in May 2015 – eight 1,000 tonne tunnelling machines spent three years creating 42km or 26 miles of new 6.2 diameter rail tunnels under London. The tunnels weave their way between existing underground lines, sewers, utility tunnels and building foundations from station to station at depths of up to 42m.
Crossrail construction commenced in 2009 at Canary Wharf and is now over 65% complete. Services through central London will commence in 2018.
See an amazing set of photos (some of them exclusive) of the Crossrail project on the urban75 forums.
Related posts:
