Pupils from Cleeve Park School, Bexley have been hard at work creating designs for a train that might take them to work in years to come!
The Year 10 pupils have been taking part in the Young Crossrail Design a Carriage project, a innovative competition designed to tell young people about the Crossrail scheme and get them thinking about what kind of train it might use. This is one of a number of curriculum projects being run as part of the Young Crossrail initiative.
Their achievements have been recognised by Derek Conway, MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup who visited the school to view the work. He said, " All credit to Cleeve Park and Crossrail for pursuing a project which creates links between the pupil's studies and the real world. This school has a real "can-do" atmosphere, which is infectious. I also think that the fact so many girls have got involved with the Crossrail design project is very encouraging."
Steve Silk, Head of Technology at Cleeve Park School, said: 'The project with Crossrail has given us the pupils something to get their teeth into. It's the first time we have completed a project which computer-aided design. There were so many facets to consider from comfortable seating and lighting to waste disposal and the entry and exit of passengers into carriages.'
Crossrail is proposed to run from west to east London through a tunnel under central London. It would run from Heathrow airport and Kingston in the west through Paddington and Liverpool Street to Ebbsfleet via Canary Wharf, and Shenfield via Stratford.
Norman Haste, Chief Executive of Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), the company charged by the government to develop Crossrail line 1, commented: 'The overall aim of the competition was to encourage creativity while working within real life design and budgetary constraints. In creating their designs, the children followed a set of criteria and had to overcome challenges along the way – just as Crossrail's engineers are currently doing.
'What I have found particularly interesting is that young people can look at problems with new eyes and some of these projects have brought to light a totally new solution overlooked by adults!'
The Young Crossrail Design project will not end here. In the near future, pupils will be set a new brief to consider additional design elements including how a Crossrail station of the future might look.
ends
The 'Design a Crossrail Carriage' project was a joint initiative between Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), the London Transport Museum and Bombardier Transportation Ltd. Its main aim has been to involve young people in the development of the new West – East London rail link.
