Crossrail - Celebrating the last 60 years in transport
By Tom Lawson
For the last 60 years Britain's accomplishments in transport engineering have led the world. From the opening of Heathrow's first passenger terminal in the 1950s and the construction of the Victoria line as the world’s first fully automated railway in the 1960s, through to the opening of the Channel Tunnel and Jubilee Line extension in the 1990s, the UK has driven new developments in technology, engineering and design.
Now in this Jubilee year, Crossrail is setting a new national benchmark for ambition. This image gallery celebrates some of the major transport successes over in the last 60 years.
Gallery - Celebrating the last 60 years in transport
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Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1953: London buses make their way down a decorated Oxford Street on June 3rd to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1991: The UK’s longest single span suspension bridge opens over the River Thames. The Queen Elizabeth II bridge now carries 150,000 southbound vehicles a day. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1994: The Queen and French President Francois Mitterrand open the Channel Tunnel, the first surface connection to mainland Europe since the ice age. The tunnel is listed as one of the seven Modern Wonders of the World according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1999: Jubilee line Extension opens between Green Park and Stratford. This was the biggest expansion of London's Tube network since the Victoria line opened in the 1960s. The new link between central London, Docklands, the 02 and Stratford not only supported the major development of Canary Wharf as a financial centre but also the regeneration of east London. Image courtesy of Bechtel Ltd -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2000: The first tram for 50 years travels through the centre of Croydon, as the £200 million Tramlink is launched. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2003: A Eurostar train exits the Channel Tunnel on the inaugural trip from Brussels to London using the new section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Advanced technology on the new HS1 route allows London to Paris by train in 2¼ hours. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2007: St Pancras International, redeveloped at a cost of £800m, opens to much architectural acclaim as London’s new international rail terminal. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2008: Heathrow Airport opens Terminal 5. Over 60,000 people were involved in the construction of the British Airways terminal. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2010: Barclays Cycle Hire scheme launches. More than 10 million journeys have been made so far. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2012: King’s Cross station becomes a major landmark upon the opening of new western concourse; it is designed to serve 45m passengers a year. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1990: The Entente Cordiale is much in evidence as French and British engineers meet under the English Channel for the first time. The tunnel was the culmination of an idea first proposed by French engineer Albert Mathieu in 1802. The completion of the tunnel represented a major engineering accomplishment of the modern world. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1987: Docklands Light Railway opens with services from Tower Gateway and Stratford to Island Gardens as part of a major regeneration of London’s Docklands. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1955: Heathrow Airport opens Terminal 2, its first passenger terminal. The development was important in ensuring the UK kept pace with the rapid increase in civil aviation. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1963: Engineers work on the Victoria line, the first fully automated railway in the world. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1968: The world’s first fully automated full scale railway, the Victoria Line, is opened by Queen Elizabeth II. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1974: A broom cutting tunnelling shield used to extend London Underground’s Piccadilly line to Heathrow Airport breaks into the open. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1976: Britain leads the world into a new era of air travel with the first commercial flight of Concorde, putting the UK at the forefront of aeronautical engineering. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1979: London’s newest underground Tube service, the Jubilee line is opened by HRH Prince Charles as London’s transport infrastructure develops to meet growing demand. © TfL from the London Transport Museum Collection -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1980: A second tunnel opens underneath the Thames to accommodate the 10m vehicles which were using the Dartford crossing annually. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1986: Heathrow Airport's new Terminal Four was opened on April 1st by the HRH Prince and Princess of Wales. The terminal served to significantly increase the airport’s short-haul capacity. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
1987: London City airport opens to serve increasing demand for business travel to and from the Docklands. The airport handled 133,000 passengers in 1988 and three million in 2011. By 2030, it is estimated passenger numbers will rise to eight million. Image courtesy of the Press Association -
Crossrail - Celebrating 60 years in transport
2012: Crossrail begins tunnelling. The first of eight tunnel boring machines – Phyllis started making her way under London in May to build the tunnels for Crossrail, the new trainline under the capital. Each machine weighs 1000 tonnes and is over 150 metres long – the equivalent of 14 London buses end to end.
