All language subtitles for NOVA.S50E01.London.Super.Tunnel.1080p.WEB.h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Underneath the streets
of London, England,

an army of more than 10,000
workers

has been building a brand-new
subway.

(tool whirring)

Okay!

NARRATOR:
It's called Crossrail.

We're under a very tight
deadline.

NARRATOR:
Costing nearly $20 billion,

it's one of the biggest
construction projects in Europe.

Give us a shout if that's gonna
touch the handrail.

NARRATOR:
To complete this super subway,

workers must construct
26 miles of new tunnels

and ten vast new stations...

All right, Jez!

NARRATOR:
...laying more than
30 miles of new track...

It's the most logistically
complicated programs of work

I've ever, I've ever been on.

NARRATOR:
...and build 70
super-fast subway trains.

SIMON WRIGHT:
It's an absolute intense battle.

NARRATOR:
All under a tight deadline.

You need to get out of the way
here,

because trains are gonna
start coming through.

NARRATOR:
It's a trailblazing

construction project in one of
the world's

busiest metropolises,

and engineers face a constant
battle to keep the city moving.

MAN:
Constructing Crossrail is like

undertaking open-heart surgery

on a patient whilst that
patient is awake.

NARRATOR:
The oldest subway
system in the world,

the famed London Underground,

is getting a whole new line.

More than 60 total miles of
railroad

in the midst of a
city that never stops.

"Inside the London Super
Tunnel,"

right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
London, England.

Home to more than nine million
people and rising.

The key to keeping everyone
moving here is the Tube.

The London Underground is the
world's oldest subway system,

a vast subterranean rail network

handling around a
billion journeys every year.

It's made up
of 11 different railway lines

that snake right underneath
the city, allowing passengers

to travel in practically any
direction across the capital.

♪ ♪

But the system,
which first opened in 1863,

now struggles
to cope with peak demand.

(station announcer speaking on
P.A.)

NARRATOR:
So engineers are building

a brand-new underground railway
line

to help relieve the strain.

It will stretch across the city
from the west to the east.

It's called Crossrail.

(beeping)

The new railway will run

from Reading and Heathrow
Airport in the west

through a new tunnel under
Central London,

connecting into existing
metro stations.

It will link shopping and
theater districts

in the West End

to the new financial
district of Canary Wharf

and terminate east of
the city center.

It must link seamlessly into
the rest of the Tube.

WRIGHT:
Crossrail is a huge new
railway for London,

so it's going to be able to
carry

200 million passengers a year,

ten percent increase in capacity

at a stroke.

Crossrail will help to keep
London moving

for the next many, many years.

NARRATOR:
The projected cost of the new
railway

is nearly $20 billion,

and work is expected to take
eight years.

If the project goes according
to plan, Heathrow,

Europe's busiest airport,
will be just

28 minutes from Central London,

a journey that currently takes
almost an hour on the Tube.

Preparation work on this
endeavor began in 2009,

launched by Boris Johnson,
at the time

mayor of London.

JOHNSON:
This is a great day for Britain.

Three, two, one, go!

(machine creaking)

NARRATOR:
After three years,
engineers were ready

to start boring the
railway's titanic tunnels.

Workers used eight
giant earth-eating machines

to dig the 26 miles

of tunnels for the trains to
pass through.

(man exclaims)

NARRATOR:
Excavating 3.7 million tons of
earth from under London,

the work was fraught with
danger.

Engineers carved their way

beneath fragile historic
buildings,

close to skyscrapers,

and under the River Thames.

This part of the project
took three years to complete.

But digging beneath a bustling
metropolis

isn't the only challenge
in building this railroad.

Engineers must also begin

other complex and daunting parts
of the project.

They must construct ten
grand stations,

design and build

a fleet of 70
super-fast passenger trains,

lay miles of custom-designed
railway track,

and develop the software
to control train traffic

so that the first passenger
services can begin.

(people cheer and applaud)

NARRATOR:
As the last tunnel-digging
machine

completes its journey...

Welcome to Farringdon!

NARRATOR:
...it's at this construction
site

that engineers are gearing up
to build what will be

one of the most impressive
stations on the entire line:

Farringdon Station.

Located in the heart of Central
London,

Farringdon is home to Smithfield
Market,

the largest meat market
in the country,

and the city's

world-famous diamond quarter,

Hatton Garden.

Once complete,

Farringdon Station is set to
become

one of Britain's busiest
train stations,

servicing over 150,000
passengers a day.

Every day, I bounce out of bed

ready to come here and come to
work

and feeling great about it.

NARRATOR:
Project manager Linda Miller
faces

the mammoth task of making sure
its gates open on time.

MILLER:
This station is really

gonna be where the action starts
when the railway opens.

If you were to take the Shard,

which is the tallest skyscraper
in Europe

right now, and lay it on its
side, it would fit inside

of my Farringdon Station.

We're enormous in scale.

Our platforms are over 300
meters long.

What that means in the future,

if you're stepping off the
trains at Farringdon,

you need to know which way
you're going,

you're gonna be half a kilometer
from where you wished you were.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Linda is no stranger
to challenges like this.

A former U.S. Army pilot
and paratrooper,

Linda trained in engineering
and helped build

NASA's Launch Complex 40

at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

But constructing Farringdon's

$918 million station will be one
of her biggest tests to date.

MILLER:
Looks great-- afternoon, guys.

NARRATOR:
Linda's team's first
task is to dig out

two huge, eight-story-deep
holes.

These will form the east and
west concourses at Farringdon.

Underground, they must widen
the freshly dug railway tunnels

to create its platforms,

then dig out the passageways
and escalator shafts

to link them to the concourses
and entrances.

Excavating the earth to build
the platforms is treacherous.

Minor geological fault lines
run through the site

and an ancient river once
flowed through here,

leaving the earth pitted

with unstable pockets of sand
and water.

The threat of groundwater
running through these faults

and into the tunnels is great,

so they must stay vigilant

as they dig through these zones.

MILLER:
So this is what we've got.

Here's a bird's eye view
looking down on the station.

We're facing the most
dangerous type of soil.

There's not one but three
different fault lines

right through the middle
of our work.

Fault lines present a danger.

MILLER:
It provides a pathway where you
could have cracks,

where you
could have future flooding.

NARRATOR:
They use excavators
to widen the train tunnels

to create the platforms,
carefully clawing out the earth.

MILLER:
The team are digging out a
mountain out from

under London.

Simultaneously with the
dragging away of that soil

is the spraying of concrete
on that face,

so that the face doesn't fall in
on you.

All right, Jez!

MILLER:
As it flies towards the
wall under pressure,

it's dry, just barely,

smack at the time it hits the
wall.

(sprayer whirring)

The mining is going well,
but we're never complacent.

We never say, "Oh, yeah,
we're, we,

we're all that good,"

because that's the day it goes
wrong.

NARRATOR:
Once set, they line the platform
walls

with a plastic
membrane to keep them dry.

MILLER:
The membrane is fully
waterproof, tough, durable,

and is going to form a seal
around

our entire tunnel.

We are going to be wrapped like
a Christmas present.

NARRATOR:
With the platforms dug out
and sealed here,

the team at Farringdon now faces
their next challenge.

To connect the stations
together,

builders across the line must
lay more than 30 miles

of brand-new rail track.

But space on site is
at a premium,

and installing Crossrail's
track at Farringdon

without disrupting other work
will be no easy feat.

Gregg Purcell leads the team

responsible for laying the
track through this zone.

It's not often you get to work
on a project

of this magnitude.

It's amongst the most
logistically complicated

programs of work I've ever, I've
ever been on in my career.

NARRATOR:
Workers here will need
highly specialized machinery

for the task at hand.

PURCELL:
This machine is called
the multi-purpose gantry.

There's four of these on
Crossrail,

and they're worth
about a million pounds each.

Looks like a Transformer,

and it can change its shape
depending on

what condition it's working in.

NARRATOR:
This mechanical marvel can lay

nearly 2,000 feet
of railway ties

every day.

PURCELL:
The multi-purpose
gantries are a godsend,

and I would struggle

to understand how we build a
project like this

without that sort of kit.

NARRATOR:
Once the trains start running,

these tunnels will be noisy,
but right here,

the project faces one of its
most difficult

construction challenges.

The team needs to reduce the
amount of noise

coming from this section of
track.

PURCELL:
Here we are directly
beneath the Barbican.

Right directly beneath.

(Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
playing)

NARRATOR:
Opened in 1982,
the Barbican Centre

is an international hub
for arts and culture,

London's equivalent of Carnegie
Hall.

The center's largest venue,
Barbican Hall,

sits one story below ground.

HUW HUMPHREYS:
The Barbican Centre's

the home of the London Symphony
Orchestra,

presents regular seasons

from the Royal Shakespeare
Company.

It really is one of the truly

great artistic centers in the
U.K.

A lot of music is about
exploring the relationship

between the very quietest
sounds and silence,

and therefore a lot of
performances

really focus on that
magical area of audibility.

NARRATOR:
And that's the problem.

Barbican Hall sits just 55 feet
above Crossrail's tunnels.

Noise or vibrations from trains
could travel through the earth

and into the concert hall,
disturbing performances.

To guard against this,

Crossrail engineers are using
ingenious floating tracks,

unique concrete slabs of rail
track

that sit on special springs.

As a train passes over these
springs,

they should absorb most of the
energy

and reduce noise reaching
the theater.

PURCELL:
The floating track slab
allows that noise

to be brought down even lower,

that on the surface,

you won't hear anything when
you're watching "Hamlet."

NARRATOR:
It takes over 150 tons of
concrete

reinforced with steel bars

to form each 100-foot-long
floating track slab.

So what you can see behind you
now

is all the guys assembling the
track.

We've got all the
reinforcements complete.

The spring housings are all
installed.

We got all the rail,
and this slab is being set up

to cast the concrete on top.

Are we there, Steve?

Yeah, it's here now.

♪ ♪

PURCELL:
There we go.

So that's the liquid gold

coming out there.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Once set,

they screw
the springs into place

on the underside of the slab

and raise it to its final
height.

With the slabs now cushioned by
the springs,

they can set the rails on top.

With this crucial section of
the railway in place,

the team can pick up the pace

and lay track throughout the
rest of the tunnels.

♪ ♪

Over in London's West End,

the city's bustling theater
district,

engineers are excavating huge
holes in the ground

to construct another new
Crossrail station:

Tottenham Court Road.

And it's a challenging one,

because they're doing it here,

in the middle of Oxford Street,

the epicenter of shopping in
Britain.

With 200 million visitors every
year,

it's one of the busiest shopping
streets in Europe,

home to the famous
Selfridges department store.

David Crabtree
leads the team of engineers

racing to build Tottenham Court
Road's massive new concourse.

CRABTREE:
Our station is about the size of
an aircraft carrier,

so if you consider constructing
an aircraft carrier

in the middle of London,
underground,

whilst keeping London going,
with all its myriad of people

and vehicle movements all
sloshing about,

that's what we've got to do at
Tottenham Court Road.

NARRATOR:
To build the new station here,

David's team excavates two huge
holes

to create the concourses,
a hundred feet deep

and 1,300 feet apart,

removing enough earth to fill
14 Olympic swimming pools.

The concourses will plug

directly into the train tunnels
below

and the existing London
Underground Tube services.

Digging vast holes like these
in Central London

is no simple task.

The earth around the edge of
the holes is fragile

and could fall in,

causing the surrounding shops
and buildings to collapse.

So as the team digs down level
by level,

they install 40 massive
props to hold back the earth

as they build the station's
walls.

Now, with the walls complete,

they face the nerve-racking
task

of dismantling and removing the
props.

CRABTREE:
So you can see here, it leaves
us a nice, big open space,

so we've had to put all these
props in place.

However, now we need to get
them out,

which is gonna be an even bigger
challenge.

This is engineering
on a very big scale.

NARRATOR:
Each 115-foot-long prop
helps to hold back the weight

of more than
1,500 tons of earth.

Then, as they remove the props,

the newly built walls should be
strong enough

to resist the pressure.

CRABTREE:
We're about to start removing
our

first big prop, and this is,

this is one of the moments that
we all

hold our breath.

NARRATOR:
With support chains

attached to the first prop...

GAVIN HUGHES:
Come up a touch--
that's it, lovely.

NARRATOR:
...they use a mix of oxygen
and propane heated to over

4,500 degrees Fahrenheit

to cut out small
squares in the metal.

HUGHES:
They cut windows out of it,

a section at a time,
just to release the pressure.

NARRATOR:
The more holes they cut,
the weaker this prop becomes.

They hold their breath
and hope

that neither the prop nor walls
buckle.

HUGHES:
We're just at the last stage of
cutting

the final piece now.

You'll just see a slight bow in
the steel,

which is what it's meant to do.

It's meant to take the pressure
out of it as we're cutting it.

NARRATOR:
Guiding the pieces of
the prop up out of the hole,

through this maze of metal, will
take great skill and control.

Nice and easy now,
nice and easy.

MAN:
Hold her there one second, hold
her there.

Just up on your hoist now,
up on your hoist.

(whistle blows)
And up you go,

all clear, up you go.

(whistle blows)

Keep hoisting up.

NARRATOR:
After six hours,

the first prop is clear.

(whistle blows)

It takes a further six months
to remove all 40 props.

And with the space cleared,

they work through the night
to seal

the building
and pour the concourse's

reinforced concrete roof.

MAN:
Thank you, cheers.

NARRATOR:
Only when the concrete has set
can they begin

the next stage of the work here,

to finish the interiors of this
colossal station.

♪ ♪

Back in Farringdon...

(car horn honks)

...with platforms starting

to take shape and rail tracks
laid,

Linda's team now faces a race to
complete

Farringdon Station's grand
entrance hall,

which has a vast
and intricately designed roof.

The building must connect

directly into a neighboring
commuter train station.

To build its spectacular roof,

Linda's team must piece together

105 custom-made reinforced
concrete segments.

This will be like assembling
a giant jigsaw.

42 concrete-coated steel beams

will form the diamond-shaped
frames.

63 concrete panels will sit
inside.

Craning these awkward-shaped
pieces into position

without crashing into the busy
train station next door

will test the team's ability.

MILLER:
Plugging into a live

railway station has its whole
set of, of new challenges.

This is the last big part of the
build, and it's gonna be tough.

NARRATOR:
Site manager Andy Scholes

is working with Linda on this
tricky build.

SCHOLES:
This is our main
feature of Farringdon Station.

This is what everyone will see

over the next 120 year

when they enter Farringdon
Station.

NARRATOR:
First task: erect a
network of steel supports

to prop up the heavy ceiling

as they lock it together.

To get all the pieces

of this concrete puzzle in the
right place,

Andy follows his installation
drawings closely.

What we have here is
the plan of the ceiling itself.

Each piece is individually
named and numbered,

so we know where we're gonna
lift them to.

If we lose the drawing, then
we're, we're stuffed, basically.

Pinch up nice and easy.

NARRATOR:
The beams that make up

the diamond-shaped frames weigh
over eight tons.

(man speaking on radio)

NARRATOR:
Lowering them into position,

right next to the operational
commuter train station,

takes a delicate touch.

Keep coming down.

(whistle blowing)

SCHOLES:
Yep, very close.

They're moving it now
to get it into position.

Yeah, down on that!

♪ ♪

SCHOLES:
Touchdown.

NARRATOR:
With the ceiling's frame in
place, they can now slot

in the diamond-shaped panels.

Pinch up nice and easy.

♪ ♪

(radio chirps)
That's it, mate, all clear.

NARRATOR:
Andy and the team must work fast

if the station build is to
remain on schedule

and avoid causing a cascade of
delays.

Farther east,
builders are starting work

on another logistically complex
station build.

Whitechapel is the historic
home of the foundry

that cast the Big Ben bell

and a market which has served
locals

for more than a century.

One of Crossrail's ten Central
London stations

will sit in this district,

but the station here
won't be completely new.

Instead,
engineers are undertaking

a $143 million overhaul

of Whitechapel's existing
Tube station,

opened in 1876.

All right, I'm out, mate.
(laughs)

NARRATOR:
76-year-old Jim Forrest manages
the team

tasked with building the new
station here.

I've worked in construction
since 1960.

I worked on
1,000-foot concrete chimneys,

nuclear power stations, coal
power stations-- you name it.

But this is the highlight,

what I'm doing now.

NARRATOR:
Whitechapel is one of the most
confined construction sites

along the entire Crossrail line.

Market stalls, roads,
and residential buildings

hem the site in.

Squeezing a conventional station

into such a chaotic space is
impossible.

So engineers must build the new
concourse

on a unique 590-foot-long bridge

that passes right over the site.

This station will run north to
south,

connecting to the
Crossrail tunnels,

channeling passengers to
existing train lines.

A skeleton of around
6,500 pieces of steel

will form its frame.

This will allow the station
bridge

to sit on the surrounding
Victorian structures,

giving the impression that it
floats above the existing lines.

352 panes of glass will allow
light

to stream through the structure.

A steel and aluminum fire-proof
roof covers the concourse,

with greenery to top it off,

giving this 19th-century station
a 21st-century makeover.

Jim's team starts assembling
the giant steel pieces

that will make up Whitechapel's
new floating bridge station.

FORREST:
Make sure them flanges
don't bite into the tarmac.

NARRATOR:
They plan to use a tall crane
to swing each piece

into position over the existing
train tracks here.

The line below
is closed for today's operation,

but must reopen in less than
48 hours,

ready for Monday morning's rush
hour.

Jim needs everything to run
like clockwork

if he's to avoid travel chaos.

This is a difficult operation
to carry out,

because the, the alignment
has gotta be precise.

NARRATOR:
One of the largest
sections of bridge

is now ready to lift.

FORREST:
I can hear the tension

coming into the
slings and shackles now.

(metal creaking)

NARRATOR:
It takes great skill
to carefully steer

this 40-ton chunk of steel
away from the buildings

and down towards the
railway tracks.

♪ ♪

MAN (on radio):
Keep coming down.

Another little flick to
your left for me.

Right, that's nice like that.

FORREST:
So far, so good.

NARRATOR:
This section must slot
into an 82-foot-long gap.

It's going to be tight.

MAN (on radio):
Go to your left a bit more,
mate.

(continues speaking on radio)

(metal creaking)

(alarm sounding)

All stop there for me a minute.

All stop there.

NARRATOR:
Just as they near the drop zone,

they hit a glitch.
MAN (on radio):
Hit the handrail.

FORREST:
What do you need to do?
Take a foot out of it?

Okay.

It's such a tight fit
with the handrails,

that to get the unit in,

they've got to cut
a small gap in the handrails.

NARRATOR:
They must act fast.

A hold-up here

could stop rush-hour trains
running tomorrow.

Right, how's that looking
on that handrail now?

MAN 2:
That looks pretty sleek.

Right, we're having him
come down, yeah?

MAN 3:
I'm ready.

You ready, Adam,
you all right?

Get ready!

MAN (on radio):
Yeah, start bringing her
down slowly, then.

Give us a shout if that's
gonna touch that handrail.

MAN (on radio):
All right, Dave, inch to go.

MAN:
Right, that's us... in.

FORREST:
You're looking at
a very happy chappy.

Yeah, it's gone
really well, that.

NARRATOR:
With this giant steel section
now in position,

it takes around a year

to install all of the
6,500 pieces.

Though the steel skeleton
is a huge milestone,

they still need to construct

the walls,
roof, and interiors

if this station is going to be
ready for opening.

Workers across the line
are making progress.

They install wall cladding,

huge ventilation fans,

and miles of cabling
to give the stations power.

(exclaiming)

NARRATOR:
Engineers have also started work

on building another key element
of the railway: its trains.

The railway's
70 new super-fast trains

will each carry
up to 1,500 passengers

and come with air conditioning
and Wi-Fi onboard.

We can build all the stations
and track you like,

but trains
have to be there, as well.

NARRATOR:
The $1.4 billion contract

to design and build
Crossrail's rolling stock

has been awarded to the owners

of this historic
train factory in Derby,

114 miles north of London.

Workers have been
building trains on this site

for more than 140 years.

But constructing
the Crossrail fleet will

really test the mettle of
these seasoned train builders.

It's a massive challenge,
going from

effectively
a blank sheet of paper

to ramping up to producing
a whole fleet of trains.

It's a huge task.

MAN:
And so you can see that

there's a tiny gap there.

Yup.

NARRATOR:
They have just 24 months

to design, build, test,

and deliver the first of
70 new trains--

a tall order.

Faster.

NARRATOR:
Capable of traveling at
speeds of 90 miles per hour,

each passenger train will be
over 650 feet long--

almost the length of
seven basketball courts.

The team is designing
their floors, walls, and roofs

to be made from aluminum.

They must be compact to
squeeze through the tunnels,

but big enough on the inside

to accommodate
up to 1,500 passengers.

The trains need
full air conditioning

and live passenger
information boards.

The stakes are high.

What time are the covers
coming?

NARRATOR:
It's up to 24-year-old
Kane Jellyman

to keep this $1.4 billion train
build on track.

JELLYMAN:
These are the largest-length
trains

we've actually produced
on the site,

and the largest-length trains
you'll probably see

on London Underground
for a long while.

There's five key steps into

making it look like
an actual train.

The underframe comes in,
which is like the floor.

The roof is
loaded into the jigs.

Followed by that,
we bring the body sides in.

(whirring)

It's called
the tubing process,

'cause this is where the shape
of the vehicle actually

comes together, and it
looks very much like a tube.

NARRATOR:
With the roof, floor, and
sides of this car in place,

it's time to attach
the driver's cab.

Okay,
it's on the way.

NARRATOR:
This cab unit weighs
over three tons

and contains more than $325,000
worth of crucial electronics.

The electronics
control everything,

from the train's speed

to the passenger doors
and lighting.

A dent could wreck
its intricate components

and set the
train-building schedule back.

Okay, just a box
behind you there.

JELLYMAN:
We don't have
excess cabs in stock,

so he needs to make
sure he doesn't scratch it.

Do you want us to help you
guide it in, Kels?

Trying to let him concentrate

so he doesn't make
any mistakes.

JELLYMAN:
Keep coming.

Whoa.

There's a lot of money
being craned there, so...

God forbid if
something did happen.

Couple of clicks east.

Here you go.

(crane whirring)

(clangs)

JELLYMAN:
Nice landing.

NARRATOR:
The trains must pass

a series of rigorous trials

before they can go
into operation,

from winter weather tests

freezing them to
-13 degrees Fahrenheit

to speed and performance
trials.

♪ ♪

JELLYMAN:
We can't be complacent.

This is just the start.

We've got over 500 cars
left to deliver,

so the guys need
to keep working hard

and carry on delivering them.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Across London,

stations are fitted with
ticket gates, lighting,

and escalators.

Here at Crossrail's
new Bond Street Station,

in London's
luxury retail quarter,

builders are installing

the longest escalators
on the line.

(tools whirring)

Delays in tunneling

and mechanical
and electrical work

has pushed this station build

$715 million over budget

and many months
behind schedule.

As workers here
pick up the pace,

builders at
Tottenham Court Road Station

have completed work on
its concrete roof.

LIH-LING HIGHE:
You installing some signage,
Mark?

(inaudible)

When's it going in?

NARRATOR:
Project manager Lih-Ling Highe

now leads the station's
interior finishing work.

This is the time when we are

turning empty structures
and empty tunnels

into living, breathing
buildings with lighting,

with cladding, with
fixtures, with fittings.

Being a project manager
of a station

on such a complex project

is a bit like holding onto
400 spinning plates

and making sure
they're delivered

in exactly the right place,
whilst riding a unicycle

crossing on a tightrope.

NARRATOR:
Today, Lih-Ling's team

is waiting for
a construction train

to deliver the station's
platform screen doors.

HIGHE:
It's really important to get
the platform screen doors in,

because without
the platform screen doors,

we're not going to be able
to open the station.

NARRATOR:
Engineers must install
two-and-a-half miles

of floor-to-ceiling
platform screens

in eight new stations.

The screens stop passengers
falling onto the line

and maintain air flow
around the station.

Each screen unit is made from
bombproof glass

and has a straight edge.

But Tottenham Court Road's
eastbound platform

is a 768-foot-long curve,
shaped to avoid hitting

a subterranean maze of
sewers, foundations,

and other rail lines.

So Lih-Ling's team is
relying on a construction train

equipped with
special robotic arms

to carefully lift and
connect each screen

at a 0.4-degree angle
from one another.

If the angle is off,
the screen could jut out

and collide with
an oncoming train.

They must fight for
every inch of space.

The more screens they install,

the tighter
their worksite becomes.

Lead engineer Frank Foley
is in charge of

installing the platform
screen doors on site.

(tool whirring)

FOLEY:
The first step is for the train
to be carefully aligned

in the correct spot

to start unloading
the first module,

to lift the module off
the back of the train,

and align it accurately
with the brackets

that are already
installed on the platform.

Ready?

NARRATOR:
Using a remote control,

workers carefully guide
the train's robotic arms

to move each screen
into position.

MAN:
All right, coming down.

Go right a touch.

Okay, all in.

FOLEY:
It's that nail-biting time
when they find out if

the brackets are
in the right place or not.

MAN:
Now go back a touch.

NARRATOR:
Lining up each screen,

weighing the equivalent
of a pick-up truck,

with its brackets
takes a delicate touch.

MAN:
Yeah, that's good, yeah.

It's a bit fiddly with
the spanners to, uh, to do.

They do have to be careful when
they're installing the doors.

MAN:
Okay, all good.

FOLEY:
Now, that's the first one done.
(train horn beeps)

So we've still got
a long way to go.

NARRATOR:
Over the next nine weeks,

Frank's team races

to install
the remaining 137 screens.

(train horn beeps)

♪ ♪

(train horn beeps)

The closer they get to
the end of the curved platform,

the tighter the space
becomes for the crew.

Excuse me,
watch your back, please.

Come in, come in, come in,
come in, come in, come in.

Now, hold, hold on,

you have to keep,
really hold the pressure.

Stop for a minute, yeah?

NARRATOR:
Everyone's feeling the pressure.

MAN:
Do not leave it on the wood,
right, because if you break it,

we're not gonna get any more
for weeks.
(train horn beeps)

See this metal?
Yeah.

That's what you need to put
on the floor,

so you need to turn it
so it goes like that

and then lift it up, right?

Just because

I don't want
the glass touching the floor.

MAN: Uh-oh.
MAN 2: Let go, let go.

MAN:
All mine, all mine,
all mine, all mine.

MAN: This glass needs to
come up this way.

Oh-- how is it?

The tower,
bring it closer.

Right, going back now,
bring the tower.

It's the very last piece now.

(train horn beeps)

(people talking,
radio running in background)

You have one bolt in.

That's it, all done.

NARRATOR:
The doors are finally in,

but six weeks later
than originally planned.

♪ ♪

By the summer of 2018,

delays completing the
intricate station construction

and tunnel-finishing work

impact the testing of
the railway,

so more time and money
will be needed.

Afternoon,
Franz, afternoon.

NARRATOR:
After seven years,

work at Farringdon Station
is progressing,

and Linda can get her first
glimpse of its grand entrance.

Wow, wow, wow, wow!

♪ ♪

That looks fantastic.

♪ ♪

It's like when you
walk into a cathedral.

It is a relief,

to, to finish the last of
the big builds on site.

I suppose it's
a little sad, too,

as, as it is whenever you, you
accomplish something

that, that feels great.

They say diamonds are forever,

but these diamonds are
meant for 120 years, at least.

NARRATOR:
Finishing work ramps up
across the line,

and by 2021,

stations are slowly
starting to complete,

including Farringdon Station,

Lih-Ling's Tottenham
Court Road Station...

HIGHE:
This is a huge milestone.

We can see the finishing posts.

NARRATOR:
...and Jim Forrest's floating
station at Whitechapel.

FORREST:
This is a landmark for us,

and it demonstrates
to everybody here

that we are capable of
delivering this station

as we said we would do.

NARRATOR:
But the formidable scale of
this engineering endeavor

has pushed the project
more than four years past

its scheduled opening date.

The cost of the project
has also spiraled

to nearly $25 billion.

As work on the tunnels,
platforms,

stations,
and trains completes,

one area of the railway

that is still being tested
is its software.

Crossrail will be
the first fully digital railway

in the U.K.

It has one of
the most complex systems

of rail software
in the world,

to control everything
from the trains and signals

to CCTV and platform doors.

Yeah, on the screen
right here...

NARRATOR:
The person responsible for

ironing out any bugs
in the software

is Pradeep Vasudev.

Pradeep has nearly
40 years' experience

developing computer software
for transport systems,

from Tube lines
to military aircraft.

Crossrail has built
this $13 million facility,

where his team has spent
more than three years

testing out the software
using virtual trains

on virtual tracks.

VASUDEV:
My interest is making sure

all the bits work together.

For me,
finding any issues

early on is absolutely
the thing we need to do.

There's nothing worse than
finding it out on the railway.

NARRATOR:
Their job is to push
the new software to the limit,

seeing how
platform doors perform

and discovering how
the trains cope with errors.

Each version can have

as many as 250 bugs
that need to be

rooted out and fixed.

Jim, if you can start
driving the train?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Today,

nearly 13 years after
construction work first began

on the project,

the team is
finally ready to conduct

a full live trial
of the railway.

This is a critical moment.

They aim to run the
intended timetable service

of 24 trains per hour.

VASUDEV:
Today we're trying to prove
that we can run

a sustainable,
consistent service

at 24 trains per hour.

That is
the ultimate timetable

that we want to run
for Crossrail.

We've got to a point now
where we're confident

that system
technically can achieve it.

Everything
has to work perfectly.

NARRATOR:
With only two-and-a-half-minute
gaps in between trains,

running a fault-free service
to time will be a challenge.

To do this,
they will need to use

a radical new feature
called auto reverse.

During rush hour,
trains sometimes need to

switch direction to relieve
the busy central stations.

To avoid the driver
having to walk 650 feet

to the cab at the other end,
wasting valuable minutes,

these trains have
a much quicker solution.

When they need
to do a fast turnaround

to head back into the West End
from Paddington Station,

the driver activates
an auto reverse feature

that allows the train
to drive itself.

In this mode,
when the computer takes over,

it swaps tracks
and changes direction.

As it moves
back into the tunnels,

the driver is
free to walk to the cab

at the other end
of the train.

Auto reverse
is key to the railway

hitting its
24-train-per-hour target.

The early tests of its software
demonstrated that it was safe,

but its real-life performance
has been far from reliable.

VASUDEV:
Auto reverse is
absolutely crucial

in our ability to run
a 24-train-per-hour service.

Without it,
we would struggle

to run a consistent service
at that level.

NARRATOR:
Assisting Pradeep
in the railway's control room

is systems integration manager
Rory Mitchell.

MITCHELL:
The main thing that we've not

tested before, at scale,
is having trains

every two-and-a-half minutes
in the whole tunnel section.

So it's difficult to predict
what might go wrong.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In West London,
driver Emma Knowles

will be at the controls
of one of the trains.

Okay.

KNOWLES:
At 24 trains per hour,

this, this is a biggie today,

but it's going to be fine.

It's all going to work.

(P.A. system beeps)

TRAIN ANNOUNCER:
This is the TFL rail service
to Paddington.

NARRATOR:
Any software bugs

on the trains, tracks,
or station platforms

during this trial
could trigger serious delays

across
London's commuter network.

And they're off.

KNOWLES:
We're off, we're moving.

NARRATOR:
The team feeds

more trains onto the line,

all heading towards
the new Underground stations.

On the platform
at Paddington Station

in West London,

engineers must make sure that
the railway's display boards

are providing
accurate information.

PAUL NAYLOR:
So we've got a train arrived.

It wasn't due
to arrive here now,

so we need to check why that
train turned up

and isn't being shown
on these screens.

Clearly, we want it to be right

for our passengers
when they board the trains.

♪ ♪

This train has arrived

showing "not in service,"

whereas we would
normally expect it to show

"terminates here."

As you can see,

we're down into the
fairly small-scale issues

that we're trying to
deal with now.

NARRATOR:
The display board faults

are yet more glitches for the
software team

to iron out before
the line can open.

Meanwhile, on the tracks...

TRAIN ANNOUNCER:
This is the TFL rail service
to Paddington.

NARRATOR:
...Emma pulls into Paddington.

KNOWLES:
Here we go.

NARRATOR:
Here, she will attempt to

put the train into
auto reverse:

to turn it around

and travel back in
the opposite direction.

Is everybody off
that needs to be off?

'Cause I'm
closing the doors now.

Right, auto reverse.

Auto reverse.

NARRATOR:
With auto reverse activated,

Emma's train should now
automatically move

forward around a mile

to change tracks, stop,
switch direction,

and head back east
into the tunnels.

KNOWLES:
So, as we come out,

we're going to come out
into daylight,

to Westbourne Park sidings,

and it's: safety,

check there's
no trespassers.

If there is a trespasser,

emergency stop.

NARRATOR:
For those used to
driving trains manually,

the auto mode
takes some getting used to.

That's scary.

No driver!

That is so scary!

Mild heart attack.

(shudders)

♪ ♪

It's a very, very...

It's a very strange feeling
that...

I'm meant to be driving it.

And we're on our way
to Stratford.

The train is driving itself,
modern technology.

NARRATOR:
The auto reverse software
on this train

has worked perfectly,

and allows Emma to begin her
route east along the line.

Meanwhile, at Paddington,

engineers are still
troubleshooting problems.

DAVE:
Is Stratford open now, Paul?

Yeah.
Yeah?

Yeah.

NARRATOR:
They've noticed that

when a train returns from

completing an
auto reverse maneuver,

the platform screen doors
aren't opening properly.

♪ ♪

(doors beeping)
That didn't work, did it?

So all right,
that's another one to note.

We're not sure
why that didn't work,

but it didn't work.

They should all open
completely.

So, I think...

There you go, see?

That's the door glitch.

We need to fix it.

And we will fix it.

NARRATOR:
While the team deals with

door problems in
West London...

MITCHELL:
I think we might have
an issue with the trains.

NARRATOR:
...the control room is
witnessing a train jam

in Stratford, East London.

MITCHELL:
We've now got four trains

queuing up
to get into Stratford,

which is not going to
rectify quickly.

And then we've got delays on
about half of the trains.

I didn't think
it would be this bad.

(watch ticking)

NARRATOR:
To add to their problems,

another train has become
stuck at Paddington.

(exhales, murmurs)

MITCHELL:
The train at Paddington

has got quite a major failure.

The guys have
been trying to reset it,

so, we're,
we're a bit stuck.

(chuckling):
We've got 12 trains

between Tottenham Court Road
and Westbourne Park.

(watch ticking,
people talking in background)

NARRATOR:
It's now up to the signalers
to coordinate the trains

to clear the gridlock

and reboot
the railway's software.

(watch ticking)

MAN:
Let's get it east to Farringdon

and try to change ends...
Yeah, yeah,
yeah.

...and see if we can
clear enough to...

Yeah, at least we'll create
some space.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

NARRATOR:
After nearly four hours of

trying to reboot the software,

and multiple attempts
to untangle the fleet...

Are you calling it, Paul?

NARRATOR:
...the team is forced
to abort the test.

(people talking in background)

MITCHELL:
The system is brilliant at

managing a steady state,

and it's actually
really good at managing,

like, partial degradation
when you've got minor delays,

but when it gets
to such a bad situation,

and you've got a train
that's blocking the line,

there's not much it can do--
it can't...

It can't teleport trains
around a blockage.

Because we had so many delays,
we had to suspend the service

and park all the trains
up in the depots.

NARRATOR:
The team didn't make

its 24-trains-per-hour
target today.

And there are still
more glitches to fix.

♪ ♪

It's unfortunate, but,
but it's, it's our baby,

and we've got to
deal with it.

NARRATOR:
Over the next four months,

Pradeep's team
continues to test

and develop the software.

♪ ♪

In May 2022,

a very special visitor arrives

to give the finished railway
a royal seal of approval--

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,

in one of her
final public appearances.

ANDY BYFORD:
I would like to thank
Her Majesty the Queen

for gracing us with
her presence here today.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The new railway is now known as

the Elizabeth Line.

A week later,

crowds gather to be
the first to travel

on the new
Elizabeth Line trains.

This is a bit of history
in the making, isn't it?
Exactly.

This is really a game-changer.

NARRATOR:
Over two million people
use the new line

in the first week,

helping to take the strain off
London's packed Tube lines.

MARK WILD:
It's been a real effort.

I'm so proud of
the whole team

that pulled together
to make this happen.

♪ ♪

MILLER:
I think in 100 years' time,

people will
look back at Crossrail

and they will see
what courage it took.

Future engineers,
future British citizens

will say,
"This is awesome.

"This is an amazing project

"that, that is for the benefit

of everyone in this region."

NARRATOR:
It's taken 13 years,

almost $25 billion,

and the determination
of 75,000 workers

to finally complete the largest

and one of the most ambitious
rail projects in the world.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ANNOUNCER:
This program is available
with PBS Passport

and on Amazon Prime Video.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪