The first trainload of excavated material from Crossrail’s tunnels has left west London and been delivered to Northfleet in Kent.

The first 13 wagon train left Crossrail’s Westbourne Park site for Northfleet after it was loaded with 492 tonnes of earth. A further two trains have departed this week.

Over the next six weeks, two trains a week will run a return journey between Crossrail’s tunnel entrance near Paddington and Northfleet. Later in the summer the trains will increase in size to 27 wagons and run three times a day. At the peak of tunnelling up to five freight trains a day will operate from Westbourne Park carrying a total of 7,000 tonnes of earth.

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From Northfleet, the material will be transferred by ship to regeneration sites, including a new RSPB nature reserve at Wallasea Island, Essex. The first shipload of excavated material will be delivered to Wallasea Island in the summer.

More than 1 million tonnes of earth will be excavated during the tunnelling construction of Crossrail’s 6.4 km western tunnels between Royal Oak Portal and Farringdon station. Transporting excavated material from our western tunnels via train and boat has removed at least 50,000 lorry journeys from central London.

Andy Alder, Crossrail’s Western Tunnels Project Manager said: "At the peak, the tunnelling machines constructing the western tunnels will extract 7,000 tonnes of excavated material a day from underneath the streets of London. This excavated material will be used help create a RSPB nature reserve at Wallasea Island that will be enjoyed for generations to come."

Crossrail will excavate about 6 million tonnes of material during the construction of stations and its 21km of twin-bore tunnel. Close to 100% of the excavated material is expected to be clean, uncontaminated and reusable elsewhere.

(CD)