The Crossrail project has celebrated its biggest milestone so far as one of its huge 1,000 tonne tunnelling machines has broken through into the new Canary Wharf station box.

At an event, Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Crossrail Chief Executive Andrew Wolstenholme and selected guests visited the new Canary Wharf station to view tunnelling machine Elizabeth and the huge progress made on the Crossrail project so far.

Crossrail's eastern tunnelling machines, named Elizabeth and Victoria, were launched from the Limmo site near Canning Town towards the end of last year to create 8.3km (5.16 miles) of tunnels from east London to Farringdon – Crossrail’s longest tunnel section. A marathon-equivalent 26 mile (42km) section of tunnels beneath central London will be built in total for Crossrail.

Over the past 6 months, both machines have been working round the clock to create the first section of new tunnels beneath the River Lea and east London towards the new Canary Wharf Crossrail station. Tunnelling machine Elizabeth was the first to arrive and has now broken through into the huge Canary Wharf station box 28 metres underground – view the breakthrough moment here.

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Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin said: "This Government knows that by investing in transport projects like Crossrail we are investing in Britain. Over the past few years Crossrail has let contracts worth more than £6bn, more than half going to small and medium-sized businesses, which are supporting jobs across the country. Furthermore, through innovative schemes like the Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy, Crossrail is providing thousands of people with new skills that will not only help transform the capital’s transport network but will allow this country to compete on a global stage for years to come."

Tunnelling machine Elizabeth will now undergo maintenance inside the Canary Wharf station box before resuming tunnelling towards central London. Sister machine Victoria is due to breakthrough into the station in the next few weeks.

Crossrail's construction commenced on 15 May 2009 with the start of work on Canary Wharf station, with tunnelling work starting in May 2012. The western tunnelling machines Phyllis and Ada have now reached Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street respectively. In south-east London, tunnelling machine Sophia has reached the Woolwich station box with sister machine Mary now underway from Plumstead.

Crossrail is moving into the peak of construction between now and 2015. (CD/IT)