Crossrail project leads to multimillion East Midlands investment

Large sections of some of the stations were built in the East Midlands

The London Crossrail project has led to millions of pounds' worth of investment in the East Midlands, transport leaders have said.

The £18.8bn Elizabeth Line, known as Crossrail, will link Reading and Essex via central London, with the first section due to open on 24 May.

The project has seen work for firms in Derby and Nottinghamshire.

Transport groups welcomed the investment but said regional provision remained lower than London.

The delayed and over-budget project is the most significant addition to London's transport network for several years.

Key parts of the stations were made at Explore's Laing O'Rourke Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction (CEMC) in Worksop.

The components were taken to London for assembly

Large sections of some of the new stations - including Custom House, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf - were built off-site at CEMC, then transported for on-site assembly in the capital.

 Peter Lyons, business unit leader for Explore Manufacturing and Expanded Limited, said: "Since the opening of our Explore Manufacturing facility, we have been extremely fortunate to supply product to a number of the Elizabeth line stations including Custom House, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf.

"It will be an incredibly proud moment for all of our employees to... see the fruits of their labour come to life."

The Elizabeth line will open nearly three-and-a-half years late

Meanwhile, Alstom, in Derby, designed, built, manufactured and tested the trains for the line, with the contract including the build of the Elizabeth line depot at Old Oak Common and responsibility for ongoing train maintenance.

Andrew Pritchard, the principle officer for Transport for the East Midlands, a partnership of the region's 10 local transport authorities, said: "The East Midlands, in particular around Derby, is the centre of the UK, Europe and - possibly - the world's rail industry.

"We have this fantastic cluster of businesses that cover all aspects of rail manufacture.

"But we lag a long way behind London in terms of investment in transport and we are also below the UK average. The level of transport spend in the East Midlands is actually 60% of the UK average and way below London and we do need to turn that around."

Elaine Clark, chief executive of the Rail Forum, an independent industry association based in Derby, said: "This has been great for our local economy.

"The investment has obviously been significant and the project has taken a number of years to come to fruition so it will be good to see it finally open.

"In terms of transport provision in the region, clearly there are investments planned albeit not as much as we would all have liked with the curtailing of HS2."

Andy Byford, London's transport commissioner, said: "During construction the project has supported thousands of jobs across the country."

Crossrail trains have been extensively tested

East Midlands Chamber chief executive, Scott Knowles, said: "The East Midlands is renowned for being at the very forefront of UK manufacturing and rail has long been one of its most prominent sectors.

"It's always great to see our region's expertise playing a vital role in enabling developments elsewhere.

"Working on flagship schemes such as Crossrail helps to develop a skills base that can hopefully now be harnessed for future infrastructure projects, including those that directly benefit people in our region, such as a rail interchange development near East Midlands Airport and the Midland Main Line electrification."