Designs for eight London Crossrail stations unveiled

Designs for eight new London stations on the £16bn Crossrail route have been unveiled at a public exhibition.

Bond Street, Liverpool Street, Canary Wharf, Farringdon, Custom House and Tottenham Court Road will see spacious interiors with a "fresh modern twist".

Historic Paddington and Whitechapel stations will be modernised, but in keeping with their heritage.

Crossrail expects to run up to 24 trains an hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during peak times.

The stations have been designed to include step-free access and escalators, and will be interconnected with Tube and mainline train services.

Once completed after 2017 an estimated 200 million passengers are expected to travel on the 72-mile (116km) route every year.

The rail route will connect Maidenhead in Berkshire, with Shenfield in Essex passing through the West End and Canary Wharf, and will include a link to Heathrow Airport.

At the unveiling London Mayor Boris Johnson, said: "As Crossrail moves from the drawing board to reality we can see the breathtaking benefits it will bring to our city.

"When complete they will run east to west in a solid backbone of quality infrastructure and style."

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said: "London has a glorious railway design history that ranges from the Brunel-designed Paddington station, through Charles Holden's Tube stations of the 1920s and 1930s to the revival of St Pancras International.

"Crossrail intends to build on this design legacy and create cost-effective stations fit for the 21st Century while regenerating local communities."

Rob Holden, Crossrail's chief executive said: "A key element of all the new station designs is to help drive wider regeneration at a number of locations including Paddington, the West End, Farringdon and Whitechapel as well as improve public areas at street-level."