FOOTAGE has emerged of a massive $26 billion rail project being tested underneath the streets of London and it has unearthed some incredible secrets along the way.

The Crossrail project, currently the largest infrastructure venture in Europe, involves the construction of a new train line stretching more than 100km from the city’s west to east.

It’s hoped the new Elizabeth line will transform travel in a city that’s bursting at the seams, with predictions that 200 million passengers will use the new services annually.

The project includes the creation of 10 new stations and the refurbishment of 30 existing stations. The new line will stretch between Reading and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood, stopping at 41 stations along the way including the transportation hubs of Paddington and Liverpool Street.

The first services are due to begin at the end of the year.

The new footage shows the first test trains riding through an extensive network of new tunnels between Abbey Wood and Canary Wharf, using a new automatic control system.

Mark Wild, the managing director of London Underground and the Elizabeth line, said the project was on track and would be of great benefit to passengers.

“With just seven months to go until the opening of the Elizabeth line, which will transform travel across the city, it’s great to see testing ramping up beneath the streets of London,” Mr Wild said.

“The brand new trains that will provide better, quicker and more comfortable journeys for hundreds of thousands of people each day are now running through the tunnels at speeds of up to 60m/h (96km/h).

“Much more hard work is still to be done on completing stations, testing signalling and training staff. This is now underway to ensure that people can enjoy the Elizabeth line for the first time in December.”

REWRITING HISTORY

During the construction effort, tens of thousands of artefacts and items spanning 55 million years were unearthed.

It turned into the UK’s largest archaeology program, with 200 experts flocking to the area to excavate 40 sites between 2009 and 2016.

Roman skulls, victims of the Great Plague, and Mesolithic stone tools were among the items found, painting an extraordinarily detailed picture of London’s development and the lives of people who lived and worked there.

Crossrail’s chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme said the findings had rewritten history.

“The Crossrail project has given archaeologists a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study historically significant parts of London,” he said.

“We’ve uncovered tens of thousands of artefacts and items spanning 55 million years and pieced them together to tell the story of this vibrant city and the people who have lived and worked here for 8000 years.”

FAST FACTS

• The Elizabeth line will stretch more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west through central tunnels across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

• The Elizabeth line will serve 41 stations including 30 upgraded stations and 10 new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich and Abbey Wood.

• 15 trains per hour will run through the new tunnels, increasing to 24 trains per hour through the central section by May 2019.

• It will increase rail capacity in central London by 10 per cent, reduce congestion on the London Underground, and an extra 1.5 million people will be within 45 minutes commuting distance of London’s key employment districts.

• More than 100 million working hours have been completed on the Crossrail project so far.

For just over three years, eight giant tunnel boring machines burrowed below the streets of London to construct 42km of new rail tunnels.

• More than 200,000 tunnel segments were used to line the 42km of tunnels.