Crossrail has awarded a contract to ensure the new central tunnel section will be compliant with European legislation concerning the interoperability of railway operations.

Crossrail will operate a high-frequency metro service of up to 24 trains per hour during the peak between Whitechapel and Paddington through new 21km tunnels under London connecting the Great Western Main Line into Paddington with the Great Eastern Main Line into Liverpool Street.

The new central section connects two existing European Trans European Network routes as defined by the EU Directive on Interoperability.

European legislation requires that any new railway infrastructure in the European Union, and to which the Directive applies, is constructed to common standards thereby promoting a single market by removing technical barriers to the supply of equipment and the running of trains between Member States.

Crossrail will be built in accordance with the EU Directive and brought into service under the UK Railway (Interoperability) Regulations 2011.

The regulations require that Crossrail’s central section is constructed and delivered in a way that complies to a series of common European technical specifications for interoperability. 

A Notified Body has to be appointed to verify that Crossrail is compliant with these specifications.

Lloyds Register has been selected to carry out this verification assessment for Crossrail’s central section - they will scrutinise the detailed design and construction of the new railway and develop the verification evidence to certify compliance with the regulations.