Dock to be drained as Crossrail enters 2010

Draining is expected to take place by the end of this month or in early February, and construction is expected to begin down the line at Tottenham Court Road early this year.

With a general election looming this year, the major transport scheme is likely to be used as a political football by all parties over the next few months. Despite the announcement of an agreement in October 2007, questions will be certainly asked about the funding for the scheme, which is shared between the government, businesses and future fare-payers.

Crossrail's chief executive Rob Holden and board chair Terry Morgan began the year by giving a delivery report to the London Assembly's Transport Committee yesterday morning. Committee chair Caroline Pidgeon told The Wharf last month that the future of the project itself "isn't up for discussion", but that the meeting would help the committee "monitor" the risks and key milestones in the years leading to its projected opening date in 2017.

Government and business representatives have stressed the importance of the London link to the capital's future, and Canary Wharf Group are among the key backers of the project. CWG is overseeing the delivery of the station in West India Dock, and is looking to add shops and a lattice-rooved green space to the levels above the station itself.

Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis joined London Mayor Boris Johnson and Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the official start of Crossrail construction in Canary Wharf on May 15, and all 294 Gilken tubes have now been installed. These will support the station itself, which will form part of a route linking Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, via the City, Woolwich and Tottenham Court Road.

The search is on for a company to tackle the tunnelling itself, which will begin in less than two years, while planning consent is being sought for a tunnelling academy in Newham.