There will be a chance to go behind the scenes at a number of Crossrail building sites during the 6th-7th March, as part of the construction industry’s Open Doors event.

Open Doors is for the industry to show off why construction is a good career choice for younglings, but is also a great chance for curious bystanders to learn a bit about the strange world of muck and hard-hats that is scattered around the city.

To book tickets, keep an eye on Crossrail’s EventBrite page.

Although bookings aren’t being taken yet, they have announced which sites will be open:

Illford Yard

Ilford Yard will be a vital part of the Crossrail route, providing tracks to store trains overnight, and to carry out train maintenance. It is a complex project carried out in a live railway depot site, taking into account other railway companies that share the site during construction.

Liverpool Street

At the eastern end of the Crossrail station, a new Crossrail ticket hall will be constructed beneath Liverpool Street close to the Broadgate development. The new ticket hall will provide step-free access from street level to the new Crossrail platforms. Nearby, a 40m-deep box structure will be located on Blomfield Street to accommodate ventilation, electrical, mechanical and systems equipment. You will be able to see both of these sites on this event.

At the western end, a further new ticket hall will be built by developing the existing Moorgate station ticket hall. The development in which this is housed also contains a 33m-deep draught relief shaft, which has already been built in its lower basement to aid the Crossrail development.

Custom House

Custom House will be a vital part of the Crossrail route, welcoming regional and international visitors to London’s largest conference centre ExCeL, and creating a transport interchange with DLR and local buses, providing further benefits such as enabling reduced journey times to ExCeL and London City airport for people coming from the West and reduced journey times to central London for those in the East.

Limmo Peninsula

Limmo Peninsula is one of our busiest worksites, including two shafts (one temporary) which service two Tunnel Boring Machines, a wharf to unload concrete segments used to create the Crossrail tunnels, and a wharf to load the earth dug from the tunnels onto barges for transport out of London.

Pudding Mill Lane

Pudding Mill Lane will be a vital part of the Crossrail route, providing a portal for 12 trains per hour to enter and 12 trains per hour to exit the central tunnel section, connecting Crossrail’s Central London stations with Stratford and beyond. Pudding Mill Lane will also house part of the electrical infrastructure needed to serve the 42km of electrified railway. It is a complex project which has involved building a replacement DLR station fit for development in the area, and future development in the Olympic Park.

Tottenham Court Road

Alongside the upgrade of the existing tube station, Crossrail is building a new station the length of three football pitches four storeys underground. A new street level ticket hall will be constructed at Dean Street, with the station box continuing five levels below ground at a depth of around 25m, providing access to the new Crossrail platforms.

Whitechapel

Whitechapel Station will provide a vital interchange between Crossrail, London Overground services and the London Underground. At peak times there will be 24 Crossrail trains per hour in each direction – in addition to the existing London Underground and London Overground services. This will not only ease overcrowding on the existing services but also support the economic growth in the surrounding area.

There are also a host of other building sites that still have places available to visit – details here.