Crossrail will operate 57 trains every day with the remainder left in reserve. The tender documents states that each train must be 205m in length, have capacity for 1500 passengers, include air conditioning systems and inter-connecting walk-through carriages. The trains will have a maximum speed of 145km/h, include energy saving features such as regenerative braking, and will have an upper weight limit of 350 tonnes to reduce track wear and tear. Under the terms of the contract a new high-capacity maintenance depot for the new trains will also be constructed at Old Oak Common.
Bids for the estimated £1bn contract should be submitted by the summer. The procurement process is divided into two phases with bidders initially requested to provide technical proposals and their approach to securing the finance required to complete the project. At this point a shortlist of bidders will be invited to participate in the second round which will focus on the bidders providing fully-funded proposals. The contract will be awarded in spring 2014.
Crossrail, which will run east from Maidenhead and Heathrow Airport through new 21km twin-bore tunnels under Central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood, is projected to serve 1.5 million passengers and will be completed in 2018. However, the new trains will be integrated onto the existing Great Eastern Mainline and existing network from May 2017 before the central tunnelled section through London is complete.