Crossrail: Elizabeth Line
A Discussion on Lessons Learned
Course: APS1001H – Project Management (University of Toronto)
Photo: © 2022 Crossrail Ltd
, Crossrail: Elizabeth Line – A Discussion on Lessons Learned
Executive Summary
This paper presents a discussion on project management lessons learned from the Crossrail
Elizabeth Line Project. The project scope includes a 118-km railway and 42-km tunneling
construction with 10 new stations across London to Southeast England. The project commenced
in 2009 and is intended to reduce commuting time through the City of London increasing the
capacity of its public rail transportation system by 10%. Unfortunately, the project's total cost
exceeds the original target price by an additional £4 billion, furthermore, its planned completion
date was pushed behind by more than 3.5 years to an anticipated completion in June 2022.
Initially, the project successfully delivered the initial tunneling construction as planned.
However, the remaining deliverables were performed significantly behind schedule and over
budget for various reasons. To begin, the project management team did not develop an effective
communication system among critical stakeholders in the design stage and failed to provide a
well-structured training program for site labour. Moreover, risk management strategies were not
always aligned with the available data resulting in failure to anticipate and mitigate costly risk
events. Most importantly, anticipated schedule delays were not always reported on time,
hindering the ability to employ appropriate contingency plans to accelerate the project and
mitigate issues.
Overall, the lessons learned in this report describe a balance between well-executed project
management strategies and failed project management approaches. The intention of this report is
to provide insightful feedback and goal-oriented guidelines for any project management team
, Crossrail: Elizabeth Line – A Discussion on Lessons Learned
working on a similar large-scale infrastructure project.
A Discussion on Lessons Learned
Course: APS1001H – Project Management (University of Toronto)
Photo: © 2022 Crossrail Ltd
, Crossrail: Elizabeth Line – A Discussion on Lessons Learned
Executive Summary
This paper presents a discussion on project management lessons learned from the Crossrail
Elizabeth Line Project. The project scope includes a 118-km railway and 42-km tunneling
construction with 10 new stations across London to Southeast England. The project commenced
in 2009 and is intended to reduce commuting time through the City of London increasing the
capacity of its public rail transportation system by 10%. Unfortunately, the project's total cost
exceeds the original target price by an additional £4 billion, furthermore, its planned completion
date was pushed behind by more than 3.5 years to an anticipated completion in June 2022.
Initially, the project successfully delivered the initial tunneling construction as planned.
However, the remaining deliverables were performed significantly behind schedule and over
budget for various reasons. To begin, the project management team did not develop an effective
communication system among critical stakeholders in the design stage and failed to provide a
well-structured training program for site labour. Moreover, risk management strategies were not
always aligned with the available data resulting in failure to anticipate and mitigate costly risk
events. Most importantly, anticipated schedule delays were not always reported on time,
hindering the ability to employ appropriate contingency plans to accelerate the project and
mitigate issues.
Overall, the lessons learned in this report describe a balance between well-executed project
management strategies and failed project management approaches. The intention of this report is
to provide insightful feedback and goal-oriented guidelines for any project management team
, Crossrail: Elizabeth Line – A Discussion on Lessons Learned
working on a similar large-scale infrastructure project.
