With only sixty-odd days to go until Crossrail opens, we can but peer in and see what we're missing.
Liverpool Street
This is the entrance from Liverpool Street - not the station but the actual street. It's what you'll see if you wander over to the glass wedge that's been there for a while and was finally unboxed last year. Just beyond the grille is the first set of escalators whirring down into the depths, watched over by a City of London coat of arms and some words saying how pleased they were to part-fund the station. Occasionally a member of purple staff turns up because this is a jolly useful back entrance, and another member of purple staff tugs open the gate and in they go and the escalator briefly wakes from its low-energy setting. Crossrail's now so late that the office block alongside where they had their offices has been almost entirely dismantled (and will be reborn as fresh offices four storeys higher).
This is the entrance from within the existing Underground station. It bears off from the top of the Central line escalators through a line of solid metal doors with tiny windows that gives the whole thing the look of an airlock. The passageway beyond is white and featureless, because Crossrail's art project doesn't stretch this far, and very broad because it's going to see a lot of footfall. It also slopes down at a minimal gradient, but just enough for health and safety to have required superfluous handrails to be fitted to either side. The top of a key set of escalators is visible through another metal gate, because Crossrail is nothing if not topologically flexible, and off to the right is what looks like yet another passage. Londoners, we have so much to explore.
Farringdon
This is the entrance from the Thameslink side of the station. Arrive on the northbound platform and you can reach this point on the level, whereas if you come from the southbound or from the tube it's an up-and-over job before descending these escalators. They were set in motion some time back for the benefit of those aiming for Luton Airport or Stevenage, and feel vastly over-engineered for the trickle that's currently passing. It all looks damned impressive though. The roof funnels down with diagonal concrete ridges resembling the facets of a diamond, while the next set of escalators can be seen behind glass emblazoned with additional diamante artwork. Another metal gate blocks the way for now, but that hasn't stopped TfL's commercial arm from firing up the screen on the other side with a loop of adverts on which Ed Sheeran appears prominently. Don't let him scare you away.
This is the entrance from Barbican tube station and it's a massive contrast. The only way in is from the far end of the westbound platform, part-hidden inside an arch where Thameslink trains once ran. The sign above the double doors just says 'Lift' because that's the sole connection, and even then only down to the purple concourse rather than up to the satellite ticket hall. It's a really half-hearted interchange, and if you ever make the mistake of getting off the back of an eastbound train will require a mega-detour down, over and all the way back. Should the tube map gain an interchange blob at Barbican once Crossrail opens, think twice before alighting here.
Tottenham Court Road
This is the entrance from the main ticket hall on the corner with Oxford Street. It's immediately adjacent to the escalators down to the Northern line and remains sealed off behind a slidy yellow barrier. The amazing thing about this entrance is that the sign pointing down still clearly says 'Crossrail' because it was installed before Boris Johnson named the line after the Queen in February 2016. It must therefore have been in situ for at least six years, way back when December 2018 was still the intended opening date, and so far we've been waiting an additional 170 weeks. I like to think TfL are trolling us with the unlit Crossrail signage and will magically replace it with something regal in nine weeks' time, but let's wait and see.
Bond Street
Haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha ha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha haha ha haha ha ha ha haha ha haha haha haha ha haha ha ha haha ha haha ha ha ha ha no.
Paddington
This is the Eastbourne Terrace entrance alongside platform 1 (where the taxis used to wait). The mainline station's newest access point is already proving popular, not least with long distance travellers keen to pop out for a smoke. Currently you can only connect to the street because the two Crossrail portals are closed, but on Sunday they opened briefly for the last of the public Trial Operations safety exercises. Almost 2000 volunteers turned up, including some really excited eight year-olds, and got to test whether staff could cope with rush-hour level crowds on the platform. But nobody else is due to go down and ride the trains until the gates open properly in two months' time, while managers focus on assurance and software engineers make yet more critical final tweaks to signalling.
It's nine years ago today since Siemens won the contract to deliver Crossrail's communications and control systems, and mostly their fault that all we can do for now is peer in.
