Transport for London has released details of the trains which will carry passengers on the £14.8bn Crossrail route, saying they will be "fully accessible" with free Wi-Fi access.

Services due to start in 2018 will run across London, extending as far west as Reading and as far east as Shenfield in Essex.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said the rolling stock "showcase the best of British design and engineering".

They are built by Bombardier in Derby.

Each train will provide space for 1,500 customers in nine carriages. At over 656ft (200m), they are over one and a half times longer than the longest Tube train.

Each carriage will have three wide doorways to enable people to get on and off quickly, air-conditioning, free Wi-Fi, and will provide customers with real-time travel information.

There will be four dedicated wheelchair spaces on each train, and all platforms and trains across the Crossrail network will have step-free access.

Tunnelling for the route began in 2012 and finished in June this year, with eight boring machines cutting their way through earth to create 26 miles (42km) of tunnels.

Crossrail's tunnels are made up of more than 200,000 concrete tunnel segments, with each weighing 3.4 tonnes.

Source: BBC News