The halfway point for Crossrail's tunnelling project has been met as one of the drilling machines connects to Woolwich box.

This machine will now drill a tunnel under the Thames, with another machine en route to North Woolwich. These two machines have already extracted 200,000 tonnes of material constructing a 1.5 mile long tunnel.

Gus Scott, project manager for Crossrail's Thames Tunnel, said: "It's great to know that we're half way through our tunnelling in southeast London. [The machines] have done a fantastic job so far, between them constructing a mile and a half of brand new tunnels from Plumstead to Woolwich."

These machines are different to others used in the construction of Crossrail, as they deal with the different, wet conditions found underneath south London.

Aside from digging out the tunnels, these machines also install concrete rings that line the inside of the tunnel.

Crossrail is scheduled to commence in 2018, increasing London's rail capacity by ten per cent. It also aims to decrease the time of journeys. Commutes between Abbey Wood and Bond Street, for instance, will be 15 minutes quicker at least. Services to Heathrow will be around 40 minutes quicker.