Gallery 128: Canary Wharf Crossrail launch

Pictures from May 2009      © Transport Briefing/Crossrail

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown launched the construction of London's first new major railway in a generation at an event for business leaders and the press at The East Wintergarden in the heart of London's Canary Wharf on 15 May 2009.

The PM, rail minister Lord Adonis and Mayor of London Boris Johnson inspected a model of the new Canary Wharf Crossrail station before speaking to the assembled throng. Gordon Brown described the start of piling work at the station as a "defining moment".

Other speakers included Crossrail chief executive Rob Holden who said the project had reached a stage where it could no longer be "terminated" and Canary Wharf Group chief executive George Iacobescu.

Following the speeches two London buses ferried guests to North Dock to witness the first pile for the new station being sunk. The Mayor and Lord Adonis pressed a red button to sink the first pile. Office workers came out to watch the event around the dock.