8 January 2013 Last updated at 11:54

In pictures: Crossrail impact on London and South East

Images released by Crossrail show how the £15bn project is transforming London. Canary Wharf, pictured here, is one stop on the rail service which connects the capital with the South East.

The project is expected to increase London's rail-based transport capacity by 10%. Other stations include Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel and Stratford, which is close to the Olympic Park.

Five tunnels are being built including one at Limmo Peninsula, by Canning Town, which is the longest at about 8.3km (5 miles). Over 3km (2 miles) of tunnel have been built so far.

Crossrail stretches from Liverpool Street to Moorgate Station, with Finsbury Circus, pictured, sitting in the middle. Near Liverpool Street station, up to 4,000 skeletons from the 1600s to 1800s are thought to be interred at the infamous Bedlam burial ground, which stood on the site.

Crossrail says nearly 25m work hours of work have been spent on the project, with 7,000 people now working at over 40 sites, including Paddington which is undergoing a big transformation which includes a new Hammersmith and City line station. Pictured is the new 250m-long Crossrail Paddington station.

Crossrail is expected to open in 2018. The project has seen a £1bn transformation of Tottenham Court Road station which will help it cope with passenger numbers. Built over 100 years ago as two separate stations, it was not designed to cope with almost 150,000 passenger journeys that are made through the station each day.

Material excavated from the Crossrail tunnels is being used to create a 1,500-acre nature reserve at Wallasea Island in Essex which is the largest new wetland nature reserve to be built in Europe for 50 years.

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In pictures: Crossrail impact on London and South East

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