Crossrail latest in pictures: Three miles of platform and station tunnels created under central London and Docklands

Construction of new stations reaches halfway stage - with four years to go before 24 trains an hour pass through each way at peak times

The mighty ticket hall opens up at Hanover Square (Crossrail)

Take heart those of you crammed into London's Tube carriages, the gallery below is proof that some relief is on the way.

The images show that construction work on Crossrail's new stations in central London and Docklands is now at the halfway stage. Massive caverns will become ticket halls and platforms serving tens of thousands of passengers every day.

Crossrail says its services will increase the capital's rail capacity by 10 per cent. It will have 40 stations and run more than 100km (62 miles) from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21 km (13 miles) tunnels below central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

It claims that it will bring another 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central London - with stations in central London served hourly by 24 trains each way at peak times from 2018.

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail's chief executive, said: “Most people have no idea that more than 30 metres below their feet a warren of new station tunnels is being excavated across central London. These striking images offer a glimpse of Crossrail’s new stations that from 2018 will serve tens of thousands of passengers every day.”

A statement released today says: "Five of Crossrail’s central London stations are being created using a well established technique known as ‘Sprayed Concrete Lining’ to create new station tunnels – Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel. The technique involves spraying a quick setting form of concrete onto freshly excavated ground to seal the new tunnels.

"Three further stations – Paddington, Canary Wharf and Woolwich – are ‘box’ stations. At these sites, the entire outline of the station is excavated and then created with concrete. The station is then constructed within the ‘box’. "

The most advanced of the stations is Canary Wharf, where the process of fitting it out with platforms and escalators has begun already.