Stretching away into the distance, row upon row of Crossrail's high-tech trains stand idle in a depot.
They are part of a £1billion fleet that should by now have been carrying more than half a million passengers a day on the new Elizabeth line from Reading, under central London, and out to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex.
Instead, more than 50 of the new trains are sitting idle, with most of them stored at a new multi-million-pound depot in Old Oak Common in north-west London.
The trains are pictured at a new multi-million-pound depot in Old Oak Common in north-west London. A senior source associated with Crossrail told the BBC the 'best-case scenario' would be an opening in spring 2020, while the 'worst case' is spring 2021
Yesterday it emerged that they could be there for a great deal longer – possibly until spring 2021.
Just 15 of 70 new trains are being used for existing, limited, Crossrail services. More are parked up at other depots across the country, including Ilford in Essex and Derby.
The latest delay comes as engineers struggle to link up the trains' software with the networks' signalling systems.
Labour MP Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, which has published a scathing report on the project, said: 'The image of brand new trains sitting there doing nothing will be deeply frustrating for passengers crammed into trains like cattle.'
Crossrail bought 70 Bombardier Class 345 trains for more than £1billion. At 200 metres long, they have space for 1,500 passengers in their nine, interconnected carriages. They have air conditioning, wi-fi and are said to be 30 per cent more efficient
Caroline Pidgeon, chairman of the London Assembly transport committee, said: 'To the average passenger forced to travel on crammed trains looking at a line of unused trains will be painful. It's insulting.
'Crossrail was seen as a flagship project for
