Thousands of Londoners joined “the best party in town” on Tuesday as the Elizabeth line finally opened to passengers.
There were extraordinary celebratory scenes at Paddington and Abbey Wood as hundreds of enthusiasts, the first of whom had arrived at midnight, rushed to board the first trains. The £20 billion line is the most significant addition to the capital’s public transport network for more than 50 years.
The first train left Abbey Wood station bang on time at 6.30am, followed three minutes later by a similarly packed eastbound service from Paddington.
Throughout the morning, vast numbers of passengers excitedly explored the line’s 10 new stations.
Boris Johnson said: “London already has the greatest transport system in the world, but today it gets another huge boost. The remarkable Elizabeth line will transform travel across the capital – connecting friends and families, supporting jobs and carving out new opportunities for growth. I want to thank the hard work of all the engineers, architects, apprentices and businesses that brought this purple line to life and will benefit all the people of the UK for generations to come.
“Our determination to get the job done — backed by £9 billion of Government investment — has paid off. Since its launch, this mammoth project has been a catalyst for economic activity and has created 55,000 jobs, and now it’s destined to change the core dynamics and shape of the city in the years ahead.”
On board the first train from Paddington were a beaming Mayor Sadiq Khan and London transport commissioner Andy Byford. As soon as it set off, Mr Khan exclaimed “phew!” and gave Mr Byford, who finally delivered Crossrail after it fell three-and-a-half years behind schedule and £4 billion over budget, a bear hug. Cupping his ear, Mr Khan told the Standard: “Do you know what sound that is? Success.”
He described the line as the “world’s best railway”. It brings 1.5 million people within 45 minutes of London, cuts journey times and caps many fares at Tube prices.
Mr Khan told the Standard he was now a “trainspotter” and said: “I had three hours’ sleep last night, I was so excited. The last time we had an expansion of our rails of this scale was literally the year before I was born. These come along once in a generation and it’s just fantastic. It’s beyond my wildest expectations to have the line opening with this much excitement.”
He added: “This has been one of the things keeping me up at night. It was really important to get this over the line.”
Vernon Kerswell, 33, was the first in the queue at Paddington. The drone designer, from South Wimbledon, turned up at midnight with a sleeping bag and camping chair. “It’s the best party in town this morning,” he said.
“The technology on the trains is just unprecedented. I’m going to go to Abbey Wood and come back for a full English breakfast.”
Mr Byford said: “At Paddington, a big roar went up when the barriers were taken away and the gates were pulled back and the Mayor and I walked into the station. That was fantastic. That is what this job is all about.
“People today were enraptured. We have got people from Germany, from Denmark, from Holland, from Las Vegas. It’s just amazing. There is so much international interest and people are wowed by what they see.”
Trains will initially run every five minutes under central London, taking just 29 minutes to shuttle between Paddington and Abbey Wood. The line will run from 6.30am to 11pm, six days a week.
Renamed in honour of the Queen, who performed the opening ceremony a week ago, the new line is of a significance not seen since the Victoria line opened in 1969.
It will add 10 per cent capacity to London’s public transport network and deliver an estimated £42 billion boost to the UK economy.
Last night 30 London landmarks, including Tower Bridge and the London Eye, were floodlit in the line’s purple insignia to mark the big day. This will be repeated tonight.
The delays in completing Crossrail were primarily due to the complexity of integrating 26 miles of new tunnels, in places 40m below ground, with the computerised signalling system and software used to operate the £1 billion fleet of 70 new nine-carriage trains.
An apparently faulty fire alarm at Paddington station forced the service to be part suspended this morning two hours after opening, but it soon resumed
The opening comes almost 13 years to the day since construction work began with the first piles sunk at Canary Wharf.
