The long-awaited Elizabeth line finally opens on Tuesday (23 May), cutting journey times for east-west travel across London.
The new £18.9 billion railway, which should have been completed in December 2018, stretches from Reading and Heathrow Airport in west London to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex. The line is named in honour of the Queen, who visited Paddington station last week to celebrate its eventual completion.
Services will begin in new tunnels under the centre of the city at 6.30am and large numbers of transport enthusiasts are expected to be on the first departures. It will begin operating in three separate sections, which are expected to be integrated in the autumn.
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The new central section, built by the Crossrail project, runs through tunnels from Paddington in west London to Abbey Wood. It will initially be closed on Sundays – apart from during the Platinum Jubilee weekend – to allow further testing and software updates to take place.
Crossrail suffered numerous issues including construction difficulties and complications installing signalling systems. It was due to be completed in December 2018 and was set a budget of £14.8 billion in 2010. The final total cost has been estimated at £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the government.
The line was first conceived of in the 1980s, cancelled in the 1990s and approved in the 2000s. Work started in 2009 and 10,000 workers have been employed on the 13-year project, reports the BBC.
What is the new Elizabeth line route?
The service will run from Reading and Heathrow Airport in west London, to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south east London, via the centre of the capital. The line, which is more than 100km long, will serve 41 stations including 10 new Elizabeth line stations in central London.
They will be lighter, brighter and larger spaces than the vast majority of London Underground stations. The new Elizabeth carriages will be much more comfortable, featuring walk-through carriages, wi-fi, travel information screens and air-conditioning.
Many journeys within London will be quicker by the Elizabeth line than by Tube. According to travel app Citymapper, platform-to-platform journeys between Liverpool Street and Paddington will be cut from 18 minutes to 10 minutes.
Elizabeth line trains will stop at local stations, so journeys will be slower compared with the fastest mainline services between locations such as Reading and Paddington, or Shenfield and Liverpool Street. But once the three sections are integrated, many passengers will benefit by not having to change between trains and Tube services.
A full timetable of up to 24 trains per hour is scheduled to be introduced in May next year. Fare prices will be the same as current Tube ticket prices.
