Transport for London (TfL) has released a set of free audio guides for the 10 stations that make up the Elizabeth Line's central section.
They can be accessed via a QR code on a poster inside each station, with the guides covering each station's artwork, architecture, and other details.
Where to find the audio guides
Audio guides are available at the following Elizabeth Line stations: Abbey Wood, Bond Street, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel, and Woolwich.
Look out for the posters that have the headphone symbol.
Which Londoners are reading them?
The guides are read by locals of London with a history of living nearby. The Custom House Station guide is voiced by Mobo Award-winning rapper Guvna B, and the Paddington Station guide is voiced by Karen Jankel, a novelist and the daughter of Michael Bond, the creator of Paddington Bear.
“Since I was born two months before my father’s first book was published, Paddington has always been a very important part of my life, not just the bear but also the station which has great significance for our family,” said Jankel.
The Woolwich Station guide is narrated by British actor Scott Maslen. Whereas the customer service manager at the station and the narrator of the Whitechapel tour, Neil Dalton, has a guide that is also available in Bengali.
Visitors and residents of London will learn things that they may have overlooked or just taken for granted in the past.
Facts include that Tottenham Court Road Station is home to the Elizabeth Line’s only curved platform in the central section, the interior of Paddington Station is long enough to house the Leadenhall Building on its side, the building also known as ‘The Cheesegrater’, and Liverpool Street Station has the shortest escalator on the Elizabeth Line, at 18.5 metres long.
According to TFL, since the line's opening in May 2022, more than 100 million passenger trips have been taken, with about half of those using the central portion between Paddington and Abbey Wood.
On Sunday, May 21, TfL will introduce the final version of the Elizabeth Line timetable as planned.
