Transport chiefs have confirmed the opening date of London’s newest railway line. The Elizabeth line will stretch more than 60 miles.
The Crossrail will open on May 24, said transport chiefs.
The line will run from Reading and Heathrow in the west through central tunnels across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
Built by Crossrail Ltd, the railway will stop at 41 accessible stations – 10 newly built and 30 newly upgraded, according to Transport for London (TfL).
The line is expected to serve around 200 million people each year.
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According to Crossrail, the Elizabeth line will increase central London’s rail capacity by 10 percent, which will make it the largest single increase in the capital’s transport capacity in more than 70 years.
The line will be opening in phases, meaning that only one phase will open on May 24.
In this initial phase, which will be the biggest milestone, the line will be launching a service between Paddington and Abbey Wood.
Existing services from Reading to Heathrow to Paddington mainline, and from Liverpool Street mainline to Shenfield, will continue in their current stopping pattern.
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The next milestone will be in autumn this year, when services from Reading and Heathrow will operate through central London and access the new Elizabeth line central section stations to Abbey Wood.
Services from Shenfield at this time will also serve the new central London stations, running through to Paddington Elizabeth line station.
The final milestone will be no later than May 2023 when the final timetable will be in place, according to Crossrail.
The Elizabeth line stops include Custom House, Farringdon, Tottenham Court Road, Woolwich, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Woolwich, Abbey Wood and Canary Wharf.
The new Crossrail is finally opening after an almost four-year delay.
The central section of the line was due to open on December 9, 2018, as part of Westminster council’s follow-up to the decision to reject the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street.
When announcing the delay, Crossrail said the schedule had been revised to “complete the final infrastructure and extensive testing required”.
The line’s opening date was then moved to summer 2021, but this delay was partially blamed on the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since April 2022, the official known cost of the new line has topped the £18.6billion mark.
But the line is set to change commuters’ journeys, slashing route times from Abbey Wood in south-east London to Paddington by almost half.
However, passengers wishing to travel the length of the line will still need to change at Paddington or Liverpool Street, depending on their destination, until next year.
Although a special service will be in place for the Platinum Jubilee weekend, TfL said trains would not initially run on Sundays “to allow a series of testing and software updates”.
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