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Daily Mirror

National

Tom Davidson

Crossrail opens: £19bn Elizabeth Line finally takes first passengers almost 4 years late

Elizabeth Line Crossrail Elizabeth (Facility) London TfL

London's £19bn Crossrail is finally open for passengers - some 12 years after work started and decades after the project was first mooted.

The Elizabeth Line was officially opened by the Queen last week but only took passengers from 6.30am today.

The long-awaited railway is expected to carry 200 million people a year and will increase London's rail capacity by 10%, according to Transport for London (TfL).

There were queues outside some stations this morning before the first passengers were allowed to board.

However, the line will not operate direct end-to-end services at first, as it is being opened in phases. Also, the new station at Bond Street won’t open until later this year.

Public transport fans throng at Paddington for the opportunity to ride on the very first public Elizabeth Line train (Martyn Wheatley / i-Images)

Construction started more than 12 years ago on Europe's biggest infrastructure project at the time. In 2010, the project was budgeted at £14.8billion and was set to open in December 2018.

Delayed by issues with safety testing and signalling systems, even before the onset of the pandemic, Crossrail will open three and a half years late and more than £4billion over budget for a total cost of £18.8bn.

Crossrail has been long-awaited by Londoners (Martyn Wheatley / i-Images)

Opening today at Paddington Station (Jeremy Selwyn)

Boris Johnson said: "As the Elizabeth line opens to the public, we know it's not just Londoners that will reap the rewards, but the whole country - because better transport grows the economy, levels up opportunity and creates jobs."

TfL Commissioner Andy Byford said the opening day was set to be a truly historic moment for the capital and the country.

"We look forward to showcasing a simply stunning addition to our network," he said earlier this month.

The Elizabeth Line has been long awaited (Martyn Wheatley / i-Images)

Initially 12 trains per hour will run in each direction through the middle section of the line, which includes 21 kilometres (13 miles) of tunnel, linking Paddington in the west to Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood in the east.

The first services on Tuesday will depart at 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) from Paddington and Abbey Wood.

Later in the year, the central section will be connected to branches in the west and the east, allowing services to nearly double, TfL has said.

The Queen opening the line last week - although it only started taking passengers today (PA)

The line will run through central London, but it will also connect popular commuter towns to the east and west of London as it runs through Maidenhead, Slough, Ilford and Brentwood.

Once fully operational, the Elizabeth line will stop at a total of 41 accessible stations and 10 of these are brand new stations.

Crossrail estimates that the line will serve around 200 million people every year.

The 41 stops include: