Elizabeth Line to finally open *

Previously called Crossrail, the Elizabeth Line will finally open on Tuesday 24 May.

As readers of Business Travel News are probably aware due to the machinations of the present Prime Minster, and his transport guru Dan Moylan (now The Lord Moylan) there is no station between Custom House (ExCeL) and Woolwich Arsenal, the other side of the river.  BTN covered ways of using the new railway to London City Airport 25 April COMMENT: TfL and London City Airport.

Transport for London (TfL) says the Elizabeth Line will transform travel across London and the South East by dramatically improving transport links, cutting journey times, providing additional capacity, and transforming accessibility with spacious new stations and walk-through trains. The Elizabeth Line will initially operate as three separate railways, with services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield connecting with the central tunnels from autumn this year.

The Elizabeth Line will operate 12 trains per hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood from Monday to Saturday 06:30 to 23:00. Work will continue in engineering hours and on Sundays to allow a series of testing and software updates in preparation for more intensive services from the autumn.

All services between Reading and Heathrow to Paddington and Shenfield to Liverpool Street, currently operating as TfL Rail, will be rebranded to the Elizabeth Line. Customers travelling between Reading or Heathrow into London will need to change at Paddington for services into the central section of the route, and customers from Shenfield into London will need to change at Liverpool Street.

The new railway will connect stations such as Paddington to Canary Wharf in only 17mins, transforming how Londoners and visitors navigate the capital. This journey currently takes more than 30mins to complete using the Tube.

Work is ongoing at Bond Street Elizabeth Line station, which means that it will not open with the other stations on 24 May.

Andy Byford, TfL's Commissioner, said: “I am delighted that we can now announce a date for the opening of the Elizabeth Line in May. We are using these final few weeks to continue to build up reliability on the railway and get the Elizabeth Line ready to welcome customers. The opening day is set to be a truly historic moment for the capital and the UK, and we look forward to showcasing a simply stunning addition to our network.”

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/improvements-and-projects/elizabeth-line

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Malcolm Ginsberg, United Kingdom

The idea of a people mover will probably not work but three courtesy buses will be a cheap and simple solution for those who choose not to walk.

Jason W, Shepperton, UK

Let’s get the Elizabeth Line railway station built at London City airport (airport code: LCY), on the site of the old Silvertown station. Then connect it to the airport & the DLR station at the airport with travalotors (horizontal escalators). It would help greatly the airport to achieve meeting its Enviromental/Green/Less Carbon emission Goals. For the information of: Mayor of London, TfL (Transport for London) & London City airport development team, managers & planners.