Public opening of the Elizabeth line

A happy Dan on the second Elizabeth line train
from Paddington to Abbey Wood

Earlier this morning I became one of the first passengers to travel on the first Elizabeth line public service from Paddington to Abbey Wood. After decades of planning, £19 billion spent and numerous delays, the Elizabeth line opened to the public on Tuesday 24 May 2022. For now the Elizabeth line will operate in three sections with the 6:33 from Paddington being the first public service to use the new tunnels in the 'core' section of the railway. 

The core section under London

Platform edge doors at Liverpool Street 

The core section of the Elizabeth line, or Crossrail as it was named during its planning and development phases, runs from Paddington out to Abbey Wood. This section is compiled of ten new stations with nine opening today, Bond Street will open at a later date. Eight of these new stations feature underground platforms and feature platform edge doors as seen on the Jubilee line from Westminster to North Greenwich. Custom House and Abbey Wood stations are above ground and therefore do not feature this technology. 

A full service will not be available immediately. From today services will run Monday to Saturday from 6:30am to about 11:30pm with trains every 5 minutes. There will be no Sunday services to begin, however as Sunday 5 June is expected to a busy day in London due to the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations an Elizabeth line service will run. 

What about TfL Rail? Can I travel from Reading to Shenfield yet?

New roundel at Paddington

The last TfL Rail service called at Shenfield at 01:38 this morning. TfL Rail is the name of the railways from Shenfield to Liverpool Street since 2015, Heathrow to Paddington since 2018 and Paddington to Paddington since 2019 that today have become part of the Elizabeth line. Initially the Elizabeth line will run in three phases. The core section from Paddington to Abbey Wood will be joined by sections from Paddington out to Reading/Heathrow and Liverpool Street to Shenfield. When the Elizabeth line opens fully, which is expected to be in May 2023, you will be able to take a train from Reading all the way to Shenfield. 

For the time being services from Shenfield will terminate at Liverpool Street at the high level platforms. Passengers will then have to make their way to the new underground platforms to board the Elizabeth line in the core section. Similarly, services from Reading and Heathrow will terminate at Paddington for the time being. These services will also terminate at the high level platforms and passengers will access the Elizabeth line core from the new underground platforms. It is expected that in May 2023 all Elizabeth services will utilise the new underground platforms. Out East after Stratford the trains will use a new tunnel to then travel to Whitechapel and then Liverpool Street. 

The trains

Class 345

Trains on the Elizabeth line may appear familiar as they have been in service in London since 2017. The Elizabeth line is using Class 345s built by Bombardier. These trains entered service on the TfL Rail line from Shenfield to Liverpool Street and with the trains being rolled out to the other sections of TfL Rail. The trains feature free WiFi (although this was not working this morning), air-conditioning, capacity for 1,500 passengers (including 450 seats) and are 205m in length. For comparison the Northern and Piccadilly line trains are 108m in length and Central and Victoria line trains are 113m in length. Due to the length of the trains and therefore the platforms, at Liverpool Street station there is now an interchange between Moorgate and Liverpool Street. 

But the Queen opened the Elizabeth line last week?

It is very common for new railways to be ceremonially opened prior to public services. When the London Underground opened with the Metropolitan Railway between Paddington to Farringdon in 1863, the ceremonial opening took place on 9 January with a banquet for 600 people and the railway was opened to the public a day later on 10 January. Similarly Prince Charles opened the Jubilee line on 30 April 1979 with services opening to the public on 1 May 1979. Queen Elizabeth II opened the Elizabeth line on Tuesday 17 May 2022 by reveling a plaque that reads "ELIZABETH LINE officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on Tuesday 17 May 2022 during Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee".  Queen Elizabeth II was joined by Prince Edward, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. 

What is Crossrail then?

Elizabeth line is here

Crossrail was the name given to the project during its planning and development phases, and the company that was owned by Transport for London that carried out the construction of the project. The then Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced in 2016 that the railway would be opened as the Elizabeth line as Queen Elizabeth II "should be honoured with a living tribute that will last for centuries." The name has always been controversial, mainly because the railway is not part of the London Underground and the use of 'line' heavily implies similarities between tube lines such as the Victoria line or Circle line. Although the Elizabeth line connects with London Underground services it will operate as a separate railway similar to the DLR, London Overground or Thameslink. 

Will the Elizabeth line be on the Tube Map?

Elizabeth line map on a class 345

Yes the Elizabeth line is now on the Tube Map, however it is looking very congested now. The Tube Map now shows all the London Underground lines, London Overground services*, DLR, London Trams, London Cable Car, Thameslink and the Elizabeth line. The latest tube map controversially features sponsorship by Ikea with the locations of five stores marked on the map. Interestingly the latest map also features the construction of the expansion of the Gospel Oak to Barking Line (GOBLIN) to Barking Riverside stating "Barking Riverside Opening Soon". 

*The Tube Map infamously does not include London Overground services to Battersea Park station due to the stations limited number of London Overground services. 

How much does it cost to travel on the Elizabeth line?

This is a slightly complicated answer with a few anomalies. The fares have been explained in detail on Oyster Fares Central and the best place to find an accurate fare is on TfL's single fare finder. Passengers can use contactless or mobile payments as well as Oyster card. Oyster cards cannot be used in Shenfield or at Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, Taplow, Burnham, Slough, Langley and Iver. 

Will Crossrail be remembered for being delayed and over budget?

Canary Wharf

Only time will tell how "Europe's largest construction project" will be remembered. The Elizabeth line is opening over three years behind schedule and at least £4bn over budget. Whilst there will be time for these questions, today is a huge day for transport in London and should rightfully be celebrated. To the 10,000 people who constructed the railway and to the decades of planning that was involved, Thank You! 

The railway is expected to have increased London's rail capacity by 10%. With the need to encourage more sustainable transport journeys this project should not be ignored. Time will tell how rail passengers use the Elizabeth line. I suspect that the term Crossrail will be remembered negatively, however how many remember that the Jubilee line opened two years late and over budget? 

What next?

As stated the need for sustainable transport options in London is vital. TfL are currently considering the expansion of the Bakerloo line from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, also connecting with New Cross Gate station and opening two new stations at Burges Park and Old Kent Road. The new tube for London trains are expected to enter service on the Piccadilly line in 2025 with options for the new trains to also replace the current stock on the Bakerloo, Central and Waterloo & City lines in the future. 

Although Crossrail officially opens to the public today, there have been long established plans for a Crossrail 2. The core of this railway is expected to be from Wimbledon to Dalston with stations at King's Road Chelsea, joining the Elizabeth line at Tottenham Court Road and a mega interchange at 'Euston St Pancras'. Financing of the project is yet to confirmed, yet alone a construction plan. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on the eve of the opening of the Elizabeth line "I think the real thing for us now is to think about things like Crossrail 2 - the old Hackney/Chelsea line - that is going to be transformative again". 

Abbey Wood

I am looking forward to getting out on the Elizabeth line soon and really exploring the new stations. Today it was great to finally experience the line from Paddington out to Abbey Wood and then travel back to Liverpool Street to then go to work. 

"Simply stunning" - Visiting the Forth Bridges

My first blog post of 2022 is a reflection of somewhere I visited last year. During 2021 I visited Scotland more times than I have previously, and one place (or piece of architecture) has stood out. The Forth Bridge. The only way I can describe it is simply stunning. 

The Forth Bridge crosses the Firth of Forth providing a rail link with Edinburgh and Fife, and further north into Scotland. Before the bridge, the main method of transport to cross the Forth was ferries. Tunnels were considered as a crossing option as early as 1806, however due to the popularity of rail, passengers would use trains to travel to the Forth, board a ferry and then use another train to continue their journey. By 1863 the railway companies launched a project to construct a bridge to cross the Forth. 

Construction of the bridge started in 1882 and was completed by the end of the decade, with bridge officially opened on 4 March 1890 by the Duke of Rothesay who would later become King Edward VII in 1901. 73 people lost their lives constructing the bridge and there are memorials on both sides of the bridge to those who lost. The memorials are cast bronze and were unveiled in 2012 by the First Minister of Scotland at the time, Alex Salmond. There is also a memorial by outside a gift shop in Queensferry that was designed and created by Hamish Gilchrist of Edinburgh Telford College in 2007.

Since the construction of the rail bridge two more bridges have been constructed to cross the Forth. The Forth Road Bridge opened in 1964 and at the time was the longest suspension bridge in the world outside of the United States. Structural issues discovered in 2004 and increasing vehicle figures of over 65,000 a day meant a second road bridge was required. The Queensferry Crossing opened in 2017 to carry the M90 motorway. Both bridges were opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 4 September, exactly 53 years apart. The 1964 Forth Road Bridge is still in operation for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. The three bridges crossing the Forth show the best of architecture from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

Maintaining the Forth Bridge has an interesting history. "Painting the Forth Bridge" is local term to describe a never ending task as it was believed that it took so long to paint the bridge that it required a repaint as soon as the previous paint was finished. In 2011 the bridge was repainted in a coating designed to last 25 years, thus bringing to the end the need and belief that the bridge required constant painting. 

The three bridges are well worth a visit, and North Queensferry and Queensferry are very charming places to visit. To celebrate the centenary of the bridge in 1990, a mosaic created by local residents was unveiled on platform 2 at North Queensferry station depicting the bridge and the local area. The station still retains its original wooden building from 1890. There is a lovely display in the waiting room on platform 1 with memorabilia and a log book that I had to sign. The village of North Queensferry was originally served by the station at North Queensferry Pier as part of the railway roll on/roll off ferry service before the bridge.  

I have been fortunate enough to visit some of the country's best railway features, from Ribblehead Viaduct, to the stunning Wemyss Bay and of course the fantastic features of the London Underground. The Forth Bridge is up there as one of THE places anybody interested in transport should visit. I would also like to thank my Girlfriend Emily for kindly accompanying on visiting the bridges, including driving over the Queensferry Crossing.