London's Elizabeth line opens

The new Elizabeth underground line finally opened in London on 24 May 2022. It was a big day for London. The Crossrail project - known as the Elizabeth line - links Reading and Essex via central London.

It opened almost 4 years late and cost £18.8bn - at least £4bn over-budget. It is one of Europe's biggest construction projects. The line is 118 km long.

The line's 2 western ends are Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow, the eastern terminals are Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in southeast London. The line is not completely finished and currently passengers have to change at Paddington and Liverpool Street. Ten new stations have been built for the central London section, but Bond Street is not yet open. 

The first train left from Paddington at 6.33 am on 24 May. I took the train from Canary Wharf later in the morning, after the main rush had gone. 

All the London Underground lines have different colours, and Elizabeth is purple. It is also shown on the tube map as a double line rather than a solid colour. 

The train seats have a purple colour. This moquette is a mix of purples, blues, greys, and beige, with small flashes of orange and red – a colour scheme reflecting the line’s royal associations and echoing the purple of the new line signage. Even the adverts on the platform are purple coloured.

I got off at Paddington, which is the current end of this section. I was surprised how big the station is. The underground passenger tunnels are really high and the main entrance lobby is bright and light - 

I had a quick look round Paddington Station and thought about going onto Reading, but decided to leave that for another day. So I went back down, and took the train to Whitechapel.

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Last year the new extension of the Northern line to Battersea Power Station opened.