Opening day is a historic moment for the capital and the UK as a whole, says Andy Byford, Transport Commissioner for London.

Londoners have been waiting for this railway since 1974, when the British government first proposed a route connecting the east to the west of the capital. Over the years, the topic fell apart until 2009, when construction began at an estimated cost of £15.9 billion. In the end, the amount increased by another 3 billion pounds, and the delivery date was postponed 3.5 years. While part of the central route of the Elizabeth Line runs down the city as well as the River Thames, the new line will not be part of the metro network.

It is the largest and most important transportation modernization in the capital since the expansion of the metro network more than 100 years ago. Elizabeth Lane will change the lives of millions of Londoners and travelers, assures the London Evening Standard.

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The Elizabeth Line would initially operate as three separate railways. Upon completion of the final phase, passengers will be able to travel seamlessly from Abbey Wood to Heathrow and Reading, and from Shenfield to Heathrow. The new railway will connect stations such as Paddington and Canary Wharf in just 17 minutes. Currently, the journey on this route by the metro itself takes more than 30 minutes.

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For the next year, finishing work will continue to be carried out in some places (Bond Street Station), which means that the full capacity of the Elizabeth Line will be reached in May 2023. We are talking about 24 trains per hour, initially there will be 12 trains per hour.

Dozens of new trains

The Elizabeth Line is a complex railway that will pass through the Great Western, one of the oldest and busiest railways in Great Britain, a newly built rail line to central London, and the Great Eastern Line, built in the Victorian era, as Crossrail Limited explains, He was appointed to build a new line.

This means the trains will run on dedicated lines serving only the Elizabeth Line, on existing national tracks and those used by other operators. Drivers will encounter three different signaling systems on a daily basis. Passengers will be carried by 70 specially-designed British Aventra Class 345 trains – each of which can accommodate up to 1,500 people. Manufactured by Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom), the trains range from 7 to 9 wagons and are 200 meters in length. It can reach 145 km / h.

Queen Elizabeth II, arriving at Paddington Station, has already visited the new railway. The Queen with Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, unveiled a plaque commemorating the completion of the Crossrail project in London.

The Elizabeth Line flight prices will be the same as the metro fares. However, there will be an additional cost of £7.20 for travel to and from Heathrow Airport.