Crossrail: Elizabeth line hailed as ‘fit for a Queen’ as it opens
The Guardian says after delays to tunnelled section under London, first trains run on time.
The first Elizabeth line trains to carry passengers through the new tunnels under London departed on time on Tuesday morning, marking the start of an era of greater speed, space and comfort – “fit for a Queen, and Londoners”, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, said.
Hundreds of people braved the rain to queue outside for the first train from Paddington through central London on the line originally known as Crossrail – finally ready for service a week before the platinum jubilee celebrations for the Queen.
Cheers greeted the opening of the gates at 6.18am as Khan and the TfL commissioner, Andy Byford, at the head of the queue, stepped back to allow the first customers to dash past, without a moment to wipe their feet on the way in to the pristine new station.
Khan said he was “so excited – like that little boy on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa”. Last week, the monarch visited Paddington, opening the line officially three and half years after she was first invited. “We now know that it’s fit for a Queen – and for Londoners,” he added.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/24/crossrail-elizabeth-line-opens-first-trains-london
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