London cheers opening of long-delayed Crossrail

LONDON • London's long-delayed and over-budget Crossrail finally opened to passengers yesterday, offering faster journeys from Heathrow Airport and Berkshire in the west to Essex in the east through a series of new, long tunnels under Britain's capital.

The railway, which has been renamed the "Elizabeth" line in honour of Queen Elizabeth, is expected to carry 200 million people a year and will increase London's rail capacity by 10 per cent, according to Transport for London .

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford travelled on the first westbound service that departed Paddington at 6.33am, accompanied by hundreds of rail enthusiasts and a few commuters.

"We should be incredibly proud of this fantastic new line, it is 22nd century fit," Mr Khan said. "It's spacious, silent, comfortable; this is the game changer we need."

Construction started more than 12 years ago on Europe's biggest infrastructure project at the time. In 2010, the project was budgeted at £14.8 billion (S$25 billion) and was set to open in December 2018.

Delayed by issues with safety testing and signalling systems, even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Crossrail has opened 31/2 years late and more than £4 billion over budget.

Passengers will be able to interchange with London's Tube - the world's oldest subway passenger railway - and the line is on the London Underground map.

Eighteen-year-old rail fan Colin Kelso travelled down from Glasgow to hop on the debut service. "I've never been able to explain why I'm in love with trains, but I guess it's just this new multi-million pound investment has been created, and to say I was the first person on it," he said. "It's such an achievement."

REUTERS