Thirty iconic London landmarks have been lit up in purple tonight to celebrate the opening of the new Elizabeth Line on Tuesday.
The Elizabeth line, also known as Crossrail, will run for the first time on Tuesday 24 May with a westbound train from Abbey Wood station at 6.30am and an eastbound service from Paddington at 6.33am.
Landmarks including the London Eye, Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Stadium with light up in a regal purple to mark the opening of the latest Tube line, which is set to ‘revolutionise travel’ in the capital.
It will take just 29 minutes to travel from Paddington to Abbey Wood on the new line that cost £14.8billion.
Thirty iconic London landmarks will light up in purple from tonight to celebrate the opening of the new Elizabeth Line. Pictured: The London Eye (File image)
Landmarks including the London Eye, Battersea Power Station (pictured) Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Stadium with light up in a regal purple to mark the opening of the latest Tube line, which is set to ‘revolutionise travel’ in the capital (File image)
Visitors can see Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Jubilee Park and Canada Square Park’s benches (pictured) lit up for a month
Canary Wharf’s iconic buildings, parks and roof garden have been lit up in purple to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth Line, which will cut journey times to the wharf by up to 20 minutes. Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf is pictured
One Canada Square, an iconic skyscraper in London, has been lit up purple and will stay the colour of the Platinum Jubilee for the rest of the week
Jubilee Park located above Canary Wharf tube station offering landscaped lawns, water features and paths, has purple lighting to be seen at night to celebrate the upcoming Jubilee
There will be trains every five minutes until around 11pm with the service operating six days a week, with Sunday set aside for engineering.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: ‘The opening of the Elizabeth line tomorrow is a once in a generation moment for the capital and it is fantastic to see so many famous landmarks across our city lit up in purple in celebration of this historic day.
‘The new line will revolutionise travel in our city and across the south east and bring significant economic benefits to the whole country.’
On Twitter, the Mayor wrote with pictures of the purple landmarks: ‘Tonight: London landmarks shine bright to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth line.
‘Tomorrow: Londoners wake up to a transformational new railway line and the biggest addition to our transport network in decades.’
Transport for London chief Andy Byford said: ‘Tomorrow will be a truly historic moment for London and beyond and I can’t wait to welcome customers onboard this magnificent addition to our public transport network.’
The Elizabeth line is named in honour of the Queen in her Jubilee year.
On Twitter, the Mayor wrote with pictures of the purple landmarks: ‘Tonight: London landmarks shine bright to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth line’ (The London Eye lit up on Monday night)
Blackfriars Bridge, pictured, was beaming in purple lighting which shimmered over the River Thames last night
London’s Bridges are being lit up in purple to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth Line, the latest train line to be added to the Transport for London network
It will take just 29 minutes to travel from Paddington to Abbey Wood on the new line that cost £14.8billion. Pictured: Tower Bridge (File image)
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: ‘The opening of the Elizabeth line tomorrow is a once in a generation moment for the capital and it is fantastic to see so many famous landmarks across our city lit up in purple in celebration of this historic day. Pictured: The London Stadium (File image)
The Elizabeth line is named in honour of the Queen in her Jubilee year. Pictured: The Gherkin (File image)
Transport for London released this new map this morning showing how the initial Crossrail services will operate from May 24
Dressed in sunshine yellow, the Queen arrived at Paddington on May 17 to officially open the line, stepping carefully from the transparent lift while holding a walking stick and smiling warmly. Also pictured Prince Edward, right, talks with Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford, left
The Queen was shown how to top up an Oyster card during a surprise visit to Paddington Station to officially open the Elizabeth line with Prince Edward – days after cancelling her appearance at the State Opening of Parliament due to ‘mobility issues’
Crossrail, the project to build the new east-west railway, was delayed and over budget due to numerous issues including construction difficulties and complications installing signalling systems.
It was due to be completed in December 2018 and was set a budget of £14.8 billion in 2010.
The total cost has been estimated at £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the Government.
The Elizabeth line will boost capacity and cut journey times for travel across the capital.
It will stretch from Reading, Berkshire, and Heathrow Airport, west London, to Shenfield, Essex, and Abbey Wood, southeast London.
The Elizabeth line will initially operate as three separate railways, with a change of trains required at Paddington and Liverpool Street.
An Elizabeth line train near West Drayton station. The trains are already running on existing track in East and West London
Transport for London has revealed ‘Elizabeth line’ trains are initially set to run every five minutes from Monday to Saturday
A close of the new map showing the Elizabeth Line in purple and white going through central London from Paddington to Farringdon
Before the tube map can be seen without the addition of the Elizabeth Line to the map
The full map shows how the Elizabeth line stretches from across London from East to West
It expected to be integrated in the autumn, with the line completely open in spring.
At the moment many passengers travel by Tube on the Central line for east-west journeys across the capital. These trains are often crowded and get hot in the summer due to not having air-conditioning.
Trains on the Elizabeth Line should be much more comfortable, featuring walk-through carriages, wi-fi, travel information screens and air-conditioning.
Ten new Elizabeth line stations will open in central London. They will be lighter, brighter and larger spaces than the vast majority of London Underground stations.
Many journeys within London will be quicker by the Elizabeth line than by Tube. According to travel app Citymapper, platform-to-platform journeys between Liverpool Street and Paddington will be cut from 18 minutes to 10 minutes.
For longer journeys, Elizabeth line trains will stop at many stations so journeys will be slower compared with the fastest mainline services between locations such as Reading and Paddington, or Shenfield and Liverpool Street.
However, once the three sections are integrated, many passengers will benefit by not having to change between trains and Tube services.
The line is set to boost rail capacity in central London by 10 per cent.
Elizabeth line journeys in central London will cost the same as equivalent Tube fares, while prices on services currently operated by TfL Rail will be unchanged.
Which London landmarks will light up for the Elizabeth line?
• The London Eye
• Tower Bridge
• 122 Leadenhall Street, known as the Cheesegrater
• The Gherkin
• 110 Bishopsgate, also known as the Salesforce Tower
• Tower 42
• City Hall
• One Canada Square
• Crossrail Place roof garden, Canary Wharf
• Sea Containers London
• Department for Transport, Great Minster House
• Coutts Building and 230 Bishopsgate
• Barbican conservatory
• London Stadium
• Battersea Power Station
• British Library
• Sky Garden
• ExCeL London
• Guildhall
• Trees along Oxford Street
• London cable car
• Paddington Central
• Liverpool Street station
• Greenwich Town Hall
• Palestra, TfL’s headquarters in Southwark
• London Bridge
• Cannon Street Bridge
• Southwark Bridge
• Blackfriars Road Bridge
• Waterloo Bridge
• Westminster Bridge
• Lambeth Bridge
• Millennium Bridge (with white lighting)
• Golden Jubilee Bridges (with white lighting)
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