Heathrow Express

Three and half years late and at least £4bn over-budget, Crossrail finally opens on Tuesday 24 May.

The new rail Line , one of Europe's biggest construction projects, will serve up to 200 million Passengers each year.

Crossrail, or the Elizabeth Line as it is now known, is a in south-east England. It runs from Essex in The East to Berkshire in The West , cutting underground through Central London .

There are two western branches, which terminate at Reading and Heathrow Airport , and two eastern branches, ending at Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south-east London.

Ten new stations have been built for the Central London section, which connects Paddington , Bond Street, Liverpool St and Canary Wharf .

The Line is expected to increase London's train capacity by 10%.

The Line was first conceived of in the 1980s, cancelled in the 1990s and approved in The 2000S . Work started in 2009 and 10,000 workers have been employed on the 13-year project.

£19bn total costEurope's largest construction project

42 km of new tunnels

10,000workers

13 years of construction

10new stations in London

Services carry up to 1,500 Passengers - significantly More Than a London Underground train.

The Line travels across the overground rail network, while the central section runs through tunnels and connects with Tube and other rail services.

Full details of the route can be found on

At 06:30 BST on Tuesday 24 May, The First train will leave Abbey Wood , destined for Paddington .

A full service will not be immediately available.

Initially, trains will run Six Days a week, every Five Minutes from 06:30 to 23:00 with no Sunday service. The Line will - from Abbey Wood to Paddington , from Heathrow and Reading to Paddington , and Shenfield to Liverpool Street.

Bond Street station in Central London will not open until later this year due to problems during construction.

In the autumn, trains from Heathrow will no longer terminate at Paddington and continue on through the central section of The Line .

However, that Passengers will be able to travel directly from one end of The Line to The Other .

The new Line will slash journey times for many travellers.

Elizabeth Line fares will be identical to those on London Underground . Services currently operating as Tfl Rail will remain unchanged although there will be a £7. 20 premium on journeys to and from Heathrow.

Peak single journeys to Heathrow Airport from Central London (weekdays between 06:30-09:30 and 16:00-19:00) will cost £12. 70 and be £2 cheaper at other times (peak and off-peak Tube fares currently cost £5. 50 and £3. 50 respectively, while the Heathrow Express costs £25).

Contactless pay-as-you-go payments are accepted across The Line while daily and weekly capping will also apply.

Freedom passes allowing free travel, including to Heathrow and Reading, will be accepted after 09:00 on weekdays and at weekends.

Railcards attached to Oyster cards will also receive one-third off fares.

As with London Overground , folding bicycles are allowed at all times. Non-folding bikes are only allowed off-peak.

The Chief executive of Crossrail previously admitted that, and that integrating multiple signalling systems and new software posed a huge challenges.

The Public spending watchdog, The National Audit Office, accused Crossrail bosses of of December 2018.

The Final cost of Crossrail is estimated to be £19bn, which is More Than twice The Price of.

It was originally budgeted at £14. 8bn but ballooning costs - including lost revenue from three and a half years without fares - have driven the overall total up.

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Source of news: bbc.com