fbpx

In Pictures: First passengers take a ride on London’s new Elizabeth line

The vast engineering project will cut journey times significantly across the capital.

24 May 2022

After years of waiting, the new Elizabeth line has finally carried its first passengers around London.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Chelsea Pensioners and train enthusiasts from around the UK were among those on the first train to leave Paddington at 6.33am on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Line
Crowds waited to board the first trains (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
Mr Khan and Andy Byford, Commissioner at Transport for London, gave a thumbs-up as they descended the escalator at Paddington (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
Chelsea Pensioners were among those on board the first Elizabeth line train (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

There were big smiles from Mayor of London Mr Khan as passengers finally tried out the trains.

Elizabeth Line
Mr Khan posed for a selfie on board the first Elizabeth line train to carry passengers at Paddington Station (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
Passengers on board an Elizabeth Line train in London (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
Booklets were handed out showing the development of the line (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
The line will boost capacity and cut journey times for east-west travel across the capital (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Elizabeth Line
Mr Khan and Mr Byford walk through Farringdon Station after disembarking (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

A lot of work has also gone into brightening up the line for travellers.

Elizabeth Line art work at Paddington
Pupils from Marylebone Boys’ School were behind artwork at Paddington (Marylebone Boys’ School/PA)

Elizabeth Line art work at Paddington
The boys enjoyed showing off their skills (Marylebone Boys’ School/PA)

Elizabeth Line art work at Paddington
The artwork celebrates the line’s link to the Queen (Marylebone Boys’ School/PA)

More from Perspective

Get a free copy of our print edition

News

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.
You need to agree with the terms to proceed

Your email address will not be published. The views expressed in the comments below are not those of Perspective. We encourage healthy debate, but racist, misogynistic, homophobic and other types of hateful comments will not be published.