Elizabeth line: Passengers relish chance to ride new service

Some of the first commuters told the BBC they had been waiting years for this moment

More than 130,000 passengers piled aboard the first trains running on the new £18.9bn Elizabeth line within hours of its launch on Tuesday.

Transport enthusiasts gathered at Paddington station and Abbey Wood, in south-east London, to be on the first morning services.

A slight hitch came as Paddington, a major hub on the route, was evacuated due to a fire alarm at 08:30 BST.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) gave the all clear about 30 minutes later.

LFB said the alarm had been set off accidentally.

Amid a celebratory atmosphere, London mayor Sadiq Khan said he felt like "the little boy before Christmas" as he boarded a train at Paddington.

The Elizabeth line links Reading to the west with Essex to the east, via central London.

A Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said about half the journeys on the morning of the launch involved the new central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood. The journey times between these stations have been nearly halved.

There will also be quicker travel to places like Bristol due to the Paddington connection.

• As it happened: Thousands use new Elizabeth line

• Crossrail: What you need to know about the Elizabeth line

• Crossrail: 'We've been waiting for this for years'

The first train left the terminus of the new line, Abbey Wood, at 06:30, where eager commuter Paul Powlesland had arrived two hours earlier to claim his spot.

The barrister said he was thrilled to be the first one there, in plenty of time to get a selfie with the station manager and be given a commemorative badge.

Woolwich was the next stop, where a queue had also built up by 06:00, before the shutters were raised.

As they streamed into the new station, commuters were celebrating their new journey times.

The first train from south-east London rolled into Paddington at 06:58, 28 minutes after its departure from Abbey Wood.

A "loud and hearty" cheer greeted the train's maiden Elizabeth line journey as it arrived on time - unlike the project itself.

There was an upbeat mood as passengers finally got the chance to take an Elizabeth line train

Those arriving at Paddington were greeted by staff sporting large purple Elizabeth line fingers, while passengers wore wearing all manner of purple clothing.

Socks, badges and even purple hair were flaunted to show appreciation for the line named in honour of the Queen.

Len Goody was among those sporting purple garb for his first Elizabeth line journey.

"No screeching", said an appreciative Len Goody

He was particularly pleased about the smooth and quiet tracks and said it was "nice to know you're the first person to travel on the first service".

"You don't get an opening of a new line very often so when something like this comes along you've got to have a go, try it out and see what it's like," he said.

"It's smooth and ever so quiet. There's no screeching like the normal Tube lines. It obviously isn't a Tube line but it's lovely, really nice."

At the scene

Harry Low, BBC News

It's 06:00, it's raining and a line is forming, which gives those gathered at Abbey Wood in south-east London an opportunity to combine two national pastimes: queuing and complaining about the weather.

For the first time in recent memory, though, one could not hear any complaints about delays to Crossrail.

That's because for the first time throughout this whole project, transport bosses can legitimately claim to have delivered on time, with the first train arriving at Paddington from Abbey Wood at 06:58 - 28 minutes after departing.

The challenge now will be to maintain that performance before the line fully opens from one end to the other next year, by which time it's hoped a seven-day-a-week service will be operating.

"Quick and cool" was the verdict from Raphael

BBC London also spoke to "really excited" 10-year-old Raphael, who was one of those on board first on the Paddington-bound train.

"It's very quick and cool, and you can sit back and relax as the train goes through the tunnel," he said, adding he would 100% be using the service again in the future.

The line isn't operating from one end to the other yet - but those on board were celebrating the realisation of a long-held ambition for transport bosses: running a new east-west railway with paying customers without any major hiccups.

Mr Khan, who travelled on the first train from Paddington, said the Elizabeth line was a "game-changer" that would "transform our city".

London's mayor added the trains were "fit for a Queen" - the monarch visited Paddington last week to mark the completion of the Crossrail project.

Although there was praise for the engineers involved, the ticketing system was described as a "dog's breakfast" by Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) trade union.

He has called on the government to simplify the complicated fares structure outside the TfL zones 1-6.

Elizabeth line fares are the same as those on the 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-fare 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 transactions are accepted across the Elizabeth line, while daily and weekly capping also apply.

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