All aboard! The first ever Elizabeth Line service departs Paddington Station at 6.33am

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The much-anticipated opening of London’s new £19billion Elizabeth line descended into chaos today after the service had to be part suspended and Paddington station evacuated when a faulty fire alarm went off.

Rail enthusiasts had travelled from Canada and Hong Kong and were queuing up from midnight in the rain to experience the new east-west line, with the first Paddington to Abbey Wood service leaving on time at 6.33am.

But two hours into the launch – which Mayor Sadiq Khan has said will ‘revolutionise travel’ in London – passengers were quickly ushered out of Paddington and the line was suspended to the next stop, Tottenham Court Road.

Paddington was eventually reopened and services restarted 30 minutes later after the London Fire Brigade arrived, with Transport for London confirming there was a ‘fire alert at the station earlier but it has now reopened’.

The line created by the Crossrail project has boosted capacity and significantly cut journey times for travel across London, with another first train also running in the opposite direction from Abbey Wood to Paddington at 6.30am.

But the line – which stretches from Reading in Berkshire and London Heathrow Airport to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in Essex – is initially running in three separate sections, which are set to be integrated in the autumn.

By next May, Transport for London hopes to have the service running in full. For now, it will initially be closed on Sundays – apart from on the Platinum Jubilee weekend – to allow for further testing and software updates. There are also three closures planned for software updates on the weekends of June 11-12, July 30-31 and October 29-30.

Today, fans bought special edition Elizabeth line cushions and Oyster cards to remember the ‘epic day’, with one declaring: ‘It’s history.’ Others branded it a ‘great achievement’ and said the chance to be among the first to ride it was a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity – with around 500 people queueing when the gates opened at Paddington.

However social media users in the North of England said it was ‘depressing’ that they were not receiving the same ‘level of investment’. One said the North ‘needs a new deal and fast!’, particularly after key High Speed 2 (HS2) routes, including between Leeds and Manchester, were scrapped.

In response to such criticisms, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the line was a ‘source of pride’ which would help the whole of Britain by ‘contributing £42bn to our national economy’, adding that it had ‘already created 70,000 jobs’.

It came after hundreds of Londoners and tourists had gathered behind a barrier in the rain at Paddington by 6am this morning, as excitement mounted ahead of the first Elizabeth line service to Abbey Wood at 6.33am.

A huge cheer went up from the crowd of more than 500 when the gates were opened at 6.20am, with a member of staff urging people ‘please don’t run’.

People had been queuing from as early as midnight, with many paying homage to the colour of the line with purple-dyed hear, purple hoodies and face masks in the style of the Elizabeth line seat moquette. 

Those at the front who had been waiting for up to six hours rushed through into the station so they could get onto the first train at 6.33am.

Station staff only partially opened the gates to manage the crowd as they went through and into the station before going down the escalators into the cavernous terminal.

Once on the platform, people were urged to spread out by staff, with one employee acknowledging: ‘I know we all want to be at the front.’

And as the service to Abbey Wood pulled into the station, the announcer said: ‘The train is your first Elizabeth line service from Paddington to Abbey Wood.’

Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford had earlier greeted the crowds and also urged them to avoid running when the gates opened. 

Meanwhile, huge queues had also been forming at Abbey Wood, where the first train left at bang on 6.30am.  

There was a hubbub in the air at Paddington with lots of excited chatter as rail enthusiasts – including one who had flown in from Canada yesterday – spoke to the media and posed for pictures, ahead of the expected opening of the gates at 6.20am.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan arrived to greet the crowds shortly after 6am, and spoke to those at the front of the queue.  He also fist bumped a child who was among those ready to be first on board.

He then spoke to three Chelsea Pensioners who joked that he looked much shorter than they had thought in real life. Six police officers monitored the scene along with a throng of station staff.

Mr Byford said a successful start would be a ‘normal day of service’ and that he hoped passengers would be ‘amazed’ by the journey.

Passenger Danny McLaren, 21, from Edinburgh, arrived at Paddington at 1.30am to make sure he was at the front of the queue.

He said: ‘We’ve known it will open for a while. It’s a brand new railway. New technology. New trains. It’s an epic day to experience it when it’s brand new.’

Another passenger, Hakim Colclough, 24, from Chessington, Surrey, said: ‘This is a momentous occasion. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.’

Colin Kelso, 18, travelled down from Glasgow for the opening. He was wearing a hoody emblazoned with ‘Purple train’ on the front, in a nod to the line’s colour scheme.

He said: ‘I want to get on the first train. I’ve always liked trains and have been keeping up to date with the project.’

Another passenger at Paddington, Colin Farmer, 84, from Croydon, arrived at 4.30am.

He said: ‘It’s history. It’s about time there were trains right through London without changing to the Underground. I’m very excited. We’ve been waiting long enough for it. It’s a great achievement.’

The crowd cheered and rushed forwards when the doors to Paddington Elizabeth line station opened at around 6.20am.

The first Elizabeth line train from Paddington through central London departed on time at 6.33am carrying hundreds of excited transport enthusiasts.

Another passenger, Mark Davis, 48, from Canary Wharf, said: ‘We’ve been living with this for what feels like 10 years. We live in Canary Wharf, so it’s a game-changer. It’s the air conditioning that makes the difference.’

James Robert, 48, from Wigan, was on the train with his 11-year-old son Matthew. Mr Robert said: ‘It’s lovely and bright and fast. I wish we had trains like this in Wigan.’

Clare Cenci, 43, from Maidenhead, Berkshire travelled on an early morning Elizabeth line service from Paddington on her commute to Liverpool Street. She said there is ‘a lot more space’ compared with Tube trains.

She went on: ‘The air-conditioning makes it a lot better. The Central line in the summer isn’t good.’

However some rail users did not have a glowing report, after claiming they were turned away for bringing their folding bike. 

One Twitter user wrote: ‘Don’t try and get on the Elizabeth Line today with a folding bike. They’re not allowed for just one day. 

‘Even the staff at the station weren’t aware of it, except the rude (probably stressed) guy at the entrance (not) letting people through. Spectacular waste of a morning!’ 

Another said: ‘So apparently  folded bikes are not allowed on the Elizabeth Line? Was turned away at Abbey Wood as the trains were too busy! Why was there no information about this if this was the case!’ 

TfL told MailOnline today: ‘Folded bikes are allowed on the Elizabeth line at any time.’ 

Other transport users in the north lauded the new line, but said it was ‘depressing’ that they had not received a similar ‘level of investment.’ 

One wrote: ‘Really depressing listening to the details of the new Elizabeth line – it’s taken 30 years to get Crossrail so what chance have we got of ever getting significant investment in the north anytime soon?’ 

Another added: ‘As a huge transport and infrastructure nerd I can’t wait to go and see it… but this is what the north needs, when will we see this level of investment, the north needs a new deal and fast!’ 

London mayor Sadiq Khan, who also travelled on the first train, said: ‘It’s a landmark day. I’m excited. I’m like the little boy before Christmas.’

He said the Elizabeth line is a ‘game-changer’ that will ‘transform our city’.

He added that the trains are ‘fit for a Queen’ after her Majesty visited Paddington last week to mark the completion of the Crossrail project.

The Prime Minister said the whole country will ‘reap the rewards’ of a predicted multibillion pound boost to the economy, as the new railway line transports passengers from Tuesday.

The delayed and overbudget line will boost capacity and cut journey times for east-west travel across the capital.

Mr Johnson said: ‘As the Elizabeth line opens to the public, we know it’s not just Londoners that will reap the rewards, but the whole country – because better transport grows the economy, levels up opportunity and creates jobs.’

The Government said the Elizabeth line project is supporting 55,000 jobs, 1,000 apprenticeships and is forecast to boost the economy by £42 billion.

TfL commissioner Mr Byford said the Elizabeth line service was ‘so far so good’ and ‘on time’. He went on: ‘The customer reaction has been amazing, just as predicted. The universal reaction is ‘wow’.’

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 outside Farringdon station this morning, Mr Khan said the Elizabeth line should be a ‘source of pride’ and something that helps the whole country.   

He said: ‘This line will help contribute £42bn to our national economy, it’s already created 70,000 jobs across the country. 

‘The trains were built in Derby, the station doors in Cheshire, the signage in the Isle of Wight. 

‘Some of the steel comes from Dorset. Almost two thirds of the contracts given for this fantastic new line were given around the country, which already created tens of thousands of jobs.’

The Labour politician said the line was first discussed in the 1940s before the idea was finally realised and construction began in 2009. 

He added: ‘These things take a long time but this is an amazing line, spacious, silent, speedy trains, comfortable, air conditioned. 

‘These stations in central London are cathedrals. .. it should be a source of pride for all of us. 

‘I’ve met people this morning people from Hong Kong, the Netherlands, from Germany, from America who are looking at us with envy that as we embark on this recovery, a national recovery, we have this amazing new infrastructure in our capital city, a source of pride.’ 

The Mayor also said the Elizabeth line is a ‘remarkable, transformative railway line’ on the day of its opening.

Mr Khan told Sky News: ‘I remember Ken Livingstone, the first mayor, lobbying for this and I give credit to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for giving the green light.

‘The first bill went through Parliament when I first became an MP in 2005, royal ascent – 2008… and last week, Her Majesty, The Queen, formally opened this line named after her in this Platinum Jubilee year.

‘It’s a remarkable, transformative railway line. It’s a landmark moment for our city. It will contribute £42million towards our nation’s economy.’

And Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: ‘Absolutely delighted that the Elizabeth Line has opened to the public today.

‘Long-term investment in UK infrastructure pays off – with this project alone supporting 55,000 new jobs, 1,000 apprenticeships, and forecast to boost the UK economy by £42billion.’

Ali Hussein, a 66-year-old pensioner on his morning walk, had come to Abbey Wood get his limited edition Oyster card and said he will be travelling to see his daughter and grandkids in Islington later in the day.

He said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this around here. There are so many people, they must be here for the experience.’

Ian Palmer, 52, an estate agent in Abbey Wood said: ‘We’ve been waiting for years and were told ‘yeah, yeah it’s coming’ and now it’s finally here. It’s fantastic.

‘I work up the road and came down because this is a part of history, it’s going to be huge for the area, it’s going to be lovely. Everyone is excited, everyone is talking about it.

‘People have started getting interested in Abbey Wood. Prices have been going up ever since they announced it.

‘And this is all new development around here, it’s a couple of acres, all brand new. Hopefully we get some nice bars and restaurants in the area too. Hopefully the council invests.

‘I’m going up to Paddington later today as it’s my day off. I could even head to Whitechapel and Brick Lane to go to a few bars and then head into the West End.’

He added: ‘My mum who hasn’t got the train in years will start getting it again because of the platforms without the gaps. It’s things like that that make a difference.’

Retired John Malone, 75, who works as a school lollipop man said: ‘I’ve already been on the train, I went to Woolwich, and got the limited-edition card.’

John, who travelled with his wife added: ‘I’ve bought 12 of them for my family, they will be worth about £30, but I won’t sell mine. It’s history.

‘We’ve been waiting so long for it, it’s going to make such a difference, everyone is so excited. You wait until you get on it, you’ll be amazed.’

On the platform an announcement was made that the train to Paddington was about to leave, passengers started to clap and cheer.

The trains leave for every five minutes from 6.30am to 11pm Monday through to Saturday.

The mayor had previously said the line’s opening would ‘provide a crucial economic boost to the whole country’.

Mr Khan, who travelled on the first train today, said: ‘Today is a historic day as the Elizabeth line opens to passengers. This is a huge moment, not just for London but the entire country, particularly in this special Jubilee year.

‘This brand new line is the most significant addition to our transport network in decades.

‘It will add billions to our economy and is set to serve up to 200 million passengers each year. I’m sure passengers will enjoy the modern trains, beautiful step-free stations and the reduced journey times across the capital and the South East.

‘The Elizabeth line is much more than just a new railway, it will provide a crucial economic boost to the whole country and help to turbo-charge our recovery from the pandemic.’

The line stretches from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in west London to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex.

It will beginning operating in three separate sections, which are expected to be integrated in the autumn.

Transport for London (TfL) estimates that annual passenger numbers will reach 170 million by 2026.

The new central section, built by the Crossrail project, runs through tunnels from Paddington in west London to Abbey Wood.

It will initially be closed on Sundays, apart from during the Platinum Jubilee weekend, to allow further testing and software updates to take place.

Crossrail suffered 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 final total cost has been estimated at £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the Government.

The line is named in honour of the Queen, who visited Paddington station last week to celebrate the completion of Crossrail.

It comes after 30 iconic London landmarks were lit up in purple last night to celebrate the opening of the new Elizabeth Line today.

Landmarks including the London Eye, Tower Bridge, The Gherkin and the London Stadium were lit up in a regal purple to mark the opening of the latest Tube line, which is set to ‘revolutionise travel’ in the capital.

Four years late, £4bn over budget but FINALLY up and running: How Elizabeth Line was 15 years in the making after being bogged down by construction delays – as it opens 140 YEARS since Parliament first backed idea of east-west service in London

By Harry Howard, History Correspondent for MailOnline 

When Parliament first gave the green light to plans for an east-west rail line across London, the British Empire was at its height and Queen Victoria was still on the throne. 

But it is only today, around 140 years on, that the first phase of Crossrail – £4billion over budget and nearly four years late – has opened. 

Running between Paddington and Abbey Wood, the service has opened ahead of the completion of the full Elizabeth Line – named after Her Majesty the Queen – next year. 

The project that became Crossrail has been nearly 200 years in the making, with proposals for a railway running across the capital – which would have linked Paddington with the East End – first being conceived in the 1840s. 

Whilst Parliament approved the plans in the 1880s, they fell by the wayside and work construction work never started. 

The idea resurfaced during the Second World War in 1943, after London had been devastated by the Blitz, but again the project did not get underway.  

It was not until 1974 that the name Crossrail first emerged, before the plan was again killed off in 1994, in part because the UK had just emerged from recession and public finances were tight. 

After being revived once again by the New Labour government, ground was finally broken by Boris Johnson – then London Mayor – in 2009, with tunneling beginning in 2012 and finishing in 2015. 

It has been decades of expense and wrangling, with the project’s final estimated cost being more than £18billion. 

Crossrail suffered 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 first east-west London rail project was touted by the Regents Canal Company in the 1840s. 

With trains then burgeoning in popularity, it was envisaged that the system could replace the Regents Canal, which was then a major route for trade and travel through London.

Whilst Parliament granted permission for the scheme in the 1880s and work continued to develop the route, the plan ultimately did not come to anything. 

Fifty years later, when Britain was in the midst of conflict with Nazi Germany, the idea resurfaced as politicians and planners began to look to what would happen when peace arrived. 

As part of what became known as the Abercrombie Plan, it was argued that better links were needed between east and west in London. Two new tube lines were proposed to do the job. 

However, as with their 19th century equivalents, the proposals did not become reality. 

Now, the Abercrombie Plan is better known for concepts such as the Green Belt, which did become reality and remain part of Britain’s national fabric. 

The east-west rail plans emerged once again in the 1974 London Rail Study, which was published by the then Greater London Council and the Department for the Environment. 

It was in this that Crossrail got the name which remains today.  It was hoped that new tunnels would ink lines west of Paddington to those east of Bethnal Green. 

There would also have been new stations at Paddington, Marble Arch, Bond Street, Leicester Square, Holborn and Liverpool Street. 

Another tunnel would also connect to the likes of Victoria, Leicester Square, Blackfriars and London Bridge. 

As with their predecessor proposals, the plans outlined in the 1974 study did not come to fruition, with the cost of the scheme estimated at £300million. 

Britain was then in the midst of an inflation crisis and economic turmoil caused by the huge hike in the price of oil. 

In 1980, another plan – outlined in a British Rail discussion paper – that looked very different to today’s version of Crossrail almost became a success. 

Instead of focusing on links between east and west, it suggested linking existing infrastructure north and south of London. 

However, the overall concept – to create a mainline route linking various services together – was similar. 

Also in the 1974 study were plans for a Channel Tunnel link that could have arrived into London at Victoria, therefore linking in with the north-south plans. 

British Rail also suggested that the proposals may help to ease congestion on the Underground – a plus point that has been raised repeatedly with today’s Crossrail. 

Whilst the 1980 paper did not come to anything, it continue developing the conversation about the approaching limits of the Underground, and the fact that a solution needed to be found. 

The next iteration of the plans came with the 1989 Central London Rail Study. In 1990, the Government gave the go-ahead for British Rail and London Transport – the forerunner to Transport for London – to develop an east-west scheme.

The plans were presented to Parliament in November 1991 – a year after Margaret Thatcher had left office – in the form of a private member’s bill.  

There were high hopes that the scheme would succeed and the then Transport Secretary Paul Channon, along with Prime Minister John Major, welcomed it. 

Journeys between Paddington and Liverpool Street would have been cut from 20 to 11 minutes, whilst trains from Wendover in Buckinghamshire to Paddington would have taken 45 minutes instead of an hour.  

However, the Bill was rejected by a committee of only four MPs in Parliament in May 1994 amid concerns about the public finances.

Despite its failure, further studies were commissioned into the Crossrail project and the London Underground worked with developers to make sure it could proceed if resurrected by politicians. 

In July 2000, the new Labour Government said as part of its ten-year transport plan that the east-west project should go ahead.  

In 2002, Cross London Rail Links Ltd, a joint venture between the Strategic Rail Authority and Transport for London (TfL), was set up to develop plans for Crossrail. 

Two years later, Labour committed to introducing legislation to allow Crossrail to proceed. The project was finally given the legal green light in October 2007, when new Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave it the green light. 

The Crossrail Act of 2008 also finally gave Crossrail a confirmed route. It would run from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.  

In May 2009, the Crossrail project finally broke ground at Canary Wharf, with Mr Johnson and the then Transport Secretary Lord Adonis launching the first pile at the site of the new Canary Wharf station.

Tunneling then began on the project in 2012, when Phyllis – the first of eight tunnel boring machines used on Crossrail – set out from Royal Oak Portal towards Farringdon. 

In 2015, a tunneling machine named Victoria finished off the route after arriving at Farringdon. It meant that some 13 miles of new tunnels had been dug under London.

However, there have been repeated delays to the project and its final cost is also well above the original calculations. 

Its original opening was set for 2017 and it was expected to cost £15.9billion.

In October 2010, this date was pushed back 12 months to December 2018 as the Coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats cut the project’s budget to £14.8billion.

By August 2018, Crossail officials said the opening date would be missed, amid construction delays and difficulties installing complex signalling systems. 

The failure to hit the December opening date was also blamed on a decision to delay the procurement of new trains. However, TfL denied this at the time. 

There were also said to be tunneling delays at Bond Street that further hampered the project. 

The coronavirus pandemic also pushed back the opening even further, because the need to maintain social distancing meant only a small number of workers could be on sites at any one time.  

In December 2018, the Government TfL and London Mayor Sadiq Khan had to agree a financial package to cover extra costs, as officials warned the project could be delayed further. 

In November 2019, Crossrail Ltd said the railway would open ‘as soon as practically possible in 2021’, after costs had increased again by up to £650million to £18.25billion.

In January 2020 – just before the coronavirus pandemic began – it was hoped that services would begin in the summer of 2021. 

But by July of 2020, Crossrail Ltd said the project would not open in 2021 because of the delays imposed by the pandemic. 

The following year, the National Audit Office said the estimated cost of Crossrail had increased again to £18.9billion. 

Whilst the project was given a boost earlier this month by the unexpected visit by the Queen to Paddington Station to celebrate its completion, the three sections of the Elizabeth Line are not due to be integrated until Autumn of this year.

Then, in May 2023, the full timetable of 24 trains per hour is scheduled to be introduced.

From today, Crossrail will operate as three separate railways – from Reading or Heathrow to Paddington; Paddington to Abbey Wood via Liverpool Street; and Liverpool Street to Shenfield.

The second stage, for which Crossrail says the ‘earliest expected date’ is ‘autumn 2022’, will ensure the services from Reading or Heathrow towards Paddington can run all the way through to Abbey Wood via Liverpool Street. At this second stage, there will also be trains running direct from Paddington to Shenfield, also via Liverpool Street.

The final milestone will be ‘no later than May 2023’, when the full timetable will allow passengers to travel without changing across the entire line from Reading or Heathrow to Shenfield or Abbey Wood, via central London.

By this point, TfL hopes there will be one train every 150 seconds through central London – and it is hoped that the project will expand central London’s rail capacity by 10 per cent.

For now, the line will operate 12 trains per hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood from Monday to Saturday, 6.30am to 11pm – but Bond Street station has not yet been completed and will not open until ‘later this year’.

Work will continue in engineering hours and on Sundays to allow a series of testing and software updates in preparation for more intensive services from autumn.

But the Sunday closures will be lifted on June 5 to help people travelling in the capital during the Platinum Jubilee weekend celebrating the Queen’s milestone.