Elizabeth line to finally open later this month

South-east Londoners who have had to wait patiently after years of delays will be delighted that Transport for London (TfL) has finally confirmed the Elizabeth line will open later this month.

That is, unless there is a snag with final safety approvals, of course.

The line, which was called Crossrail in its embryonic years, is designed to transform travel across London and the South East by dramatically improving transport links, cutting journey times, providing additional capacity, and transforming accessibility with spacious new stations and walk-through trains.

The Elizabeth line, which will open on May 24, will initially operate as three separate railways, with services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield connecting with the central tunnels from autumn this year.

But the branch which is of particular benefit to those in South London is the one linking Abbey Wood to Canary Wharf in the city via Woolwich station.

The Elizabeth line will operate 12 trains per hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood from Monday to Saturday 6.30am until 11pm.

For now, you will still have to change at Paddington if you want to travel on to Reading or Heathrow but a single journey should be possible from the autumn – as will be Sunday services.

In the coming weeks, Elizabeth line signage will continue to be uncovered across the network in preparation for the start of customer service.

The updated Tube and rail map will also be released later showing the new central section stations connected with the rest of the TfL network for the first time.

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 the autumn.

All services between Reading and Heathrow to Paddington and Shenfield to Liverpool Street, currently operating as TfL Rail, will be rebranded to the Elizabeth line.

Customers travelling between Reading or Heathrow into London will need to change at Paddington for services into the central section of the route, and customers from Shenfield into London will need to change at Liverpool Street.

Services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels in the autumn when frequencies will also be increased to 22 trains per hour in the peak between Paddington and Whitechapel.