Elizabeth Line at Bond Street station will finally open next month four years late and £549m over budget)

• The Elizabeth Line will begin calling at the Bond Street Station on October 24
• The stop is expected to help ease congestion at nearby Oxford Circus station 
• The line opened in May but hasn’t called at Bond Street due to completion delays

The Bond Street stop on London’s new Elizabeth line is set to open in just under a month after four years of delays.

Transport for London (TfL) says the opening of Bond Street – which is subject to ‘final approvals’ – will take place on Monday, October 24.

The new railway began running in May, but trains have not called at Bond Street due to delays completing the station. The problem-hit tube stop also saw major costs increases that left it at least £549million over budget.

Transport officials allege the new stop will help ease congestion at the nearby Oxford Circus Tube station.

It will also make the area more accessible as Bond Street will offer step-free access from street to train.

The Bond Street stop on London’s new Elizabeth line is set to open in under four weeks. Transport for London says the opening of Bond Street – which is subject to ‘final approvals’ – will take place on Monday, October 24

The new railway began running in May, but trains have not called at Bond Street due to delays completing the station. Transport officials allege the new stop will help ease congestion at the nearby Oxford Circus Tube station

‘The new Elizabeth line station at Bond Street will be the jewel in the crown of the West End’s transport provision,’ London’s outgoing transport commissioner Andy Byford said.

‘It is truly spectacular and will provide a highly significant new link to one of the busiest shopping districts in the UK, enabling even further connectivity to jobs and leisure for people across London and the South East.

‘I can’t wait to see people using this beautiful, spacious, step-free station.

‘It will be yet another huge moment for transport in London and the bright future for the city that lies ahead.’

The station will be able to accommodate nearly 140,000 people a day and train services will begin by running every five minutes, experts told BBC.

It will have two ticket halls and lifts that allow for step-free access to the trains. 

Train service will not operate on Sunday, October 30 but beginning the following Sunday, November 6, tubes will call at the station seven days a week and every three to four minutes.

STAGE 1: Since launching on May 24, the line has been running in three different sections – from Reading or Heathrow to Paddington; Paddington to Abbey Wood via Liverpool Street; and Liverpool Street to Shenfield. The green section is the new project

STAGE 2: The second stage, from November 6, will ensure the services from Reading or Heathrow towards Paddington can run all the way through to Abbey Wood via Liverpool Street. At this stage, there will also be trains running direct from Paddington to Shenfield, also via Liverpool Street

STAGE 3: 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 to Shenfield or Abbey Wood

How Crossrail will open in three stages by May 2023

Stage 1: From May 24, 2022

The Elizabeth line launched with services on Monday to Saturday from Paddington to Abbey Wood. 

Services from Reading and Heathrow to Paddington, and from Shenfield to Liverpool Street, rebranded from ‘TfL Rail’ to the ‘Elizabeth line’. 

Stage 2: November 6, 2022 

The announced date for the next phase is November 6, 2022. When this phase launches, services from Reading and Heathrow will operate through to Abbey Wood. Services from Shenfield will go through to Paddington.

Stage 3: May 2023

Full timetable for travel from Reading or Heathrow to Shenfield or Abbey Wood without changing.

London mayor Sadiq Khan added: ‘I’m delighted that the new Elizabeth line station at Bond Street will open on Monday 24 October.

‘The latest stunning addition to this transformational line will give Londoners and tourists quick and direct access to the heart of London’s West End.

‘Millions have already travelled on the Elizabeth line, and the opening of a station at Bond Street will help draw people back on to our world-class public transport network, encourage people to make the most of the capital and support businesses across the city.’

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

However, numerous issues – including construction difficulties and complications installing signalling systems – left builders behind scheduled for several years.

Following the multitude of setbacks, the station was ‘decoupled’ from the delivery of the Elizabeth line, allowing the route to open without the stop. 

The railway opened in May and, according to TfL, more than 45 million journeys have already been made across the Elizabeth line.

Around half of those (22 million journeys) were in the new tunnels under central London between Paddington and Abbey Wood.

TfL estimates that annual passenger numbers will reach 170 million by 2026. 

TfL said more than 45 million journeys have been made across the Elizabeth line since the railway opened. An Elizabeth line train is pictured near West Drayton station in July

 The Elizabeth line was named in honour of the late Queen. The monarch visited the line on May 17 when she unveiled a plaque to mark its grand opening

The line – which stretches from Reading in Berkshire and London Heathrow Airport to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in Essex – was always planned to initially run in three separate sections.

The first section was integrated in May, the second will begin next month and the third in 2023.

The Crossrail project was due to be completed in December 2018 and was set a budget of £14.8 billion in 2010.

The final total cost for the project has been estimated at £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the Government.

The delivery of the problem-hit Bond Street station seemed to utilise a large portion of the budget. 

Figures released by the National Audit in July 2021 revealed the cost of the station increased by 595 per cent, with an expected price tag of £660million. Initial plans estimated £111million for the station protect. 

The Elizabeth line was named in honour of the late Queen. The monarch visited Paddington station in May when she unveiled a plaque to mark the completion of Crossrail.

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