The Elizabeth Line opens

The Elizabeth Line, part of the £19bn Crossrail project, has officially opened (24th May). 

Once open in full, The Elizabeth Line will stretch more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west through central tunnels across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The opening comes a week prior to the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.

Andrew Baldwin, Head of Public Affairs at Association for Project Management (APM), says:

“Successful projects deliver meaningful change for the benefit of their users. Crossrail will benefit millions of people and add an estimated £42bn to the UK economy. Crossrail will shorten journey times in and around London, while also improving transport links, supporting wider regeneration and creating jobs and business opportunities across the UK. We’re therefore pleased to see phase one of Crossrail completed with the opening of the Elizabeth Line in time for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. We hope that users start seeing the benefit of the completed project soon.

“All major projects will have challenges across their lifespan. This £19bn megaproject has faced unique challenges because the world has changed in several fundamental ways since the project commenced. Changes to the project’s budget and schedule have been well documented. It’s to the credit of Crossrail’s leadership team that they have demonstrated transparency. With two phases of the project still to be delivered, it’s essential that lessons learned are applied to ongoing work. As the chartered membership organisation for the project profession, we’ve already worked with Crossrail on learning legacies and can support further by working with our Corporate Partners to facilitate knowledge-exchange so that Crossrail – and future projects - can deliver planned economic and social benefits.”

Further details are available on the TFL website

*Image courtesy of Crossrail Project Press Images