East Londoners are anticipating the opening of the Elizabeth Line, which has been over two hundred years in the making. The project, currently being built by Crossrail Ltd. – at a latest estimated costs of £18.8bn – is now close to connecting Shenfield in Essex to Heathrow and Reading, with a further section running from Whitechapel to Abbey Wood in Kent.
Opening dates for the new line have come and gone, budgets have been under-estimated and various completion dates missed. The TFL site currently states, “We plan to open the line in the first half of 2022” – so that means by the end of June.
The public have had glimpses of the new stations via TFL videos of health and safety practice sessions, and mock evacuations of the new Central London stations on a stretch that should open in a few weeks.
I spoke to people travelling between Shenfield and Liverpool Street to ask their opinions:
John from Chadwell Heath said, “It will be great to just jump on and get off at Heathrow (to) fly out on holiday. No worrying about getting through all those tube lines, or having to spend a night in an expensive hotel at the airport”.
Michael, a regular commuter from Leyton to Seven Kings, could already see the economic benefits. “It is not just the improved trains, there are hotels and businesses being built near the stations, bringing more jobs.” And on the billions spent he said, “it is going to be worth it, much better than what we had before”.
In contrast, Seema from Romford expressed concerns about whether there were going to be enough trains to cope with the demand, as she had experienced some very crowded trains recently and hoped more trains would be laid on.
The only strongly dissenting voices were from a group of people from Dagenham including Sadie and Cherese who felt the trains had been badly designed. Sadie said, “The seats are too hard and the buttons to open the doors are badly placed”. They were also concerned about the reduced number of seats and potential overcrowding especially at Stratford.
To hear some of these interviews click on the link below:
The origins of this project date back to the 1880s and the Regents Canal and Rail Company plan to connect Paddington to the Royal Docks. The 1940s Abercrombie Report after WW2 that led to the building of new towns such as Stevenage also recommended two new tube lines, including one on an east west route that was never built.
In 1974 the name ‘Crossrail’ was given to a failed plan to build a rail line linking East and West London via the various then British Rail Termini. Then in the early 1980s there was a political battle between Thatcher’s government and Livingstone’s GLC to build a line connecting a channel tunnel to Paddington and Liverpool Street, and the plans were dropped
So given this choppy history, when in 2003 the then Chancellor Alistair Darling signed off plans for Crossrail – and funding was provided – you could forgive everyone at the time for thinking this was another false start.
Problems with building works such as at the new station at Whitechapel held work up. Other stations, primarily in West London, were found to be months even years behind. Then Covid hit, and the half-finished stations, as with building sites everywhere, were emptied by lockdowns. Transport for London (TfL) ran out of money and had to be bailed out by national government. Prospects for the line were not looking good two years ago and some could see vultures circling around the project.
But all the stations saw substantial upgrades including the installation of lifts to provide step free access. The complete rebuilding of both Romford and Ilford stations continues at pace, and the race is now on to get everything ready.
Most of the passengers we spoke to using the line from Shenfield to Liverpool Street are looking forward to the line. They are not thinking about delays, funding gaps or anything else. They want this to succeed and are excited by it. Nineteen years since Alistair Darling gave the go ahead and forty years since I first heard the word “Crossrail”, it looks as if TfL will have a success on their hands, and the commuters and passengers of the East End are happy about that!
Photos: Mike Butler