Elizabeth line extends to Shenfield

Patronage of London’s Elizabeth line will receive a further uplift in a month’s time when the eastern section from Liverpool Street to Shenfield opens, along with Bond Street station.

A November 2 date has been set for the commissioning of a further section of the new crosscity route, which will provide a direct link to Paddington for the first time as well as offering massive time savings on the journeys to Heathrow and Reading from Essex.

When the final timetable is in place next year there will be a service every two and a half minutes in the peak, calling at Stratford, Maryland, Forest Gate, Manor Park, Ilford, Seven Kings, Goodmayes, Chadwell

Heath, Romford, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, and Brentwood. Onward journeys will be possible to Chelmsford, Southminster, Southend and beyond.

Bond Street has a design capacity of 137,000 passengers daily. Its construction has been long and complex, with almost a third of a million tonnes of material requiring excavation to build it 90ft below the surface.

Meanwhile, the completion of a £3 billion refurbishment programme for many of the 41 older Elizabeth line stations reached Ilford on September 1. It was declared step-free after three new lifts and a new entrance opened on Cranbrook Road to the town centre. The platforms have also been extended.