Elizabeth line: London’s schoolchildren create special artwork to celebrate Crossrail opening

A number of schools have created purple decorations and artwork at landmarks near the new Elizabeth line stations to celebrate its opening.

The £20 billion Crossrail project officially opened to the public today, Tuesday May 24.

The Elizabeth line will initially run 12 trains per hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood, Monday to Saturday.

Initially trains will not run on Sundays or call at Bond Street.

The new Tube and rail line will operate as three separate railways, with services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield connecting with the central tunnels from autumn this year.

Schools close to each of the nine new stations have created purple decorations and artwork – inspired by the colour of the new line.

The full list of schools and locations - and the Elizabeth line station that they are close to

• Departures Road (Paddington) - Marylebone Boys School
• Phoenix Gardens (Tottenham Court Road) – Soho Parish Primary School
• Charterhouse (Farringdon) - St Mary Magdalene Academy
• Whitechapel Market (Whitechapel) - Kobi Nazrul Primary School
• Spitalfields Market (Liverpool Street) - Swanlea School
• Konstantin Grcic’s Six Public Clocks (Canary Wharf) - New City College
• Cable car ticket hall (Custom House) - Royal Docks Academy
• General Gordon Square (Woolwich) - Royal Greenwich Trust School
• Lesnes Abbey Wood (Abbey Wood) - London South East College (Bexley campus)

Ann Gavaghan, customer experience manager at TfL, said: “TfL has a long legacy of collaborating with local communities both within our stations and beyond.

“With just one day until the Elizabeth line launches, it has been fantastic to drum up excitement within the local community using the railway’s eye-catching new colour.

“The new line will 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. It will serve Londoners and beyond for many decades to come.”#

What Tube stations will the Elizabeth line stop at?

When fully open the Elizabeth line will run from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

The route will use 42km of new tunnels beneath central London. Crossrail will serve 41 stations including 10 new stations at:

• Paddington
• Bond Street
• Tottenham Court Road
• Farringdon
• Liverpool Street
• Whitechapel
• Canary Wharf
• Custom House
• Woolwich
• Abbey Wood