Elizabeth line: Meet the stage designer who spent £2,000 making a waistcoat out of Crossrail’s seat fabric

The opening of the Elizabeth line in May attracted train enthusiasts from near and far dressed in purple hats, t-shirts and wigs, all hoping to be the new line’s first passengers.

The opening of the new Bond Street station on Monday morning may have had a more modest turnout but the enthusiasm levels remained as high.

The first Elizabeth line services arrived at the station at 5:47am on Monday October 24, with commuters welcomed by a delegation led by TfL commissioner Andy Byford and the mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

One of those blurry eyed travellers was freelance stage designer James “Chads” Chadwick.

The 31-year-old from Clapham came dressed in his handmaid waistcoat made out of Crossrail’s seat fabric.

Chads, who volunteers at the Transport Museum in Covent Garden spent £2,000 on the garment, ahead of the Elizabeth line’s official opening in May.

Inside the marvellous waistcoat he revealed a map of the Elizabeth line in the lining and showed off his transport themed buttons on the front.

“Before the Elizabeth line opening I was up all night sewing this custom made waistcoat,” he told LondonWorld at the new station.

“Yesterday I only had to make a bow tie so it was considerably easier.”

Chads said he was up since 4am and was outside the Bond Street Station by 4.40am to be one of the first passengers at the new station.

Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner described Bond Street as “the last piece of the jigsaw” in the Elizabeth line stations.

The departing TfL chief said the opening felt “bittersweet” as it was his final day in his role.

“I couldn’t be more proud today on which is actually my last day as TfL commissioner,” Mr Byford told LondonWorld.

“We’ve worked so hard to get this station finished, we opened the beautiful Elizabeth Line back in May when her majesty the Queen, graced us with her presence.

“And there’s more to come with the join up of the line.”

Mr Byford who is set to return to the USA, where he previously was the president of the New York Transit, said it was an “honour” to have served as commissioner.

“I leave knowing that the two objectives we set right at the start when I joined in June 2020 were to lead TfL through Covid and to get the funding deal sorted which we managed last month,” he said.

“We avoided that calamitous managed decline scenario and we promised we would have the Elizabeth line open in the first half of the year, we delivered that and now we Bond Street opened today just as we promised.

“I will miss it but I’m equally proud of my tenure, it was the hardest time to have held the position as there was no money, no customers, rock bottom morale and the Elizabeth line being far from complete.

“I’m immensely proud of my team and colleagues, they’re the ones that delivered this.”

The new Bond Street station will accommodate about 140,000 people a day, with entrances at Hanover Square and Davies Street.

Train services will run every five minutes and from Sunday, November 6, trains will run every three to four minutes, seven days a week.