Since the Elizabeth Line opened in May, it has been missing one vital central London station. The entrance at Bond Street had to be delayed for a few months due to setbacks in construction, but its opening date has finally been revealed. Hooray!
Bond Street Elizabeth line station will open on Monday October 24. Entrances at Hanover Square and Davies Street will provide a new link to the West End, while step-free access at Oxford Circus station will make the area more accessible and improve passenger congestion.
There will be two brand new ticket halls, steeped in natural light, and the station expects to see 140,000 passengers every day. At first, trains will run every five minutes. There won’t be a service on Sunday October 30, but after that trains will run every three to four minutes, seven days a week.
Opening at the same time is the Medici Courtyard beside the station’s Hanover Square entrance – the first new public space to open in Mayfair for more than a century.
In more news, from Sunday November 6 the currently separate sections of the Elizabeth line will be joined up, meaning commuters will no longer have to change trains at Paddington or Liverpool Street. Trains from Shenfield will no longer terminate at Liverpool Street, instead running straight through to Paddington, and the south-eastern line from Abbey Wood will go directly to Heathrow or Reading.
Andy Byford, London’s transport commissioner, called the new station ‘the jewel in the crown of the West End’s transport provision’.
He added: ‘It is truly spectacular and will provide a highly significant new link to one of the busiest shopping districts in the UK, enabling even further connectivity to jobs and leisure for people across London and the South East. I can’t wait to see people using this beautiful, spacious step-free station. It will be yet another huge moment for transport in London and the bright future for the city that lies ahead.’
The Lizzie line is already the most punctual train in the UK.
Everything you need to know about the October train strikes.
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