Elizabeth underground line: route map, staions, when it opens and everything you need to know

The long-awaited Elizabeth line finally opens on Tuesday (23 May), cutting journey times for east-west travel across London.

The new £18.9 billion railway, which should have been completed in December 2018, stretches from Reading and Heathrow Airport in west London to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex. The line is named in honour of the Queen, who visited Paddington station last week to celebrate its eventual completion.

Services will begin in new tunnels under the centre of the city at 6.30am and large numbers of transport enthusiasts are expected to be on the first departures. It will begin operating in three separate sections, which are expected to be integrated in the autumn.

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The new central section, built by the Crossrail project, runs through tunnels from Paddington in west London to Abbey Wood. It will initially be closed on Sundays – apart from during the Platinum Jubilee weekend – to allow further testing and software updates to take place.

Crossrail suffered numerous issues including construction difficulties and complications installing signalling systems. It was due to be completed in December 2018 and was set a budget of £14.8 billion in 2010. The final total cost has been estimated at £18.9 billion, including £5.1 billion from the government.

The line was first conceived of in the 1980s, cancelled in the 1990s and approved in the 2000s. Work started in 2009 and 10,000 workers have been employed on the 13-year project, reports the BBC.

The service will run from Reading and Heathrow Airport in west London, to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south east London, via the centre of the