he £20 billion Elizabeth line has opened to Londoners with much fanfare after people queued throughout the night to take the first trains from Paddington and Abbey Wood.
There were extraordinary scenes and a party atmosphere as hundreds of passengers, the first of whom had been waiting since midnight, rushed down two flights of escalators to the platform to await the 06.33am, the first train to depart Paddington.
As the train set off bang-on time, Mayor Sadiq Khan exclaimed “phew!” and gave Transport for London commissioner Andy Byford a bear hug. Mr Khan, cupping his ear, told the Evening Standard: “Do you know what sound that is? Success.”
Mr Khan said: “It’s a landmark day.”
Josh, 11, from Ealing, arrived at 04.48am and was at the front of the queue. He said: “It’s really exciting. Is the Queen coming? I love this line – it’s amazing.” Mr Byford presented him with the first Elizabeth line commemorative mug.
But there were some scenes of confusion when passengers were evacuated from Paddington station just before 9am due to a fire alarm going off. The…
