February 2022 is the earliest date at which the central section of the Elizabeth Line could open, according to Crossrail CEO Mark Wild.
Mr Wild told the Public Accounts Committee on 19 July that the current earliest date to begin trial operations is November, following the conclusion of trial running and a further software drop. Initial Elizabeth Line services will operate between Paddington and Abbey Wood, before services west of the capital from Reading and Heathrow and eastwards to Shenfield will be introduced to the central section. Mr Wild added that the potential February opening is ahead of Crossrail’s P50 opening date (which it has 50% confidence of achieving) of April 2022 and its P80 date of June 2022.
Trial running on the Elizabeth Line began on 10 May, and on 12 July this ramped up to 12 trains per hour (tph), having initially operated with 4tph and then increased to 8tph in June. The subsequent trial operations phase, the final obstacle before the railway can open, involves testing emergenc…
