Elizabeth Line's flagship Bond Street station opens after five-month delay

'Jewel in the crown' of new cross-London railway will carry 140,000 passengers daily

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  Passengers move between platforms on the opening day of the new Elizabeth Line station at Bond Street in London. Getty Images

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  London mayor Sadiq Khan, second left, during a tour of the new station. PA

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  Bond Street is the last Elizabeth Line station to open. Getty Images

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  LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Passengers use an escalator on the opening day of the new Elizabeth Line railway at Bond Street Crossrail on October 24, 2022 in London, England. Bond Street is the final Elizabeth line station to open. It will provide a new link to one of the busiest shopping districts in the UK with entrances at Hanover Square and Davies Street. (Photo by Isabel Infantes / Getty Images)

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  Passengers hold Elizabeth Line branded bags at Bond Street. TFL

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  From Sunday, November 6, trains will run every three to four minutes, seven days a week. Getty Images

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  Passengers enter the new station. Photo: TFL

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  The Elizabeth Line opened for service in May this year. Photo: TFL

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  Transport for London (TfL) estimates that annual passenger numbers will reach 170 million by 2026. Photo: TFL

Five months after London's Elizabeth Line started running, its "jewel in the crown" Bond Street station has opened.

Transport for London said the step-free station would "relieve congestion at Oxford Circus and make the area more accessible".

London transport commissioner Andy Byford called the line "truly spectacular" and 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".

London mayor Sadiq Khan visited the station on Monday morning and tweeted his appreciation of the "spacious, stylish and step-free" site.

Capable of carrying 140,000 people a day, trains into Bond Street will initially run every five minutes although there will be no services on Sunday, October 30.

From Sunday, November 6, trains will run every three to four minutes, seven days a week.

The new station has two main entrances, one near Oxford Street and another close to Regent Street. Retailers in the area hope it will provide a boost in the build up to Black Friday and Christmas.

Dee Corsi, interim chief executive of business group New West End Company, said the opening of the Bond Street station was "a welcome boost to the West End's economic recovery and a key driver in returning us to our historic £10 billion annual turnover".

Paul Marsden, branch manager of the John Lewis shop on Oxford Street, said "the timing couldn't be better".

Queen Elizabeth visited the construction site at Bond Street in 2016 to mark the naming of the railway in her honour.

Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Bond Street in 2016. Getty

The route stretches from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in west London to Abbey Wood in south-east London and Shenfield in Essex.

It runs through new tunnels between Paddington in west London and Abbey Wood.

Passengers will be able to travel from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood without changing at Paddington, and from Shenfield to Paddington without changing at Liverpool Street.

The final timetable, bringing full end-to-end journeys and up to 24 trains per hour, is expected to be introduced by May.

Elizabeth Line passengers will be able to travel to Bond Street and Liverpool Street in eight minutes and Canary Wharf in 15 minutes.

Passengers heading for the West End from Heathrow, Reading and Shenfield will be able to get a direct train to Bond Street without having to change at Paddington or Liverpool Street.