Elizabeth Line: Bond Street Station gets opening date

The Elizabeth line station at Bond Street is set to open on October 24, it was announced on Wednesday.

This will deliver passengers direct to the heart of Oxford Street and allow interchanges with the Jubilee and Central lines.

Rail chiefs have described Bond Street, which will have entrances and ticket halls at Davies Street and Hanover Square – as a “jewel in the crown” of the Elizabeth line.

Transport for London had been forced to delay the station’s opening the date by five months due to the station fit-out having fallen behind schedule some years ago.

It meant Elizabeth line trains have travelled through the station – which soared in cost to an estimated £660m – without stopping since the line opened on May 24.

The anticipated opening date is the first day of the school half-term holiday and comes a fortnight ahead of the line, formerly known as Crossrail, moving to a seven-day service from November 6.

Through trains from Heathrow, Paddington and Shenfield will be running direct into the central section from this date – meaning a train at Bond Street every three to four minutes at peak times.

The new station will also relieve congestion at Oxford Circus station, which frequently has to be closed temporarily at peak times to ease overcrowding, and improve access to the West End in time for the Christmas shopping season.

Almost 140,000 Elizabeth line passengers are expected to use it each day.

More than two million journeys a week are being taken on the new line, generating £20m more than expected in fares for TfL.

Both entrances feature columns which help them fit into their surroundings - red sandstone at Davies Street and Portland stone at Hanover Square.

TfL commissioner Andy Byford, who vowed to open the station before he leaves TfL at the end of October, said: “When we opened the brilliant central section of the Elizabeth line earlier this year, I promised that Bond Street station would open this autumn and I am extremely pleased that Londoners and visitors will be able to use this magnificent station from October 24.

“Bond Street was of course the station site that Her Majesty the Queen visited during construction in 2016 to mark the renaming of the railway in her honour.

“The new Elizabeth line station at Bond Street will be the jewel in the crown of the West End’s transport provision. It is truly spectacular and will provide a highly significant new link to one of the busiest shopping districts in the UK.”

Dee Corsi, interim chief executive, New West End Company, said: “Connecting Reading, Heathrow, and Shenfield to the heart of the capital will give our businesses the momentum that they need as we head towards the busy peak shopping months at the end of the year.”

Mayor Sadiq Khan said the station would help retailers and shoppers during the “‘golden quarter” in the run-up to Christmas.

He said: “Millions have already travelled on the Elizabeth line, and the opening of a station at Bond Street will help draw people back on to our world-class public transport network, encourage people to make the most of the capital and support businesses across the city.”