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Grand Central station, eat your heart out. The shiny new Bond Street station on the Lizzy line finally opened early this morning and it’s pretty mega. The station opened five months after we were originally blessed with the Elizabeth line back in May. We are very happy to report that it’s absolutely huge and extremely swish. With the longest Elizabeth line platform (255 metres long), and the second longest escalator across the entire TfL network (just 1 metre behind the mammoth escalators at Angel station,) the station is designed to let the masses flood into central London.
‘This will be the first decent Christmas for retailers in the West End since 2019,’ said Mayor Sadiq Khan at the station's opening. ‘Bond Street station serves great retail, great restaurants and great theatre,’ he told Time Out.
‘The current station, with the Central line and Jubilee line brings about 70,000 people a day. This new, spacious and step-free station on the Elizabeth line will bring 140,000 people. That's 140,000 people on top of the 70,000 people. So it means that people who come to the West End will have a great experience,’ he said.
Since its grand opening on May 24 this year, the Elizabeth line has seen more than 54 million journeys in total.
‘This station is probably my favourite for the moment because I'll be spending a lot of time coming to Bond Street shopping as we approach Christmas,’ he said.
British artist Darren Almond has created three abstract artworks for the spaces above and around the escalators, each made by the same heritage sign company that creates metal boilerplates for locomotives. Two of the works surrounding one escalator spell out: ‘Reflect from your shadow... from under the glacier.’ Just some, uh, food-for-thought on your morning commute.
And it doesn't stop there. A new courtyard has been built by the eastern ticket hall exit on Hanover Square, called Medici Courtyard, making it the first public courtyard to open in Mayfair for more than a century.
When will the Elizabeth line fully open?
The Elizabeth line is now fully operational after the Bond Street station opened to passengers this morning. From Sunday November 6, the timetable will be expanded and trains will run every three to four minutes, seven days a week. 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, from November 6. Hooray. All hail the Lizzy line.
More shiny TfL news? Its cable cars have had a serious glow-up.
Bog off. A nightclub in a toilet is opening in London next month.