London’s new Elizabeth Line is open – and it’s being run by Hong Kong’s MTR
- London’s long-delayed Crossrail opened this week, cutting journey times with new, spacious trains
- MTR Corporation CEO said the US$24 billion rail line signifies a ‘new era of travel in London’
Hong Kong rail giant MTR Corporation is operating London’s newest train line, which finally opened this week four years behind schedule.
The Elizabeth Line, named after Queen Elizabeth, is a mixed overground and underground railway that’s meant to slash journey times across London from Shenfield in the east to Reading in the west. Its estimated final cost could be about £19 billion (US$24 billion).
MTR Elizabeth line is a wholly owned subsidiary of MTR Corporation, which will run the line and manage 28 of its stations. It’s something passengers might not know, as the operator was barely mentioned in UK press reports around Tuesday’s opening
Nor was MTR Corporation highlighted a week before during a visit by the queen and Prime Minister Boris Johnson to Paddington Station, one of dozens of stops on the route.
Instead, Johnson was reported to have said that the Elizabeth Line should inspire people to go back to work at offices, and to stop them eating “cheese and houmous” at home.
