Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Crossrail will be operational.

Crossrail comes under the remit of the Mayor of London. Transport for London is responsible for delivering the project. Once operational, Crossrail services will be known as the Elizabeth line.

In August 2018, Crossrail Ltd announced that the programme could not be delivered on time and that itwould not be in a position to open the central section through London in December 2018 as planned. On August 2020, Crossrail Limited announced that the central section of the Elizabeth line will open in the first half of 2022 with initial services between Abbey Wood and Paddington Elizabeth line stations.

Following the opening of the central section, full services across the Elizabeth line from Reading and Heathrow in the west and between Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east, will be introduced.