How vast are the Elizabeth line stations? I found out when I went in search of the fabled funicular lifts of Liverpool Street.

The Elizabeth line station serving this key London terminus actually extends to Moorgate, where it meets the Northern Line.

When I explained what I was after, a helpful TfL staff member said: “Well, you could walk – but it would be quicker to catch a Circle line train for one stop.” And so it proved.

Much of the concept of the Elizabeth line is rooted in the Réseau Express Régional – the RER, has been augmenting the Paris Métro and whooshing beneath the streets of Paris for the past 45 years.

One of the guiding principles of that high-capacity, high-speed network is to maximise connectivity. Gare du Nord, Gare St-Lazare and Chatelet-Les Halles embrace a multiplicity of Métro stations. The tunnels between terminals can feel interminable, but the more connection opportunities a station can offer, the more passenger-friendly it is.

Yet Paris does not, as far as I know, have a single funicular lift. When I eventually tracked one down, it was indeed like a ski lift – paralleling the escalators. The alternative would have been an expensive 20 metres of extra corridor.

Anyway, it’s fun.

TV presenter Rylan has weighed in on the excitement of the Elizabeth line opening, writing on Twitter: “Jealous of everyone on the first #ElizabethLine trains today. And yep I’m a train geek.”

One follower suggested the next TfL addition to the network be dubbed “the Ry Line”.

Other high profile fans of the new line include podcaster and writer Elizabeth Day, who wrote: “As it happens, my middle name is Line which is why everyone should send me free cakes to mark Elizabeth Line Day”; and TikTok train star Francis Bourgeouis, who was treated to a preview of the route for a review video.

However, comedian Lou Sanders took to the social media platform to say: “My bf just suggested, for date night, we go for a ride on the Elizabeth tube Line. So I guess I’m single again.”

“Five full years have passed since I moved back to nowheresville in Essex, lured in significant part by the promise of an imminent glam new ride to the office,” writes The Independent’s columnist Tom Peck this afternoon.

“So it is hard to pretend that there is not both a touch of frustration to go with the excitement that here I am, about to take that glam new ride for the first time in the Year of Our Lord 2022.

“I live in Gidea Park, where the ‘cross’ part of crossrail – i.e. the bit that goes straight across central London – does not connect until the autumn. I also work in Westminster, from where I will, one day, change from Elizabeth Line to Jubilee, but Bond Street station is also not opening (my wife, whose desire to move to Essex - where I grew up and she did not - was arguably even less pronounced than my own. She was also very much depending on the high speed link to Paddington, but in the half-decade that has passed, has now moved jobs and so has virtually no need for her brand new £18bn rail line at all).

“No, instead I have commuted into Stratford and then back out again on the DLR to Woolwich Arsenal, purely for the sheer bloody-minded thrill of riding this mother-of-all-delayed services on its opening day.”

Read his full account of the new line here:

“Enjoy the ride, Simon” – the travel correspondent of The Independent has been seen off by the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, as he boarded a new Elizabeth line train.

Mr Khan, as well as the commissioner for Transport for London, Andy Byford, gave Simon Calder the thumbs up.

The one-minute video was filmed on the first train to run east from London Paddington to Abbey Wood in southeast London. An estimated 1,000 rail enthusiasts were aboard the service.

Viewers commented on Sadiq Khan’s involvement.

Rob wrote: “That’s quite a service from the @mayoroflondon”

AON_11 said: “Brilliant TikTok! Congrats on getting the Mayor to see you off!”

Disability campaigner and rail enthusiast Nathan Doucette has given his verdict on the newly opened Elizabeth line, finding it “very accessible” on first try.

“I had the pleasure of travelling on the Elizabeth line this morning, and as a disabled passenger it’s great to see that every station is accessible for those with mobility requirements,” Mr Doucette told The Independent.

“I found it very easy to get on and off of the new trains, a part of the line is completely step free (no ramps required!) but staff were happy to show me around nevertheless.“The stations that I’ve visited so far were stunning and very roomy, which was great for me as it made it much easier when exiting at busy times.”

He added: “All in all I’ve found the line very accessible and I hope to see more train companies following Crossrail’s lead.”

Around 1,000 rail enthusiasts travelled on the first Elizabeth line passenger train from London Paddington this morning. The new link is the latest addition to the capital’s transport network, which includes the world’s oldest Underground railway.

People from outside south east England may not be entirely clear what all the fuss is about.

A new tunnel beneath London that allows trains to run direct from Heathrow airport and Reading, west of the capital, to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in southeast London, with access to key stations including Paddington, Bond Street, Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf.

The aim is to accelerate journeys and ease the strain on the world’s oldest underground railway system. A key stretch from Paddington to Farringdon parallels the original tunnel – but delivers passengers more comfortably and in about half the time.

£19bn. The main cost has been digging deep tunnels beneath central London to connect Paddington station in the west with Liverpool Street station and Whitechapel in the east plus the spur to Canary Wharf and Abbey Wood in southeast London.

No: three-and-a-half years later than planned, and £4bn over budget.

Not exactly. The Elizabeth line is running in three separate segments, with connections between the parts at Paddington and Liverpool Street stations. The east and west parts are on existing lines, just with new purple trains.

An analogy would be a promised link connecting Liverpool with Manchester, Leeds and Hull that requires passengers to change twice between the Mersey and the Humber.

Yes: within a year the full system should be working. Andy Byford, commissioner of Transport for London, told The Independent this morning that it was always the plan to open in phases.

Yes: no trains will run on the central section on Sundays until further notice except for a special Jubilee weekend service on 5 June. One of the key central London stations, Bond Street has not yet opened.

That remains to be seen. At present rail and Underground ridership is still below 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. Ticket revenue for Transport for London is way down on predictions – and the lost earnings due to the Elizabeth line being so late has also made a mess of the finances.

But the leaders backing the new line say we have to look to the future – London mayor Sadiq Khan told me: “It is genuinely 22nd-century fit: spacious, speedy, silent, comfortable.”

Mr Khan insists it does, saying:“It’s going to contribute £42bn towards the national economy every year.” Visitors to the capital should enjoy faster and less crowded journeys.

The line is integrated with the London Underground ticketing system, and the same “zone” system applies – between Abbey Wood and Paddington costs £4.30 during the peak (Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930) and £3.10 at other times. There’s a surcharge of £7.20 to and from Heathrow Airport.

TfL transport and city planner Liam McGrath has described the new Elizabeth Line station at Tottenham Court Road as “two stations for the price of one”.

Mr McGrath wrote on Twitter: “The deep level #ElizabethLine stations are transformative.

“At Tottenham Court Road the new Dean Street entrance is some distance from the original entrance - two stations for the price of one.

He posted photos of the interior taken early this morning, before the station became busy after 8am.

Users of London’s new Elizabeth line have been battling to send messages on social media about the weak wifi signal along the new train line.

In the newly opened subterranean line between Paddington and Abbey Wood, mobile phone networks are almost inaccessible apart from a couple of brief above-ground stretches.

The BBC London’s transport and environment correspondent, Tom Edwards, somehow managed to tweet: “The Elizabeth line TfL wifi isn’t very good tbh.”

Mike Wooldridge responded: “I haven’t got it to work in the core at all yet! Been relying on station wifi”.

On the separate segments of line east and west of central London, the existing, free Transport for London wifi works reasonably well.

Alex Ingram wrote: “I think (4G etc) connectivity in the tunnels turns on this autumn, IIRC [if I remember correctly].

“Though my worst signal is on the East London Line south of Canada Water in the steep embankments of the old Croydon Canal!”

A user going by the handle @CabvisionTaxi added: “What were you expecting for £18.6 billion?”

A TfL statement in December 2021 promised: “All ticket halls, platforms and tunnels across the tube network to have mobile coverage, with coverage on platforms and in tunnels on the Elizabeth line on track to go live next year.”

A more recent release from the transport operator gives an estimate of 2024 for network-wide wifi, saying: “By the end of 2024, Tube customers will be able to access full mobile connectivity and the internet within every London Underground station and tunnel.”

TikTok train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois has posted his video review of the new Elizabeth Line, which opened this morning.

In it, he saves a rogue butterfly from the London Paddington escalators, naming it Elizabeth, and praises the “soft waft of air conditioning” that greets passengers as they board the new purple-branded trains.

He raves about the “soft purple moquette” design of the tube trains’ seats, which he says “pairs with the greys of the interior”.

In a preview of the line, the TikTok star gets to see a diagonal elevator at Liverpool Street station and says that “each station is unique” along the line.

Watch the full video here:

Colin Kelso, 18, a worker at Glasgow airport, has explained why he travelled to London and stayed overnight in order to travel on the Elizabeth line on opening day.

He told The Independent: “To be able to say I was on the first train from Paddington is such an experience.

“This has been delayed for many years now, and I’ve been waiting probably since the first day I heard about it.

“I’ve been reading up almost every single day, and now that it’s open it’s finally amazing.”

Mr Kelso said he expected the Elizabeth line to bring new visitors to the capital.

“I think it will bring a lot more tourists into London, as a better way to get around central London. I think it will also take the pressure off the Central line as well. That can be really busy during the rush hour.”

The new route parallels the Central line between Bond Street (not yet open on the Elizabeth line), Tottenham Court Road and Liverpool Street stations.

“For the average commuter as well, it will speed up journey times and provide a better journey.”