Farringdon’s Elizabeth line station has been officially handed over to Transport for London (TfL) today. It is the first of the central London stations to be formally transferred over to TfL – following Custom House last year next to the DLR.

This follows on from the T-12 milestone achieved on 10th December last year – which triggered a 12-week handover.

When it opens, the station will have two main entrances, both with ticket halls, one at the Barbican and the other at the existing Farringdon Underground and Thameslink station.

When the Elizabeth line opens, Farringdon station is going to be an exceptionally busy station. The combination of the London Underground, Thameslink and the Elizabeth line, with over 150 trains per hour passing through at peak times, and connections to three airports, is set to turn Farringdon into one of the busiest interchange stations in London.

There is a virtual tour of the station here.

The station is now ready and the testing and commissioning of systems have been finalised in advance of Trial Operations beginning later this year.

Trial Operations is the final phase of testing involving trials to ensure the safety and reliability of the railway for public use. This includes real-time testing of evacuations of trains and stations before opening the Elizabeth line.

Both Tottenham Court Road and Paddington stations have also reached the T-12 landmark, which means the stations are now considered to be 12 weeks away from being ready to hand over and will be the next stations to transfer to TfL.

Kim Kapur, London Underground’s Head of Station Integration, said: “This is a great achievement by both the Crossrail and London Underground teams. Farringdon is the first London Underground Elizabeth line interface station to transfer, and my team will now be able to begin key readiness activities ahead of Trial Operations and ultimately opening this amazing station for passenger use.”