Categories: World

Queen Elizabeth makes a surprise appearance at the opening of the London Underground

Queen Elizabeth makes a surprise appearance at the opening of the London Underground

Queen Elizabeth II appeared by surprise at the opening ceremony of a long-awaited tube line in London on Tuesday (17).

The monarch, walking with a cane and wearing a bright yellow outfit, visited the new Elizabeth line, named in her honor.

She received an Oyster prepaid travel card at the event at Paddington station in west London, but did not use the tube.

The Queen attended the event with her son, Prince Edward, and was welcomed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The 96-year-old monarch has struggled with mobility issues and has canceled several appearances at public events in recent months, including the opening of Parliament last week.

The ceremony in Parliament is a fundamental constitutional responsibility and cannot happen without the monarch. The Queen had to delegate this responsibility to Charles, Prince of Wales and William, Duke of Cambridge, who are Councilors of State.

The Elizabeth line, known as Crossrail when it was under construction, was built on a much larger scale than the existing “Tube” lines in the city. The first part opens to the public next Tuesday (24).

The 100km network is built around a core made up of 40km of new tunnels through central London, dug with incredible precision under one of the most densely developed cities in the world.

At the height of construction, Crossrail was Europe’s largest engineering project. The double tunnels, 20 meters in diameter and up to 40 meters deep, weave around building foundations, London’s underground tunnels and countless other structures and utilities.

Pre-pandemic projections predict that around 200 million passengers a year are expected to use the Elizabeth line when it is fully open, but that number has been cast into doubt due to changing work patterns.

Source: CNN Brasil