Crossrail is a 118-kilometre (73-mile) railway line under development in London and the home counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex. The central section and a large portion of the line, between Paddington in central London and Abbey Wood in the south-east, are due to open in December 2018; at that time the service will be named the Elizabeth line.[5] The western section beyond Paddington, to Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport, is due to enter operation in December 2019, completing the new east-west route across Greater London. Part of the eastern section, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in Essex, was transferred to a precursor service called TfL Rail in 2015; this section will be connected to the central route through central London to Paddington in May 2019.