He got up at around 4.30am to ride the first train from Paddington
By Victoria Munro

Vincent Karthaus at the Elizabeth line stop in Abbey Wood (credit: Roland Karthaus)

A Walthamstow teenager and train fanatic celebrated his 15th birthday yesterday riding the first ever Elizabeth line train.

Vincent Karthaus, who has loved all forms of public transport from a young age, got up at around 4.30am on 24th May to ensure he could catch the line’s first train.

Vincent, his father Roland and a school friend rode from Paddington to Abbey Wood and Woolwich before returning in time for the school day.

Roland told the Echo Vincent has always adored transport and even has a Youtube channel with a friend dedicated to riding every bus route in London.

This story is published by Waltham Forest Echo, Waltham Forest's free monthly newspaper and free news website. We are a not-for-profit publication, published by a small social enterprise. We have no rich backers and rely on the support of our readers. Donate or become a supporter.

A crowd of people waiting to ride the first train (credit: Roland Karthaus)

He said: “Even when he was a toddler, Vincent used to ask to be taken to certain Walthamstow bus stations to watch the buses go by.

“He especially loves trains and always used to watch them from the bridge in Walthamstow Village because you can see them going in both directions and they cross over, he always got very excited about that.

“He can recite all 272 Tube stations and, if you name any station on the map, he can tell you what stations are in either direction.”

Roland and Vincent joined a huge crowd of other train fans to ride the Elizabeth line’s maiden voyage.

Roland added: “It was very busy but we really enjoyed it. The train is fantastic, it’s so smooth and comfortable. I’m an architect and thought the stations were really nicely-designed too.

“It will obviously make a huge difference to East-West routes. I travel to the Docklands from Walthamstow quite often, which is extremely difficult at the moment but Crossrail will make that much easier.”

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.