Elizabeth Line map: Where you can go and how long it will take from May 24
This is the Elizabeth Line – a brand new service that promises to ‘revolutionise’ travel in London by connecting commuter towns in the east and west.
It’s cost £18.8billion put together and is three-and-a-half years late thanks to a number of setbacks, but it is finally ready to open on May 24.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the line would deliver a £42billion boost to the whole UK economy and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Many travel-weary commuters from the suburbs will find their journey times being slashed significantly as a result of the Crossrail project.
Once it is fully opened, it is expected to increase London’s public transport capacity by 10%, but a full timetable won’t be ready until next year.
For now, the Elizabeth Line will operate as three separate sections, so there are not expected to be any end-to-end trains available until autumn this year.
The new central section will connect Paddington station with Abbey Wood in southeast London.
How long will journey times take?
- The Elizabeth line will cut journey times from Abbey Wood, southeast London, to Paddington by almost half to 29 minutes.
- Journeys between Liverpool Street and Woolwich will also be halved to 15 minutes.
- Trips between Farringdon and Canary Wharf will take 10 minutes instead of 24.
Other example journey times:
- Bond Street to Liverpool Street: Seven minutes
- Woolwich to Farringdon: 14 minutes
- Paddington to Canary Wharf: 17 minutes
East section journey times (Autumn 2022)
- Stratford to Bond Street: 15 minutes
- Romford to Liverpool Street: 27 minutes
West section journey times (Autumn 2022)
- Tottenham Court Road to Ealing Broadway: 13 minutes
- Paddington to Slough: 26 minutes
People coming coming from the west, either from Heathrow or Reading, will have to change at Paddington to access the central tunnels.
Those travelling in from Shenfield in Essex will have to change at Liverpool street for now before the route is fully connected later this year.
The Elizabeth line will operate 12 trains per hour between Paddington and Abbey Wood from Monday to Saturday 06:30am to 11pm. Initially trains will not run on Sundays to allow for testing and software updates.
Services currently running as TfL Rail in the east and west sections will be rebranded to the new Elizabeth line.
A full timetable won’t be ready until 2023 and the opening still depends on final safety approvals.
But once the service is fully up and running, it is expected to increase the capacity of London’s public transport by 10% – serving around 200million people each year.
Click here for a full screen version of the Elizabeth Line map.
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