How Elizabeth line will slash journey times across London

By Deputy Chief EditorDecember 20, 2017

153 5 minutes read

By Ted Thornhill and Charlie Bayliss For Mailonline

Published: 07:55 EST, 20 December 2017 | Updated: 11:29 EST, 20 December 2017

The fastest journey from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road – using the Circle Line to Euston Square then walking – currently takes 20 minutes, but on the Elizabeth line this will take just four. And to Bond Street just three, compared to the current quickest, which is 15.

Journey times from London Paddington to Tottenham Court Road will be slashed from 20mins to 4
A new Tube map has been released to mark one year from the opening of the Elizabeth line
The line, which stretches more than 60 miles under the capital, will have a total of 41 stations
Fifteen trains will run through the tunnels every hour for the £14.8 billion Crossrail project

The new Tube map has been released to mark a one year from the opening of the Elizabeth line, which will stretch more than 60 miles under the capital and stop at 41 stations

In December 2018 life in London is going to become a lot zippier – thanks to the opening of the Elizabeth line.

New trains will cross the capital, from Heathrow Airport in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield in the east, with Tube journey times slashed by up to 80 per cent in some cases.

For example the fastest journey from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road – using the Circle Line to Euston Square then walking – currently takes 20 minutes, but on the Elizabeth line this will take just four. And to Bond Street just three, compared to the current quickest, which is 15.

And from the same station to Stratford the journey time comes down from 31 minutes to 18, while it will take just 10 minutes to reach Liverpool Street from the mainline station hub and 17 to get to Canary Wharf.

Another huge reduction will be from Canary Wharf to Liverpool Street. At the moment it takes 21 minutes, but the swish new Elizabeth line trains will get there in six.

Meanwhile, passengers jumping on a train at Abbeywood, which is at the end of the south-eastern section, will be able to get to Heathrow Airport 42 minutes quicker than they can at the moment.

It currently takes 93 minutes.

Passengers there will also see a 20-minute reduction in journey times to Canary Wharf and a 19-minute reduction for trips to Bond Street, which is currently 44 minutes.

And workers at Canary Wharf jetting off from Heathrow will get an extra 16 minutes in duty free, because journey times to the airport will drop from 55 minutes to 39.

It’s not all positive though.

If you live in Shenfield the Elizabeth line doesn’t offer any reductions in journey times to Paddington, Bond Street or Canary Wharf – though you will be able to reach Heathrow 60 seconds faster.

The Crossrail project has cost £14.8 billion and is one of the most drastic improvements to the London Undergroud system in decades. The line will be fully operational by December 2019 although some services will begin next year

A new Tube map, meanwhile, has been revealed to mark one year until the Elizabeth line is opened.

The addition of the purple line is the newest and perhaps most radical change London Underground has seen in years.

Fifteen trains each hour will run through the newly built tunnels under London in the £14.8 billion Crossrail project, which has been funded by the Department for Transport and Transport for London (TfL).

TfL estimates the line will be used by 200 million passengers each year and increase rail capacity in the capital by 10 per cent

A general view of the westbound platform at the Farringdon Crossrail station, on December 19, 2017, in London. The original schedule was that the first trains would run in 2017, but in 2010 the government delayed this to 2018 in order to save £1billion

Construction workers make adjustments to the eastbound track at Farringdon Crossrail station on December 19, 2017. Travel times to places in the capital and as far away as Reading and Heathrow Airport will be reduced when the line is up and running

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: 'It’s truly exciting that in only a year London will see the opening of one of the biggest new transport projects in a generation.

'The new map being unveiled shows how the first phase of the Elizabeth line will connect to key parts of the transport network in the heart of central London, substantially reducing congestion on other key Tube lines as London’s population grows.'

All new trains will have a walk-through feature and be fully air conditioned, with live information and free WiFi. All 41 stations on the line will be step-free from street to platform. Ten new stations have been built to serve the new line, while the other 31 have been refurbished.

Rail minister Paul Maynard said: 'Seeing the Elizabeth line on the Tube map for the very first time is exciting confirmation that we are closer than ever to delivering a transformative change in London’s rail network.

'That means better, faster journeys for over half a million passengers per day, as well as offering new connections that will link people to Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton.'

Passenger escalators are seen in an entrance hall as work continues at the Farringdon Crossrail station, on December 19, 2017 in London, England

When the service is fully functional in December 2019, a train every two and a half minutes will stop at the station in peak times to allow passengers to travel through to Paddington, and then onto Heathrow or Reading in the west and Shenfield or Abbey Wood in the east

Journey times will be to many locations in the capital will be reduced when the line is operational. For example, it will only take eight minutes as opposed to the current 25 to get from Farringdon to Canary Wharf, while Farringdon to Bond Street will only take four minutes as opposed to the current 18 minutes

One of the other stations to benefit from the introduction of the Elizabeth line is Farringdon, which has undergone major reconstruction work ahead of the opening next year.

The central London station will be one of the busiest in the UK, connecting with Thameslink and London Underground to provide links with outer London, the home counties, the City, Canary Wharf and three of London’s five airports.

Two new ticket halls will be connected by underground mined platforms and the western end will be located on the corner of Farringdon Road and Cowcross Street to provide access to and from the Thameslink ticket hall.

A pedestrian priority plaza will also be installed between the Elizabeth line and Underground ticket halls at the western end of Cowcross street.

The station will open in December 2018 when services begin through central London. Trains will terminate at Paddington in the west and Abbey Wood in the east.

One of the newly built passenger thoroughfares is seen as work continues at Farringdon Crossrail station. Thirty stations will be refurbished as part of the project. As well as the capital, the line also stretches into the home counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex

By 2018 Farringdon will be Britain’s busiest station, with a sevenfold increase in commuters and 140 trains per hour passing through

Original Article

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