Essential facts about Crossrail, the Elizabeth line

One of Europe’s largest infrastructure projects, Crossrail is the new 118 km long railway which will dramatically improve transport connections between London’s major commercial and business districts - Heathrow, the West End, the City and Canary Wharf, as well as links between the Capital and home counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Essex.

The central section and a substantial portion of the line, between Paddington and Abbey Wood in the south-east, is due to open in December 2018.

Nearly forty-years after the Crossrail scheme was proposed as a solution to the problems of overcrowded public transport in central London, and after 35 years of planning and development, Crossrail broke ground on 15 May 2009 at the site of the new Canary Wharf station.

The 10 new central London Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) stations are: Abbey Wood, Woolwich, Custom House, Canary Wharf, Whitechapel, Liverpool Street, Farringdon, Tottenham Court Road, Bond Street and Paddington. Once fully completed the railway will serve 41 stations altogether.

Once fully finished, the line will add 10% extra capacity to central London’s rail and is expected to service 200 million passengers a year. 24 trains per hour will run through the central section at peak times in each direction. Each train will have nine carriages and be capable of carrying up to 1,500 passengers.

Most central London journey times will be cut by half with some that will be even five times quicker: from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road from 20 mins to 4, and from Canary Wharf to Liverpool Street from 21 minutes to six.

Crossrail journeys with contactless and Oyster cards within zones 1-6 will cost the same as pay-as-you go fares on the Tube – meaning that fares on the Elizabeth line will match Tube prices. The exception is the journey made to Heathrow airport which will cost more that if taken on Piccadilly Line.

Crossrail Benefits

It is estimated that the Crossrail will add around £42bn to the UK economy. By dramatically improving transport links in London and the South East this construction project has driven house-building, supported wider regeneration, created jobs and business opportunities and transformed the reputation of some London areas such as West Ealing, Woolwich and Whitechapel, that were historically seen as unfashionable. According to a report from Lloyds Bank, Crossrail (the Elizabeth line) has triggered a spike in house prices around its stations which grew on average by 39% in three years up until  end of 2017.

The urban realm designs along the line include 24 new station forecourts and 12 improved forecourts, 20 new pedestrian crossings in addition to existing improved crossings, 328 new trees and 1,335 new bike parking spaces.

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