TRAIN frequency was increased from 22 to 24 trains per hour in peak periods on the core section of London’s Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Whitechapel with the start of the new summer timetable on May 22.
In addition, Shenfield - Paddington trains were extended to Heathrow Airport for the first time to provide six trains/hour to Heathrow, while journey times from Reading into central London have been reduced by eliminating pauses in the timetable to the west of Paddington station.
There is an increase in peak services from Reading, with some trains that were previously operated by Great Western Railway transferring to become Elizabeth Line services with fewer stops. In the east, more peak services are now running between Liverpool Street main line station and Gidea Park.
The improvements mark the culmination of the Crossrail project to build a new, mainly underground line from Paddington to Stratford and Abbey Wood and connect it to existing lines to Reading and Heathrow in the west and Shenfield in the east.
May 24 will be the first anniversary of the opening of the Elizabeth Line. “In its first week, more than 2.5 million journeys were made on the entire route,” says Transport for London (TfL). “Now with journeys from the east and west running through central London, there are an average of around 3.5 million Elizabeth Line journeys each week, with around 600,000 journeys on weekdays.”
TfL figures suggest that the Elizabeth Line has attracted around 140,000 additional journeys in London each weekday.
TfL says that the Elizabeth Line is on course to break even by the end of the 2023-24 financial year, and it has already become one of the most used railways in Britain.
