London rail › Elizabeth

Elizabeth line

London's east–west railway, built as Crossrail. New twin-bore tunnels, 21 km long, link the Great Western main line from Reading and Heathrow with the Great Eastern to Shenfield and a new branch to Abbey Wood. The central section opened in May 2022, and the project's estimated final cost was £18.9bn, not counting the trains and depot.

2022Opened
118 kmLength
41Stations
24Peak trains per hour, central section
257.4 millionJourneys a year, ORR estimate (2025–26)

Facts

Opened
24 May 2022
Termini
Reading / Heathrow Terminals 4 and 5 – Shenfield / Abbey Wood
Type
main-line railway with a tunnelled central section
Depots
Old Oak Common (trains), Plumstead (infrastructure maintenance)
Operator
GTS Rail Operations, for TfL (MTR until 25 May 2025)
Shares track
The central section, from Westbourne Park to Abbey Wood and Pudding Mill Lane, belongs to Rail for London (Infrastructure). Beyond it the line runs on Network Rail's Great Western and Great Eastern main lines, and the end of the Heathrow branch belongs to Heathrow Airport.
Class 345, schematic side elevation, 2 cars
Class 345 · Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom), Derby

Route 41 stations

Reading – Shenfield via Paddington 34
Reading – Shenfield via Paddington: schematic, not to scale Reading — change for National RailReading Twyford — change for National RailTwyford Maidenhead — change for National RailMaidenhead Taplow — change for National RailTaplow Burnham — change for National RailBurnham Slough — change for National RailSlough Langley — change for National RailLangley Iver — change for National RailIver West Drayton — change for National RailWest Drayton Hayes & Harlington — change for National RailHayes & Harlington Southall — change for National RailSouthall HanwellHanwell West Ealing — change for National RailWest Ealing Ealing Broadway — change for Central, District, National RailEaling Broadway Acton Main Line — change for National RailActon Main Line Paddington — change for Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, National RailPaddington Bond Street — change for Central, JubileeBond Street Tottenham Court Road — change for Central, NorthernTottenham Court Road Farringdon — change for Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, National RailFarringdon Liverpool Street — change for Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Overground (Weaver), National RailLiverpool Street Whitechapel — change for District, Hammersmith & City, Overground (Windrush)Whitechapel Stratford — change for Central, Jubilee, Overground (Mildmay), DLR, National RailStratford MarylandMaryland Forest GateForest Gate Manor ParkManor Park Ilford — change for National RailIlford Seven Kings — change for National RailSeven Kings GoodmayesGoodmayes Chadwell HeathChadwell Heath Romford — change for Overground (Liberty), National RailRomford Gidea Park — change for National RailGidea Park Harold WoodHarold Wood BrentwoodBrentwood Shenfield — change for National RailShenfield
Whitechapel – Abbey Wood 5
Whitechapel – Abbey Wood: schematic, not to scale Whitechapel — change for District, Hammersmith & City, Overground (Windrush)Whitechapel Canary Wharf — change for Jubilee, DLRCanary Wharf Custom House — change for DLRCustom House WoolwichWoolwich Abbey Wood — change for National RailAbbey Wood
Heathrow Terminal 5 – Hayes & Harlington 3
Heathrow Terminal 5 – Hayes & Harlington: schematic, not to scale Heathrow Terminal 5 — change for Piccadilly, National RailHeathrow Terminal 5 Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 — change for Piccadilly, National RailHeathrow Terminals 2 & 3 Hayes & Harlington — change for National RailHayes & Harlington
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 – Heathrow Terminal 4 2
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 – Heathrow Terminal 4: schematic, not to scale Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 — change for Piccadilly, National RailHeathrow Terminals 2 & 3 Heathrow Terminal 4 — change for PiccadillyHeathrow Terminal 4

Schematic, not to scale. Ringed stations are interchanges. Each strip is one branch, between junctions or termini. Station order from TfL open data.

StationZoneInterchanges
ReadingNational Rail
TwyfordNational Rail
MaidenheadNational Rail
TaplowNational Rail
BurnhamNational Rail
SloughNational Rail
LangleyNational Rail
IverNational Rail
West Drayton6National Rail
Hayes & Harlington5National Rail
Southall4National Rail
Hanwell4
West Ealing3National Rail
Ealing Broadway3Central, District, National Rail
Acton Main Line3National Rail
Paddington1Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, National Rail
Bond Street1Central, Jubilee
Tottenham Court Road1Central, Northern
Farringdon1Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, National Rail
Liverpool Street1Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Overground (Weaver), National Rail
Whitechapel2District, Hammersmith & City, Overground (Windrush)
Stratford2/3Central, Jubilee, Overground (Mildmay), DLR, National Rail
Maryland3
Forest Gate3
Manor Park3/4
Ilford4National Rail
Seven Kings4National Rail
Goodmayes4
Chadwell Heath5
Romford6Overground (Liberty), National Rail
Gidea Park6National Rail
Harold Wood6
Brentwood9
ShenfieldNational Rail
Canary Wharf2Jubilee, DLR
Custom House3DLR
Woolwich4
Abbey Wood4National Rail
Heathrow Terminal 56Piccadilly, National Rail
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 36Piccadilly, National Rail
Heathrow Terminal 46Piccadilly

Stations, zones and interchanges from TfL open data (2026-10-02). National Rail interchanges are listed where TfL groups the stations together.

Some trains from Reading and Heathrow end in Paddington's main-line station, and some from Shenfield in Liverpool Street's. The diagram shows the Elizabeth line's own platforms.

Rolling stock

History 18

  1. The Crossrail Bill goes to Parliament.
  2. The Crossrail Act receives Royal Assent.
  3. Construction begins at Canary Wharf.
  4. Tunnelling begins. Eight tunnel boring machines drive 42 km of tunnel, finishing in May 2015.
  5. TfL Rail takes over the stopping trains between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
  6. The Queen visits Bond Street, and Crossrail is named the Elizabeth line.
  7. The first Class 345 train enters passenger service.
  8. TfL Rail takes over the Heathrow Connect trains between Paddington and Heathrow.
  9. Crossrail announces that the central section, due in December 2018, will be late.
  10. TfL Rail takes over the stopping trains between Paddington and Reading.
  11. The Queen visits Paddington's Elizabeth line station and unveils a plaque.
  12. The central section opens from Paddington to Abbey Wood, with 12 trains an hour, Monday to Saturday. Bond Street isn't ready.
  13. Bond Street station opens.
  14. Trains from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield start running through central London, and Sunday services begin.
  15. The full timetable starts: 24 trains an hour through the centre at peak times, and direct trains from Shenfield to Heathrow.
  16. Ten more trains are ordered from Alstom, with maintenance to 2046.
  17. GTS Rail Operations takes over running the line from MTR.
  18. The first of the ten new trains starts testing at Derby. The line has carried more than 850 million journeys since opening.

Sources 24

How we source figures →