"Unlike many railway projects, Crossrail has been delivered on time and on budget, costs being carefully controlled."
- Great Britain's Railways: A New History" (pub.2018)
Colin G. Maggs
"... Of course I wish we hadn't had the delay"
- Andy Byford, TfL Commissioner
in an interview with Modern Railways
History |
Dates |
Features |
Services |
Layout |
Depots |
Connections |
Rolling stock |
The Elizabeth Line started life as "Crossrail" in 1974. London planners looked at Paris, where in the 1970s the Metro system was augmented by the RER: fast routes in tunnel through the central area that connected at each end to existing main lines to reach suburban areas further out than normally served by a metro system. Such routes had four major advantages: they reduced the load on the Metro by adding new capacity, they improved journey times by making fewer stops in the central area, they eliminated the need for some commuters to change between train and Metro at the former's terminus, and they introduced more direct journey opportunities by combining suburban routes.
By the late 1980s travel in the north-south direction through central London was being addressed by the Victoria Line, the Jubilee Line, and Thameslink, but that in the east-west direction had had no significant improvements since the 1940s. The worst issues were with the Central Line and the northern side of the Circle Line, so a new cross-London line, named "Crossrail", was proposed to relieve them. The key feature of the Crossrail proposal was (and is) a tunnel from west of Paddington to east of Liverpool Street, connecting at the western end to the GWR main line and at the eastern end to the GER line towards Norwich. Local services on these two lines, as far as Reading and Shenfield respectively, then became part of the Crossrail service.
At the early stages a number of proposals were considered. There were three main alternatives on the western side that were eventually rejected.
A new tunnel - or a surface line through Old Oak Depot - to meet the Metropolitan Line around Neasden, from where it would have run via Amersham to Aylesbury. It would have used the fast lines from Harrow-on-the-Hill northwards and replaced all services from Rickmansworth northwards (including Chesham), leaving the Metropolitan Line to serve only Uxbridge and Watford and Chiltern Railways to only run via West Ruislip. There would also have been new platforms on the western pair of tracks to allow trains to serve Wembley Park and Northwood.
Photo [336kb] and info (Note that the image shows a slightly different arrangement, with Crossrail trains not stopping at Rickmansworth and Chorleywood and with the Metropolitan Line continuing to run to Chesham.) |
The first two options would have required converting the relevant lines to overhead electrification, replacing the third and fourth rails where present. It is unlikely that more than one of these would have ever been accepted, because the first two run relatively near to each other and because more than two western termini would unbalance the service too much.
As well as this main axis, Crossrail takes over the existing NR branch to Heathrow airport. For a while it was also proposed that the line from Paddington to Airport Junction would be widened to 6 running tracks, but this idea was eventually abandoned.
The present choice of routes was finalized in 2004 and approved by Parliament in 2008, with construction starting the following year. The main axis originally ran from Maidenhead to Shenfield; Maidenhead, rather than the more obvious Reading, was chosen as the western terminus because this line would need to be electrified and the cost of the necessary works at Reading was seen as too great. As soon as NR committed to electrifying the line through Reading (to Newbury and Cardiff) for other reasons, Crossrail could be extended to Reading at effectively no cost.
However, the increasing importance of the Docklands area and the need for cross-river connections led to a second route being added on the eastern side, via Canary Wharf to Abbey Wood. This was chosen as the terminus because it serves an area of new housing development (incidentally, Abbey Wood is also the first station in alphabetical order on either the London Underground or National Rail). Initially it was proposed to extend the line further to Dartford, Swanscombe, and then over a new connection to Ebbsfleet, but this has since been abandoned, though future extension to Gravesend using dual-voltage trains is still under consideration.
Two alternative river crossings were considered, one to Charlton and the one adopted. Originally there would have been no stations between Custom House and Abbey Wood, but there was pressure for a station at Woolwich. An initial compromise meant a station box would be built during construction of the line but left bare, not be fitted out as a station, but additional funding was subsequently raised and the complete station was included in the final line.
The line runs under the closed Kingsway Tram Tunnel and during construction a shaft was built connecting the two to allow grout and concrete to be pumped down to the new tunnels. This has now been filled in and the tram tunnel restored to its previous condition.
Until the summer of 2018, with the opening scheduled for 9th December, it was believed the line would open on time and within budget. However, at this point it emerged that there were several problems and cost overruns that hadn't been revealed to the top management and in August it was announced that opening dates were being pushed back - in the end by almost four years - and that costs would increase, eventually by around 30%. In 2020 the existing Crossrail Board was dissolved and TfL took direct control of the work. Bond Street station was 18 months behind everything else; this was reduced to under 6 months by the time the rest of the line was opened, with the station in a good enough state to allow passenger trains to pass through and for it to be used in emergencies.
Although the majority of the line runs on NR infrastructure, trains are operated by TfL.
The name change to the "Elizabeth Line" was decided in 2016 but was only brought into use when the central tunnel opened. In the meantime, services not running through the central tunnel were marketed as "TfL Rail".
1838-06-04 | [1] | Taplow to Paddington opened (GWR) |
West Drayton | ||
1838-12-01 | Hanwell, Ealing Broadway | |
1839-05-01 | Southall | |
1839-06-20 | [2] | Devonshire Street Mile End to Romford opened (ECR) |
Stratford, Ilford | ||
1839-07-01 | [0] | Twyford to Taplow opened (GWR) |
1840-03-30 | 0 | Reading to Twyford opened (GWR) |
1840-06-01 | Slough | |
1840-07-01 | [0] | [Bishopsgate Junction] to Devonshire Street Mile End opened (ECR) |
[0] | Romford to Brentwood opened (ECR) | |
1840-12 | Devonshire Street Mile End | |
1840 | Forest Gate | |
1843-03-29 | 0 | Brentwood to Shenfield opened (ECR) |
1843-05-31 | Forest Gate | |
1845 | Langley | |
1846-05-31 | Forest Gate | |
1847-06-14 | 0 | (Silvertown) to [North Woolwich portal] opened (North Woolwich Railway) |
1849-07-30 | 1 | [Plumstead portal] to [Alsike Road junction] (SER) |
1854-05-29 | Paddington | |
1855-12-01 | 1 | [Custom House portal] to (Silvertown) opened (Eastern Counties & Thames Junction Railway)[1] |
1863-06-19 | Silvertown | |
1864-01-11 | Chadwell Heath | |
1864-05-01 | Hayes & Harlington | |
1865-02-01 | Coborn Road | |
1868-02-01 | Acton Main Line | |
1868-02-01 | Harold Wood | |
1871-03-01 | West Ealing | |
1871-10-30 | Royal Oak | |
1871-10-30 | Westbourne Park | |
1871-11-01 | Maidenhead | |
1872-05-24 | Bethnal Green | |
1872-09-01 | Taplow | |
1872-11-04 | 0 | Bishopsgate to Bethnal Green opened (GER) |
1873-01-06 | Maryland, Manor Park | |
1874-02-02 | 0 | Liverpool Street (high level) to Bishopsgate opened (GER) |
1883-12-01 | Coborn Road | |
1883-12-02 | Coborn Road for Old Ford | |
1884-07-01 | Globe Road and Devonshire Street | |
1884-08-09 | West Drayton | |
1884-09-08 | Slough | |
1899-03-01 | Seven Kings | |
1899-07-01 | Burnham | |
1901-02-08 | Goodmayes | |
1910-12-01 | Gidea Park | |
1916-05-21 | Bishopsgate, Globe Road and Devonshire Street, Coborn Road for Old Ford | |
1919-05-05 | Coborn Road for Old Ford | |
1924-12-01 | Iver | |
1946-12-07 | Coborn Road for Old Ford | |
1992-03-12 | Westbourne Park | |
1994-03-28 | Custom House (DLR) | |
1994-05-28 | [Custom House portal] to [North Woolwich portal] closed[2] | |
1995-10-29 | 1 | [Custom House portal] to [North Woolwich portal] reopened |
1996-01-15 | Pudding Mill Lane | |
1998-06-23 | 1 | Heathrow Terminal 4 to Hayes & Harlington opened (NR) |
2006-12-09 | [Custom House portal] to [North Woolwich portal] closed | |
2008-03-27 | 0 | Heathrow Terminal 5 to Heathrow Terminals 2&3 opened (NR) |
2015-05-31 | Liverpool Street (high level) to Shenfield started (as "TfL Rail") | |
2018-05-20 | Heathrow Terminal 4 to [Westbourne Park Jn] started (as "TfL Rail") | |
[Westbourne Park Jn] to Paddington (main line) started (as "TfL Rail") | ||
2018-08-04 | Goodmayes (footbridge strengthening) | |
2018-08-13 | Goodmayes | |
2019-12-15 | Reading to Hayes & Harlington started (as "TfL Rail") | |
2020-05-08 | Heathrow Terminal 4 to Heathrow Terminals 2&3 closed (Covid-19) | |
2020-10-01 | Crossrail officially handed over to TfL. | |
2021-03-28 | Crossrail officially classified as an operational railway. | |
2022-05-24 | [7] | Paddington to Abbey Wood opened[3] |
Bond Street | ||
2022-06-15 | 0 | Heathrow Terminal 4 to Heathrow Terminals 2&3 reopened |
2022-10-24 | Bond Street | |
2022-11-06 | 0 | Whitechapel to Stratford opened |
0 | Acton Main Line to Paddington opened | |
Heathrow Terminal 5 to Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 started |
[1] The Eastern Counties & Thames Junction Railway was the owner of the North Woolwich Railway. The route that opened on this date was on the surface throughout. When the Albert Dock was opened the line crossed the channel connecting it to the Royal Victoria Dock and a swing-bridge had to be added. The EC&TJR therefore dug the Connaught Tunnel and diverted the line through it while also retaining the original route, which is almost but not exactly on the same alignment. The tunnel route opened in 1878 or 1880 (sources disagree). The western end of the divergence was at 410809, slightly west of Prince Regent station on the DLR (which is on the original route); the eastern end was at the west end of Silvertown station. Passenger trains on the line were operated by a mixture of the North London Railway and the GER, who eventually bought it.
[2] The BR line from Stratford to North Woolwich, including this section, was closed. The DLR route paralleling it from Canning Town to Beckton remained open.
[3] There were a number of special services for invited guests operated before this date. In addition, on 2021-11-29 a passenger managed to board a train at Abbey Wood and rode all the way to Paddington.
The central section is in tunnel from west of Paddington to west of Stratford on the main route and west of Custom House on the Abbey Wood branch. The latter branch follows the former alignment of the North London Line (including through the Connaught Tunnel) to North Woolwich (this was closed when the DLR was extended from Canning Town to Stratford), before diverging and crossing under the Thames then surfacing again to run beside the existing line to Abbey Wood. (Originally it was planned to place the new tracks between those of the existing line, but this was later changed to the present side-by-side arrangement.)
Outside the central section, both the Reading and Shenfield routes are entirely on the surface. Both have 4 tracks (6 in some places near London) arranged as a fast pair and a slow pair; the Elizabeth Line uses the slow pair. On the Reading route the slow pair are on the north side throughout. On the Shenfield route, the slow pair are on the south side (to give cross-platform interchange with the Central Line) until just west of Ilford, where they fly over the fast pair so as to put the slow pair on the north side and provide access to Ilford depot; they remain on the north side to Shenfield.
The Heathrow branch is also in tunnel. It is double track except for the Heathrow Terminal 4 branch, which is single.
Stations from Paddington to Whitechapel, plus Canary Wharf and Woolwich, have platform-edge doors. Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, and Liverpool Street stations have separate entrances at each end. In the first three cases, one end connects to the existing Underground lines; the new Liverpool Street station connects to both the existing Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations.
The new tunnels have a diameter of 6m (19'8"), large enough to accommodate full-size trains and an emergency walkway. The line is electrified throughout at 25 kV AC, using solid conductor bars rather than wires in the central tunnels.
The central section, from Westbourne Park Junction to Stratford and to Abbey Wood, is fitted with a CBTC signalling system from Siemens. On this section trains normally operate automatically, with the drivers' work being limited to starting the automatics at each station and operating the doors. The western section, from Reading and Heathrow to Westbourne Park Junction, is being fitted with ETCS Level 2 (the Heathrow branch is already fitted), providing protection against overspeed and exceeding the train's movement authority, but the trains are still driven manually. The eastern section, from Pudding Mill Lane portal to Shenfield, uses standard NR signals with AWS and TPWS protection. This is also being used on the western section until ETCS is operational. At the west end of the central section, trains change systems on the move at Westbourne Park Junction and Heathrow Tunnel Junction, but at the east end they currently do so while stopped at Stratford station.
Trains are capable of driving themselves automatically from Paddington to Westbourne Park sidings, reversing direction, and then returning to Paddington. This means that, instead of drivers having to close down one end after stopping, walk through the train, then open it up in the opposite direction before it can start moving, they can walk through the train while all this is going on. Auto-reverse will also be used at Plumstead sidings: the driver will remain at the west end of the train while it drives west into a head-shunt and then east to Abbey Wood, ready to depart westwards in service (it's not clear whether the converse move to return to the sidings will also be under auto-reverse).
After two intermediate timetables, the final "stage 5c" service was introduced on 2023-05-21. It consists of 24 tph in the peaks and 16 tph the rest of the time:
Between | and | peak | off-peak | Sundays |
---|---|---|---|---|
Paddington | Abbey Wood | 4 tph | ||
Paddington | Gidea Park | 4 tph | ||
Paddington | Shenfield | 10 tph | 6 tph | 2 tph |
Heathrow Terminal 4 | Abbey Wood | 4 tph | 4 tph | 4 tph |
Heathrow Terminal 5 | Shenfield | 2 tph | 2 tph | 2 tph |
Maidenhead | Abbey Wood | 2 tph | 2 tph | |
Reading | Abbey Wood | 4 tph | 2 tph | 2 tph |
6 tidal services (2 tph) operate between Gidea Park and Liverpool Street mainline in the peak direction only. A few early and late trains use the Liverpool Street and Paddington mainline platforms.
All trains call at all stations except that Reading and Maidenhead services omit Hanwell, West Ealing, and Acton Main Line, and a few Reading peak services also omit Taplow, Langley, Iver, Hayes & Harlington, and Southall.
The normal running times from Paddington are: Reading: 59 minutes, Heathrow Terminal 4: 38 minutes, Heathrow Terminal 5: 38 minutes, Heathrow Terminals 2&3: 31 minutes, Whitechapel: 14 minutes, Stratford: 19 minutes, Abbey Wood: 29 minutes, Romford: 39 minutes, Shenfield: 53 minutes.
Locations are listed down the page in the eastbound direction.
The Elizabeth Line does not use distances from Ongar. The zero point for the Crossrail section of the line (i.e. the new construction as opposed to existing NR lines) is just east of the boundary between NR and TfL at Royal Oak, just over 1 mile from Paddington main line station, with numbers increasing eastwards; the short section west of that is given negative numbers. Where a chainage for NR locations is needed, a metricated version of the NR chainage is used with a zero of Paddington, Liverpool Street, or a point within Westcombe Park station as appropriate.
This page uses a zero point exactly 100 km west of the Crossrail zero point. Distances from Crossrail data use a decimal point; those from Network Rail data use an equals sign.
Crossrail uses separate chainages in each direction and so two values are given for each location, westbound and eastbound in that order. The notation 123:124 indicates the same location with the difference being caused by the tracks following different alignments of different lengths. The notation 123/124 indicates different measuring points on each track (e.g. because platform centre points aren't exactly aligned). Where a measurement only applies to one track, a dash is used for the other.
Numbers on the NR sections are projected from the westbound TfL chainages.
SU715738 | 43=75 | [=7dd=du=uW=WE=E[4]] | Reading | |||
SU790758 | 52=00 | [=we=WE=v] | Twyford | |||
SU887807 | 62=64 | [=we=WE=v] | Maidenhead | |||
SU911812 | 65=05 | [-] | ((Taplow)) | |||
SU915813 | 65=45 | [we =3WE4=] | Taplow | |||
SU940813 | 67=91 | [weW=E] | Burnham | |||
SU978802 | 71=95 | [v=we=WE=^] | Slough | |||
SU980801 | 72=15 | [-] | ((Slough)) | |||
TQ013797 | 75=53 | [=we=WE=] | Langley | |||
037799 | 78=51 | [=we=WE=] | Iver | |||
[-] | ((West Drayton)) | |||||
061801 | 80=38 | [=we=WE= b] | West Drayton | |||
086795 | 82=92 | [-] | [Down Airport Relief Junction] | |||
093794 | 83=66 | [-] | [Up Airport Relief Junction] | |||
097794 | 84=12 | [=we=WE=^] | Hayes & Harlington | |||
127798 | 87=04 | [=we=WE=] | Southall | |||
153805 | 89=82 | [we =2WE3=] | Hanwell | |||
166807 | 91=06 | [we W3=4E] | West Ealing | |||
179809 | 92=47 | [=we=WE= ^=^^=^^=] | Ealing Broadway | |||
203812 | 94=79 | [we=WE= we+1] | Acton Main Line | |||
247818 | -:99.5855 | [-] | [Westbourne Park Junction and NR boundary (eastbound)] | |||
250817 | 99.762:- | [-] | [Westbourne Park Junction and NR boundary (westbound)] | |||
257815 | 100.32200:100.32200 | [-] | [Royal Oak portal] | |||
259815 | 100.51000:100.51000 | [-] | [Royal Oak tunnel eye] | |||
265813 | 101.43091/101.44561 | [W'B'='A'E] | Paddington | |||
285810 | Bond Street west entrance | |||||
285810 | 103.83628/103.83248 | [W'B'= ='A'E] | Bond Street entrances at 285810 and 288810 | |||
288810 | Bond Street east entrance | |||||
295813 | Tottenham Court Road west entrance | |||||
297813 | 104.89161/104.89622 | [W'B'= ='A'E] | Tottenham Court Road | |||
298813 | Tottenham Court Road east entrance | |||||
316818 | Farringdon west entrance | |||||
317818 | 107.17585/107.10979 | [W'B'= ='A'E] | Farringdon | |||
319818 | Farringdon east entrance | |||||
327816 | Liverpool Street west entrance | |||||
328817 | 108.35035/108.28967 | [W'B'= ='A'E] | Liverpool Street | |||
331816 | Liverpool Street east entrance | |||||
346819 | 110.38541/110.29088 | [W'B'= ='A'E] | Whitechapel | |||
358816 | 111.42488/111.33298 | [-] | [Stepney Green Junction] | |||
376833 | 114.32900:114.15400 | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane tunnel eye] | |||
379836 | 114.76710:114.59480 | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane portal] | |||
379836 | 114.842394:114.665806 | [-] | [NR boundary] | |||
380837 | 114.97840:- | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane Junction (westbound)] | |||
380838 | -:114.88660 | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane Junction (eastbound)] | |||
385844 | 115.71841/115.57047 | [v'4a'='4b'v ='3a'w3=5We6=8Eu=db'10a'=11ud= v2=1v] | Stratford | |||
391849 | 116=63 | [=WE=we=] | Maryland | |||
404852 | 117=88 | [=WE=we=] | Forest Gate | |||
419856 | 119=45 | [=WE=we=] | Manor Park | |||
429862 | 120=63 | [-] | [Aldersbrook flyover] | |||
435865 | 121=24 | [=we=WE=v] | Ilford | |||
442867 | 121=94 | [-] | [Ilford Depot entrance] | |||
450870 | 122=89 | [-] | [Ilford Depot entrance] | |||
453871 | 123=19 | [=we=WE=] | Seven Kings | |||
464873 | 124=36 | [=we=WE=] | Goodmayes | |||
476876 | 125=48 | [=we=WE=] | Chadwell Heath | |||
514884 | 129=32 | [=^ =we=WE=] | Romford | |||
529893 | 131=15 | [w=eW=E] | Gidea Park | |||
548906 | 133=47 | [=we=WE=] | Harold Wood | |||
593930 | 138=70 | [=we=WE=] | Brentwood | |||
613950 | 141=92 | [uu=ud=WE=V] | Shenfield | |||
358816 | 111.42488/111.33298 | [-] | [Stepney Green Junction] | |||
377804 | 113.82999/113.75832 | [W'B'='A'E] | Canary Wharf (3) | |||
404808 | 116.63900:116.56100 | [-] | [Victoria Dock portal] | |||
407809 | 117.14719/117.07020 | [w=eW=E X] | Custom House | |||
414808 | 117.85500:117.77500 | [-] | [Connaught Tunnel north portal] | |||
417803 | 118.42500:118.35000 | [-] | [Connaught Tunnel south portal] | |||
420801 | 118.87422:118.79788 | [WE=] | (Silvertown) | |||
428799 | 119.53800:119.46100 | [-] | [North Woolwich portal] | |||
440789 | 121.19706/121.11634 | [W'B'='A'E] | Woolwich | |||
452788 | 122.64300:122.54400 | [-] | [Plumstead tunnel eye] | |||
451788 | 123.08400:123.00000 | [-] | [Plumstead portal] | |||
460789 | -:123.19141 | [-] | [Plumstead sidings access] | |||
473790 | 124.50040:124.37240 | [T=Bd=u X] | Abbey Wood | |||
481791 | 125.2998817:- | [-] | [NR boundary] | |||
483791 | 125.44290:- | [-] | [Alsike Road Junction] | |||
050758 | 75=360 | [= W3==4Ew1=2e] | Heathrow Terminal 5 | |||
070756 | 77=556 | [-] | [junction] | |||
074758 | 78=095 | [CP] | Heathrow Terminals 2&3 | |||
077793 | 81=737 | [-] | [Heathrow Tunnel Junction] | |||
086795 | 82=92 | [-] | [Down Airport Relief Junction] | |||
093794 | 83=66 | [-] | [Up Airport Relief Junction] | |||
080745 | 75=125 | [CP] | Heathrow Terminal 4 | |||
070756 | 77=556 | [-] | [junction] | |||
074758 | 78=095 | [CP] | Heathrow Terminals 2&3 | |||
247818 | -:99.586 | [-] | [Westbourne Park Junction (eastbound)] | |||
249817 | 99=69 | [=du= WEweb] | {Westbourne Park} | |||
250817 | 99.762:- | [-] | [Westbourne Park Junction (westbound)] | |||
258815 | 100=70 | [bbbbWEw=e] | {Royal Oak} | |||
266812 | 101=54 | [=vv=vv=vv=vv=vv=VV=14vw=e] | Paddington (main line) | |||
332817 | 109=41 | [T=T^=^^=^^= =^^=^^=^^=^^=^^=X] | Liverpool Street (main line) | |||
335822 | 110=09 | [-] | (Bishopsgate) | |||
338822 | 110=39 | [-] | [Bishopsgate Junction] | |||
347823 | 111=22 | [WEwe =we=] | {Bethnal Green} | |||
355826 | 112=00 | [-] | (Globe Road and Devonshire Street) | |||
355826 | 112=08 | [-] | (Devonshire Street Mile End) | |||
364829 | 113=13 | [-] | (Coborn Road for Old Ford) | |||
367830 | 113=33 | [-] | (Coborn Road) | |||
378835 | 114=66 | [=we= W Eudud] | {Pudding Mill Lane} | |||
380837 | 114.97840:- | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane Junction westbound] | |||
380838 | -:114.88660 | [-] | [Pudding Mill Lane Junction eastbound] |
[4] There are also three west-facing bays numbered 1 to 3 and three east-facing bays numbered 4 to 6 that can't be shown in this notation.
The main depot will be at Old Oak Common. There are storage sidings and the depot for the maintenance trains at Plumstead.
There are no connections in the central tunnel. The existing lines have various branches that are not part of the Elizabeth Line as well as extending beyond its limits.
The line is operated by class 345 9-car EMUs, though the stations are long enough to hold 12 cars. Some trains were temporarily reduced to 7 cars until the relevant platforms at Liverpool Street were extended.
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