The New Elizabeth Line Added To The London Underground Map

Officially opening on the 24^th of May 2022, the Elizabeth line “will stretch more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow in the west through central tunnels across to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east”. This new railway built by Crossrail will stop at 41 different stations, in which 10 of them are completely new, and is expected “to serve around 200 million people each year”. Read on for the new London underground map and further details.

According to the TFL website, the newest addition to the underground will add 10% more capacity to the central London’s rail network. The Elizabeth line will mean a shorter journey for many commuters between popular destinations in London, as well as more connecting services to additional stations. The travel experience will be more comfortable on the spacious trains and in the new and newly refurbished stations.

According to TFL, “The Elizabeth line will initially operate as three separate railways, with services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield connecting with the central tunnels from autumn this year. When the final stage is complete, customers will be able to travel seamlessly from Abbey Wood to Heathrow and Reading, and from Shenfield to Heathrow.”

From the 24^th of May onwards:

• Services currently running as TfL Rail will be rebranded to the new Elizabeth line
• The central section opens, adding nine new stations to the TfL network (Bond Street will open to Elizabeth line customers later in 2022)
• Service will start with 12 trains an hour (a train every 5 minutes) running between Paddington and Abbey Wood from 06:30-23:00, Monday to Saturday. (Work will continue outside those hours and on Sundays to allow for any testing and software updates needed before higher frequency services start in autumn 2022)

The line will operate in London as three separate railways, in the east, west and through central London. Elizabeth line customers travelling between:

• Shenfield and the central section of the route will need to change trains at Liverpool Street, walking to/from the new Elizabeth line Liverpool Street station
• Reading or Heathrow and the central section will need to change trains at Paddington, walking to/from the new Paddington Elizabeth line station
• Paddington and Abbey Wood only

From autumn 2022 onwards, the lines from Reading, Heathrow, and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels. This means customers travelling:

• From Reading and Heathrow can travel east all the way to Abbey Wood without changing at Paddington
• From Shenfield can travel west all the way to Paddington without changing at Liverpool Street

By May 2023:

• The separate sections of Elizabeth line are fully connected and services run to the final timetable
• 24 trains an hour will run at the busiest times between Paddington and Whitechapel