Passenger services on the Elizabeth Line will commence in the first half of 2022, with initial services running between Abbey Wood and Paddington.
When the line opens, it will initially operate as three separate railways. Passengers from the west will initially need to change at Paddington for services into the central section of the route, and passengers from the east will initially need to change at Liverpool Street.
Trial operations will involve a range of organisations, including TfL and London Underground, MTR Elizabeth Line (as the operator), and Network Rail collaborating on the response to trial scenarios along with thousands of volunteers.
Also involved will be the emergency services including British Transport Police, London Fire Brigade, and London Ambulance Service, who will demonstrate how they would respond to incidents on the network and in stations.
As a result, there will be times where police, fire and ambulance service vehicles may be seen near stations, testing and simulating what would happen in the event their staff were required to attend.
Since May 2021, trains have been running through the tunnels to continue building up mileage and reliability ahead of the railway opening to passengers. When the line opens 12 trains per hour will run through the central section of the railway. The line is extremely complex and trial operations will continue until it is clear that the highest levels of safety and reliability are in place before the railway can open to customers.
Plans for an earlier opening of the complete line between Reading, Heathrow, and Shenfield have been developed to ensure that services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield can connect with the central tunnels from autumn 2022, although the final milestone will be no later than May 2023 when the final timetable will be in place.
Significant progress was made over Christmas towards completing the line, with planned upgrades taking place and work continuing at the two new stations still to be handed over to TfL. The latest Siemens signalling software for the railway was commissioned, and updated Alstom train software was installed on the trains. There were also upgrades to both the control communications system and the tunnel ventilation system.
In the run up to opening the line, activity will be taking place on most days including weekends. Other exercises will include responding to train, signalling, platform screen door and track simulations.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The Elizabeth Line will transform travel across London and the South East, benefitting millions and supporting hundreds of thousands of new homes and jobs.
“Its brand new trains and step-free stations will help us deliver a modern, truly world-class transport system that allows us to support the growth in London”s population over the coming decades.
“That's why I'm delighted it is on track to open in the first half of 2022, in what will be a landmark moment for the capital.”
Andy Byford, Transport for London's Commissioner, said: “This is an extremely exciting year for us and for London as we get ever closer to opening the Elizabeth line and welcoming customers from Abbey Wood to Paddington.
“The launch of this much needed and transformational addition to the transport network will be central to the recovery for London and the UK.
“Customers will experience a new way of travelling – with brand new, spacious step-free stations and new connections across the capital and beyond. There will be no better symbol of London's renaissance from the pandemic.”
Transport Minister Baroness Vere said: “The Elizabeth line will be an integral part of London's transport network, creating additional capacity while making journeys shorter, easier and more accessible for passengers across London and the South East.
“Huge efforts have been made to get the project to this point and it's exciting to see the next stages of testing get underway ahead of the line opening later this year.”
Mark Wild, Crossrail Chief Executive, said: “The Elizabeth line is on track to open in the first half of 2022 as we continue to make progress on completing the works necessary to start passenger services in the central section of the railway, from Paddington to Abbey Wood.
“I'd like to thank everyone for their continued hard work and we look forward to beginning the next phase of Trial Operations exercises.”
Crossrail* has been a long time coming but is likely to be worth the wait.
That’s in contrast to the misbegotten CR2 (better called the White Elephant Line because it would be both ruinously expensive and useless). The north-south variant of Crossrail is a scheme created simply to use up a route conceived 80 years ago, which has little relevance to London’s needs today.
What we need now is a rail version of the M25, a (very) Outer Circle line, to connect places that are currently poorly connected with each other whichever form of transport you try to use. An Outer Circle – proposed since the 1840s – will avoid the need to head north and south into congested Zone 1 stations when you want to make an east-west cross-city journey.
So, as an alternative to CR2, may I propose, for starters, a Heathrow-Surbiton-Suttton-Croydon link that then heads NE towards the Abbey Wood/Dartford/Thamesmead area?
(* In view of the year, maybe it should now be called the Platinum Line.)
Should also operate between Shenfield-Paddington, Gidea Park-Paddington and Stratford-Paddington. And the rest to follow later this year. The Elizabeth Line should of been completed in December 2018 with 24tph passing through Central London. No wonder it’s been delayed numerous times.