The Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is London's newest, fast, high frequency, high capacity railway. It stretches from Reading, Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west, through central London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The Elizabeth line connects outer suburbs to the heart of the City and West End, providing a quick route between central London and Heathrow Airport.
The UK’s busiest railway service
More than 300 million journeys happened on the Elizabeth line in its first two operating years alone. Up to 4.7 million journeys happen every week, making the Elizabeth line the UK's busiest railway service.
Allowing London to grow
The Elizabeth line provides a 10 per cent rail capacity increase in central London, relieving existing rail and Tube line congestion. It's brought 1.5 million more people across London within a 45 minute commute of key business districts like the West End, City and Docklands.
Cutting journey times
As well as boosting capacity and improving connections, the Elizabeth line has cut journey times for an estimated 200 million people using it each year. For example, the journey from Heathrow to the West End only takes about 30 minutes today, compared to about 50 minutes before the Elizabeth line opened.
Providing an economic legacy
The Elizabeth line supports regeneration across the capital, bringing people closer to jobs while providing new transport links and significant new over-station developments. It's estimated the line will add £42bn to the UK economy.
Crossrail Business Rate Supplement
London businesses are contributing to Elizabeth line (formerly known as Crossrail) costs in various ways. The most notable one is a Business Rate Supplement (BRS) of two pence in the pound, which is set to raise £4.1bn.
The areas of London most benefitting from the Elizabeth line are paying a greater share, but thousands of London's smaller businesses are exempt from the supplement. Additionally, the Mayor expects to raise £0.6bn from developer contributions as well as the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Crossrail 2
Even Tube upgrades and Elizabeth line construction, London needs more transport infrastructure to keep pace with (and support) its economic growth.
That’s why Crossrail 2 has been proposed as a new, high frequency and capacity line between south west and north east London. The route would ease rail capacity in south west London while providing new transport options and supporting jobs and housing Londonwide (and beyond).
Crossrail 2 would add a further 10 per cent to London's current rail capacity, opening significant new areas for housing growth - particularly the Upper Lea Valley and Chessington South.
As part of the Transport for London Funding Agreement, in October 2020 further work was paused on Crossrail 2's design and development. The work undertaken so far was fully documented, so the project can restart when the time is right.
Transport for London continues to manage Crossrail 2 Safeguarding Directions the Secretary of State for Transport's behalf. TFL continues working with stakeholders with affected developments, making sure the route is protected until plans progress.
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