Earlier this week, the Elizabeth line marked one year since it started direct services through central London from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield, and has now carried over 250 million passengers since it opened in May 2022.
When it first opened, the Elizabeth line had effectively been three separate services running six days a week:
- Abbey Wood to Paddington
- Reading/Heathrow to Paddington
- Shenfield to Liverpool Street
On 6th November 2022, the three became one, and also started opening on Sundays, doubling the number of trains per hour in the core and seeing a surge in passenger numbers.
A year on from that, the railway now carries around 4.3 million passenger journeys each week, making it the busiest railway in Great Britain.
The busiest single day on the Elizabeth line since it opened was this week, although that was boosted by the one-off surge caused by the DLR strike. On Tuesday 7th November 2023, some 758,000 journeys were made as the Elizabeth line picked up DLR passengers and carried people to a large trade show at the ExCel conference centre.
According to TfL analysis, some of the most popular through-running journeys are between Hayes & Harlington and Tottenham Court Road, Romford and Farringdon, Stratford and Tottenham Court Road and Ealing Broadway and Bond Street, showing the growth in areas in outer London and beyond driven by the Elizabeth line.
The Elizabeth line station at Bond Street also celebrated one year of providing a new gateway to the West End for Londoners, visitors and businesses on 24th October. There are now 250,000 journeys through Bond Street station each day on average, compared with 175,000 journeys per day before the opening of the Elizabeth line.
Work to provide 4G coverage on the Elizabeth line continues. Bond Street will be one of the first stations along the route to benefit from mobile coverage along with Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon and Liverpool Street stations, which will be live by the end of this year. All stations and tunnelled sections along the Elizabeth line are expected have 4G coverage by the end of Spring 2024.
London’s Transport Commissioner, Andy Lord, said: “It’s been amazing to see the Elizabeth line’s popularity grow since opening last year and offering more direct journeys. A year on from offering through journeys into central London without the need to change trains, it is also encouraging to see how many people have been able to make use of the improved transport connections.
“Bond Street station’s Elizabeth line connection and step-free access has further opened up the West End and also attracted more people to the area’s cultural venues, attractions and shops. Development in the area around the station has also been rapid, supporting new jobs, opportunities and economic growth. The Elizabeth line, and Bond Street, have been huge success stories, which clearly demonstrate the power of investing in transport for both the capital and wider economy. Many of the contractors and suppliers for the railway were also based in areas outside London and across the UK – supporting thousands of jobs across the country.”
The Elizabeth line is on target to break even in operating costs in the year 2023/24.
“The Elizabeth line is on target to break even in operating costs in the year 2023/24”.
Anyone less thick than I fancy having a go at explaining that in ‘Janet and John’ for me?
Revenue will exceed running costs – excluding the debt for building the railway.
Roger that : Many thanks.
All in £millions for Elizabeth line from TFL board papers
2022/23
Revenue (ticket sales etc) in 2022/23 = £317m
Operating costs (staff etc)in 2022/23 = -£476m
Net (add the two up) = -£159m [so ran at a loss]
2023/24
Revenue (forecast) for 2023/24 = £544m
Operating costs (forecast)for 2023/24 = -£476m
Net (add the two up) = £6m [so small profit aka breakeven]
Surely that makes £68m net surplus for 23/24 ?
So not so small…. or is the operating costs forecast supposed to be higher (inflation etc?)
And those numbers are an under estimate.
I travel from Brighton to either LHR or LCY on a fairly regular basis.
Using a paper travel card I don’t have to tap anything Farringdon where I change from Thameslink.
More often than not the gates at LHR are open so they have no idea I existed the system there. Ditto yesterday at Custom House. Similar on the reverse as well.
It’s nice to see it a success, just such a pity it was a place where you felt like you could lose your job if you expressed disagreement with the head of training.
The Elizabeth line is something of a joke. Trains terminated at Paddington, cancelled trains with no apparent reason. Returning from a long shift I had to wait while trains terminated at Paddington and get on a train to Maidenhead and get off at Ealing Broadway and complete my journey to West Ealing by bus. Staff disappear when things like this happen.
One evening travelling from West Ealing to Farrindon, threetrains were cancelled and getting on a train to Abbey Wood was told it would go no further than Paddington. Completed journey by tube. What a joke.
Hey What a joke, there’s no need to sign your comments.
You seem to have been unlucky. Overall, the Elizabeth Line has proved to be very reliable – much more so than many lines, and better than expected for a ‘new’ line. Also many of the problems that have occurred have been due to knock-on effects of problems elsewhere.
However frustrating it may be, one person having two poor journeys does not make it a ‘joke’.
Third is only counting those who pay, tube for tfl to actually make everyone pay. Every time I travel I watch people force the barriers, push through behind someone, leap the barriers etc. If challenged they get aggressive & get let though. This needs to stop
Wow where is this and what time of day? I must be using a different service.
I’ve started noticing it more as well. It’s a shame.