The Elizabeth line has reported its busiest month since the line opened, carrying 16.7 million passengers in the 28 days from late June to late July.
The line first past the 16 million passenger mark for the first time only the month before that as well, and was loitering around the 13-14 million mark for the previous few months. So passenger numbers are rising fast according to the latest GLA datastore numbers.
However, passenger numbers may drop in the next report as the Elizabeth line has also topped the list of railways with the most cancellations in the four weeks to 19th August, according to the latest figures from the Office of Rail and Road.
According to ORR numbers, in the 28-day period, 9.1% of services didn’t run, which was put down to the incident with a broken maintenance train which blocked services for most of the morning, and problems with the Network Rail line in west London.
TfL data for Elizabeth line passenger numbers
| 28 day period start | Passenger numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 01-May-22 | 5.5 million | Includes TfL Rail prior to Elizabeth line opening on 24th May |
| 29-May-22 | 8.1 million | |
| 26-Jun-22 | 11.6 million | |
| 24-Jul-22 | 9.2 million | |
| 21-Aug-22 | 9.8 million | |
| 18-Sep-22 | 11.0 million | |
| 16-Oct-22 | 12.5 million | Bond Street station opened 24th Oct Elizabeth line upgrade on 6th Nov to full running |
| 13-Nov-22 | 15.2 million | |
| 11-Dec-22 | 8.9 million | |
| 08-Jan-23 | 13.4 million | |
| 05-Feb-23 | 14.0 million | |
| 05-Mar-23 | 14.0 million | |
| 01-Apr-23 | 14.2 million | |
| 30-Apr-23 | 15.1 million | Final stage opened on 21st May |
| 28-May-23 | 16.0 million | |
| 25-Jun-23 | 16.7 million |
Who knew that providing an actual enjoyable commuting experience would be so successful? Turns out people don’t really like travelling on lines like the Central & Northern line with their unbearable screeching, scorching hot temperatures and horrendous pollution…but I guess there isn’t any incentive to improve those
The incentive has been to build a whole new line mate..
Yes. Several Tube lines date back to the 1890s, you know the time when laws were so lax that engineers didn’t even bother building ventilation shafts in Central London. Crossrail lines are being or will be built with ventilation shafts across London.
Ventelation shafts weren’t built because the ground was so cool that it was advertised as a selling feature to get away from hot buses.
So what’s the solution to current existing lines and how likely is it we will get a Northern line that doesn’t screech and scorch?
The ‘solution’ to the existing lines is to rebuild them in such a way as they don’t screech, probably by re-boring the tunnels on straighter alignments now we’re not limited by the shape of the streets and buildings above.
As no-one’s going to pay for that, however, and the ground under London is so cluttered with ‘stuff’ that those straight alignments aren’t available, we’re pretty much with what we’ve got. It’s the penalty of starting in the 1860s.
Isn’t there a plan to rebuild the junction at Camden Town and eventually split off the two branches of the Northern line? Wouldn’t that be a perfect opportunity to straighten the screechiest parts of the underground between Kentish Town and Euston? Maybe they will come up with a cheaper way of boring tunnels in the not so distant future?
What’s the problem with the western end of Elizabeth line?
If memory serves it there were problems with the signalling equipment.
Or if you mean more generally, it’s a legacy line that’s one of the first places to feel it when delays or cancellations thin services out further.