The Elizabeth line

The Elizabeth line is here – here’s what it means for you

The Elizabeth line stretches more than 100km from Reading and Heathrow through to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

It serves 41 accessible stations, including 10 new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich, and Abbey Wood.

Journey times

GWR leisure, commuter and business customers travelling to London Paddington can enjoy significant time savings on onward journeys to key points in the city:

• London Paddington to Bond Street – 3 minutes
• London Paddington to Tottenham Court Road – 4 minutes
• London Paddington to Farringdon – 7 minutes
• London Paddington to Liverpool Street – 10 minutes
• London Paddington to Canary Wharf – 17 minutes
• London Paddington to Abbey Wood – 29 minutes
• London Paddington to Stratford – 19 minutes
• London Paddington to Shenfield – 54 minutes

Download the full map here. (PDF, 398 KB)

From 6 November 2022

The lines from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield have now connected 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

The Elizabeth line now operates Sunday and later evening services through central London. This means customers can use the central section of the railway seven days a week.

Between Paddington and Whitechapel, 22 trains per hour now operate during peak times and 16 trains per hour during off-peak.

The last weekday services that run through are:

• 22:57 – eastbound from Reading to Abbey Wood
• 23:01 – eastbound from Heathrow Terminal 5 to Abbey Wood
• 22:06 – westbound from Abbey Wood to Reading
• 23:06 – westbound from Abbey Wood to Maidenhead

By May 2023

The separate sections of Elizabeth line will become fully connected and services run to the final timetable.

24 trains an hour will run at the busiest times between Paddington and Whitechapel.

Fares and ticketing

• Contactless pay as you go is accepted throughout the Elizabeth line
• Oyster pay as you go and valid Travelcards are accepted but not west of West Drayton
• Customers using Oyster to pay as you go who want to travel to or from stations beyond West Drayton need to use contactless instead or buy a paper ticket
• TfL concessions are accepted
• Customers with a Railcard discount set on their Oyster card benefit from 1/3 off off-peak pay as you go fares