In April 2019, it was announced that Crossrail would be completed between October 2020 and March 2021, two years behind schedule, and that it would not include the opening of the Bond Street station, one of ten new stations on the line.
Officially, Crossrail opens in December 2018, when Crossrail trains begin running between Paddington and Abbey Wood, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, and between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4. The Elizabeth line won't fully be open until December 2019 when it will run all the way to Reading.
| Crossrail |
|---|
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Electrification | 25 kV 50 Hz AC (overhead lines) |
| Operating speed | 90 mph (140 km/h) |
| show Route map |
The longest tunnel in the United Kingdom is the Northern line at 27,800 metres (91,200 ft). This will be superseded in 2021 by the 37,600-metre (123,400 ft) Woodsmith Mine Tunnel in North Yorkshire that will transport polyhalite from North Yorkshire to a port on Teesside.
The route covers some key bases in central London and stretches to commuter areas. Travellers from as far as Reading, in Berkshire, and Shenfield, in Essex, will be able to reach Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel and Canary Wharf without changing lines.
Crossrail could be delayed until 2021, according to a senior source associated with the project to build a new railway underneath central London. The east-west route, officially called the Elizabeth Line, will run between Reading and Shenfield in Essex and had been due to open in December 2018.
Crossrail route maps
The Elizabeth line will run from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through 42km of new tunnels under London to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. The new railway, operated by Transport for London, will be fully integrated with London's existing transport network.We currently have the night tube on parts of the Northern Line, Central Line an Piccadilly Line, and across all of the Victoria Line and Jubilee Line.
Although passengers travelling to and from Reading Station will be able use contactless pay as you go, Oyster cards will not work. Oyster will not be extended to services beyond West Drayton due to limitations with the 15-year-old system.
The trains are larger, the tunnels are bigger, the trains go waaaay beyond central London running on National Rail tracks. It is a National Rail service that then also goes underground – but that does not make it the Tube – no, it is its own new category of railway which we shall call 'Crossrail'.
Laura Reynolds Will Crossrail Trains Run 24 Hours? At the moment, there are no immediate plans to make Crossrail a 24-hour service — although it's not been ruled out for the future. Sadiq Khan has a good record when it comes to making parts of the tube and the London Overground 24 hours at weekends.
The new high-speed Elizabeth Line will cut most journey times by half and some journeys will be five times quicker. How quicker will a Crossrail journey be? From Paddington to Tottenham Court Road, which usually takes 20 minutes, the journey time will be just four minutes and just three minutes to Bond Street.
Unsurprisingly, the Central Line is officially the hottest tube line with temperatures reaching 36 degrees Celsius. The Bakerloo Line wasn't far behind with temperatures of 34.5 and the Piccadilly Line was 34.
Technically, we suppose, the thing's called the Elizabeth line. After all, that's what appears on all the official map. Crossrail refers more to the infrastructure project (Crossrail 2 is already in the pipeline) whereas Elizabeth line is the finished result.
Crossrail, however, is not actually going to be part of the London Underground. Here's why: Transport for London (TfL) fare zones will only apply up until West Drayton, even though passengers will be able to use their contactless cards for the whole route (eventually).
economy. Crossrail is jointly sponsored by the Government, through the Department for Transport (DfT), and the Mayor, through Transport for London (TfL). for London. Supplement, and £600m from developer contributions secured via section 106 agreements and through MCIL.
First, the good news: for the first time ever, passengers will be able to use Oyster cards on rail services to Heathrow. From December 2019, when Crossrail is (hopefully) fully opened, this service will be passed from TfL Rail to Crossrail, and you'll still be able to use your Oyster card.
How regular will it be? There are expected to be 24 trains an hour in each direction through the central London section, with the full line carrying half a million passengers a day.
The route, to be known as the Elizabeth Line, was originally due to open in December 2018. Crossrail Ltd chief executive Mark Wild said services would be delayed to allow time for more testing. He also said the cost of the project could reach £18.25bn, more than £2bn more than the original budget.
At peak times 12 Elizabeth line trains an hour will run between Shenfield and central London, calling at all stations. Outside peak times this will reduce to 10 trains an hour. At peak time, an additional four trains an hour will run between Gidea Park and Liverpool Street main line station.
But TfL explained that “it is estimated that the average time a passenger will travel on the new line will be around 20 minutes”. Also 33 out of the 40 Elizabeth line stations will have toilet and accessible toilet facilities, with a further five stations having toilet provision in an adjacent building.
Is the Elizabeth line an Underground service? Yes and no. The service is to be run by London Underground, but the trains are modern, spacious and air-conditioned, similar to new Thameslink and Overground trains. Most of the line will run above ground, but a 13-mile stretch runs under central London.
Full driverless operation is held back by shared tracks with mainline services (which is why Crossrail is unlikely to be fully automated unless, miraculously, the GWR and GER are) and passenger safety (platform screen doors are a necessary prerequisite, but difficult to make work on shared sections.)
