Elizabeth line

Elizabeth line
An Elizabeth line train (British Rail Class 345) at Abbey Wood in May 2022
Overview
System	National Rail
Locale	Greater London Berkshire Buckinghamshire Essex
Predecessor	TfL Rail
First service	24 May 2022; 2 years ago (2022-05-24)
Current operator(s)	MTR Elizabeth line (until May 2025) GTS Rail Operations (from May 2025)[1]
Annual ridership	220 million (2023/2024)[2] passenger journeys
Website	tfl.gov.uk/modes/elizabeth-line/
Route
Termini	West: Heathrow Terminal 4, Heathrow Terminal 5 and Reading East: Abbey Wood and Shenfield
Stops	41
Distance travelled	117 km (73 mi)[3]
Technical
Rolling stock	Class 345[4]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 25 kV 50 Hz AC
Operating speed	Crossrail: 95 km/h (60 mph) GWML, Heathrow and GEML: 145 km/h (90 mph)
Track owner(s)	Transport for London (Old Oak Common–Abbey Wood and Stratford) Network Rail (Pudding Mill Lane–Shenfield, and Old Oak Common–Reading) Heathrow Airport Holdings (Heathrow branch)
Transport for London rail lines London Underground Bakerloo Central Circle District Hammersmith & City Jubilee Metropolitan Northern Piccadilly Victoria Waterloo & City London Overground Liberty Lioness Mildmay Suffragette Weaver Windrush Other TfL Modes DLR Elizabeth line London Trams v t e

The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington station to Abbey Wood and via Whitechapel to the Great Eastern Main Line near Stratford; along the Great Western Main Line to Reading and Heathrow Airport in the west; and along the Great Eastern Main Line to Shenfield in the east.

Under the project name of Crossrail, the system was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009. Originally planned to open in 2018, the project was repeatedly delayed, including for several months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The service is now named after Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee year; passenger services started on 24 May 2022.

Elizabeth line services are operated by MTR Elizabeth line under a concession from Transport for London (TfL). TfL does not consider it to be part of its other rail services such as the London Underground. It is considered to be in a class of its own and TfL's Oyster card is not valid for journeys to outlying stations.^[5]

The line reached over 200 million trips annually in its second year of operation and carries one seventh of all trips by rail in the United Kingdom.^{[citation needed]}