The Elizabeth Line Facts and Figures

The Elizabeth Line facts and figures are something to behold, especially when you realise that it was all constructed in one of the World’s major cities with little disruption and delay.

Initial figures for its construction were around £14.8 billion, and with the cost of materials increasing during the construction period, it came in at around £19 billion.

It was opened on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, but only partially, as the total construction needed to be completed. 

The second phase of the Elizabeth Line opened on November 6, 2022, and has already been a success with passengers; however, it was beset with some teething problems, as reported in The Telegraph on June 8, 2022, Explosive fault on Elizabeth Line trains ‘could wipe a few people out, whistleblower claims (telegraph.co.uk)

The issues seem to have been resolved for now.

The Numbers    

1. Originally known as the Crossrail, Boris Johnson officially renamed it the Elizabeth line in 2016 in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.
2. Construction on the Crossrail began on May 15, 2009, after 35 years of planning.
3. The seats are covered with a purple moquette fabric designed by design studio Wallace Sewell.
4. The Elizabeth line will increase central London’s rail capacity–this is the largest single increase in more than 70 years.
5. The Crossrail is estimated to have cost £19 billion–despite its original budget of £14.8 billion.
6. TfL says the Elizabeth line isn’t a tube line because it goes across a large amount of the National rail network, 
7. The control centre for the Crossrail is located near Romford Station–and a single signaller can run the entire line.
8. The Elizabeth line stretches over 100km / more than 60 miles from end to end.
9. The Elizabeth line serves 41 stations, including ten new stations at Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich, and Abbey Wood.
10. The new railway is fully integrated with London’s existing transport network and is operated by Transport for London.
11. When fully open, 24 trains per hour, a train every two and a half minutes, will operate at peak times through central London (between Paddington and Whitechapel).
12. The Elizabeth line has a capacity for 200 million passenger journeys per year. 
13. A fleet of 70 purpose-built 200-metre-long Class 345 trains built by Alstom (formerly Bombardier Transportation) are in use across the Elizabeth line.
14. More than 63,000 sleepers were used in construction.
15. Over 51,000 metres of rails were installed during the construction.
16. 13,500 cubic metres of concrete have been poured into this project.

An Archaeologist’s Dream

Not only is Crossrail one of London’s most complex transport projects in modern times, but it has also been one of the most significant architectural digs of the past decade.

Hundreds of archaeologists have been excavating across the capital, from Reading to Woolwich since work began in 2009, setting up 40 digging sites and covering some 55 million years of history.

One place of particular interest was the excavation site in Liverpool Street which has been a source of fascinating discoveries. These include over 3,000 skeletons from Roman times and even the Great Plague of 1665.

Tunnels 

It was way back on May 15, 2009, that construction of the Crossrail project began at Canary Wharf, with tunnelling work commencing in May 2012. The original opening date was planned for December 2018. Still, the complexities had even the most experienced of planners often needed help, having to combine both new purpose-built sections under central London with Victorian-era sections of the Great Eastern and Great Western mainlines. 

The first Elizabeth line tunnels were built in May 2012 when the first pair of tunnel boring machines (TBMs), Phyllis and Ada, started tunnelling at the Royal Oak portal in west London.

Eight TBMs undertook a total of ten individual tunnel drives to construct 42 kilometres or 26 miles of new tunnels.

How Deep Is The Elizabeth Line?

The project’s centrepiece is 13 miles of new twin-bore deep-tube tunnels that run through central London, at depths of up to 40 metres, from Royal Oak near Paddington in the west to Victoria Dock near Canary Wharf in the east of the city.

Is The Elizabeth Line The Deepest In London?

With platforms 34m below ground, Liverpool Street is the deepest of the Elizabeth line central stations. It is also one of the largest and most complex. 

But it is not the deepest as the deepest station is Hampstead on the Northern line, which runs down to 58.5 metres. Central London’s deepest station below street level is also the Northern line. 

Does The Elizabeth Line Cost The Same As The Tube?

Fares on the Elizabeth Line match Tube prices across most of London, with journeys within zones 1-6 costing the same as pay-as-you-go fares on the Tube.

Can I Use My Freedom Pass On The Elizabeth Line?

Freedom Pass holders can travel the entire length of the Elizabeth Line free of charge, even to stations like Iver and Reading that fall outside the London Fare Zones area.

If you have an Older Persons Freedom Pass, you can travel for free after 9am on weekdays and from any time at weekends and Bank Holidays.

Do Passengers Like The Elizabeth Line?

It has been a mixed bag of reviews for this ground-breaking new transport link, with the majority being positive.

Air conditioning has been a revelation to most train users in London as the Tube has been devoid of this luxury for years.

The smoothness of the ride has been a popular comment on social media, along with the beauty and ease of some of the new stations.

The fact that longer journeys require fewer time-consuming changes is another positive review.

On the negative side, it has been criticised for not actually being quicker between stations and that some stations have too many existing train lines; in particular, the Canary Wharf station has been singled out for consumer criticism.

Is it Worth The Investment

Well, TfL certainly thinks so, which is also supported by the government. Any upgrade to what is one of the world’s oldest public transport systems is undoubtedly a benefit and will make London a more accessible and more comfortable place to get around.