I hoped to run into Geoff Marshall on the first day but somehow evaded the amazing Rail Youtuber from London.

The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency suburban passenger service in London and its environs. It runs services on Crossrail in central London between London Paddington and Abbey Wood; along the Great Western Main Line from London Paddington to Reading and Heathrow Airport in the west; and along the Great Eastern Main Line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in the east. The service is 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. Crossrail 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.


#london #elizabethline #elizabeth #underground
#purpletrain #thetrainguy #trains

Although, most of the route is under the ground, the Elizabeth Line does not come under the London Underground but is a separate rail system. The Elizabeth line uses 25 kV, 50 Hz AC overhead lines, already in use on the Great Eastern and Great Western Main Lines. The 25kV AC traction made the Elizabeth Line closer to home, as it is similar to Chennai Metro. Although, the Elizabeth Line is much faster than the CMRL trains. Train journeys through the city of London become much simpler after the inauguration, as Elizabeth Line trains take much less time than the London Underground, for the same distance.

The Heathrow branch started using the European Train Control System (ETCS) in 2020. The Automatic Warning (AWS) and Train Protection & Warning (TPWS) systems are used on the Great Western and Great Eastern Main Lines, with possible later upgrades to ETCS. Communications-based train control (CBTC) is installed in the central section and the Abbey Wood branch.

In May 2015, existing commuter services on a section of one of the eastern branches, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, were transferred to TfL Rail; this precursor service also took control of Heathrow Connect in May 2018, and some local services on the Paddington to Reading line in December 2019. These services were augmented by the central Crossrail section in May 2022. By May 2023, the central section will have up to 24 nine-carriage Class 345 trains per hour in each direction.

Crossrail is the name of the construction project and of the limited company, wholly owned by TfL, that was formed to carry out construction works.

The Elizabeth line is the name of the new service that is on signage throughout the stations. It is named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The Elizabeth line logo features a Transport for London roundel with a purple ring and blue bar with white text.

TfL Rail was an intermediate brand name which was introduced in May 2015 and discontinued in May 2022. It was used by TfL on services between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5 and Reading, as well as trains between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.

Ten new stations have been built in the central and south east sections of the line, and thirty-one existing stations are in the process of being upgraded and refurbished. Nine of the ten new built stations were fully opened on 24 May 2022 with Bond Street as the exception which, as of February 2022, still needed further final finishing prior to testing and commissioning.

The Elizabeth line route exclusively uses nine-car Class 345 trains for the services on the routes. The requirement was for 65 trains, each 200 metres (660 feet) long and carrying up to 1,500 passengers. The trains are accessible, including dedicated areas for wheelchairs, with audio and visual announcements, CCTV and speaker-phones connected to the driver in case of emergency. They will run at up to 140 km/h (90 mph) on certain parts of the route.

свернуть