If you, like us, had forgotten that another train line was coming to London in the form of Crossrail, you, like us, received a fun reminder last night. Crossrail, aka the high speed rail service set to run beneath London, has just been christened the Elizabeth line, after our gracious Queen, and has received a stylish logo with a colour somewhere between midnight blue and royal (ahh) purple. Your average commuter still has some pressing questions though…
Where will it actually go?
Trains on the railway will link parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire to Essex. In total, it will cover more than 60 miles, running from Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east through to Reading and Heathrow in the west. Its journey includes a 13 mile stretch underground through central London, where it will pass through central London stations like Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road.
When will it open?
It’s set to open fully in December 2018, though trains on the rail service will start running in five phases, starting with a service from Liverpool Street to Shenfield in May 2017.
How many people will it affect?
The line is expected to run around 24 trains an hour in each direction through the central London tunnels. Once the line’s fully open it’s expected to carry over half a million passengers a day.
And how will it affect me, specifically me?
We’ve had a look and the line seems to be less about shaving time off journeys, and more about proving a single commute through its creation of ten new stations, and its upgrading of 30 more, rather than a journey which requires the passenger to change. Transport chiefs are claiming key employment districts outside the capital will be just a 45-minute train ride away. We've come up with some handy before and afters.
1. Essex to Canary Wharf
Before your best option was to hop on at Chelmsford, change at Stratford and get the DLR to Canary Wharf. All this would have taken you approximately 53 minutes.
Now Brentwood station is being updated and you’ll be able to do the journey on a single line, travelling 12 stops to Whitechapel, and then going just one stop down another leg to Canary Wharf. It’ll still probably take you about 50 minutes, but now you’ll be able to get a chapter/album/daydream in interrupted.
2. Central London to Heathrow
Before this would have taken you an hour and would have involved a switch at Paddington.
Your new journey take place in one swift motion on the Elizabeth Line. Transport chiefs are claiming that this journey will be 20 minutes faster, so you'll now be able to do it in a cool 40 minutes.
3. Reading to Tottenham Court Road
This normally takes an hour and involces a change at Paddington, but the most shocking statistic about this journey is that at peak times it can cost up to £20.
Whilst we don’t know the exact fares of the new line, officials have said that eighty per cent of rides on the line are likely to be cheaper, so we're expecting that hefty sum to fall. This new journey will only consist of 9 stops, and we reckon that it'll take you about 40 minutes. A sweet deal!
5. Maidenhead to Paddington
If you want to get to central London from Kent, you** usually have to take a **45 minute train journey on Great Western. On the good ship-train Elizabeth, this will be 13 stops. An example of a journey that will undoubtedly be cheaper but also, ultimately, probably longer.
6. Abbey Wood to Farringdon
Not a pretty route: normally you'd get a Southeastern train to Cannon Street Rail, walk for 8 minutes to Cannon Street Underground Station and then hop on the Circle Line. This would take you approximately 58 minutes.
And if this is your commute you've really struck gold with the Lizzie line. This is now just 6 easy stops - we reckon it would take you 30 minutes max.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.