The Elizabeth line has been with us for nearly two years now, and there’s no doubt it’s had a huge impact on how Londoners travel into the city centre. When it’s all running on time, it’s the speediest out there, and even comes with the benefits of futuristic stations and air conditioning for those packed out rides in the summer.
That ‘if’, however, can be a bit of a big one, as the Elizabeth line has been suffering from some growing pains since its opening. The long and short of it is that many services have been cancelled or delayed a little too often, and even saw an incident on the Paddington to Reading section that led to trains at standstills and stranded passengers for several hours.
Because of these ongoing issues, Network Rail has vowed to amp up the scheduled £140 million round of funding to improve the running of the Elizabeth lineas well as the Great Western services. With around 4.5 million journeys on the Elizabeth line each week, it stands at the busisest railway line in the UK, so it is seen as imperative that service is as efficient as it can be. However, as the saying goes, things could get worse before they get better.
Line improvements mean that from this Sunday (March 3), there will be no service for trains that run west of Paddington until 7:40am, and some stations between Paddington and Maidenhead will be reduced to two per hour. On Monday – Thursdays until March 28, there will also be a lessened service between Paddington and Heathrow Airport/Reading.
We may have to wait a little while to see the Lizzie line in full swing, though, as Network Rail has warned that ‘good’ service may not be back with us for at least 18 months.
After meeting with Network Rail, Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I have been absolutely clear with Network Rail, MTR and TfL that the issues we have seen over the last six months are not acceptable. I am pleased that they have brought forward a comprehensive plan to resolve the problems on the line, and I will continue to hold them to account.”
