The Elizabeth line reached full peak service in May 2023, with 24 trains per hour. Its railway, upon which state-of-the-art trains roll every day, that stretch across London’s width and beyond, is constantly changing and adapting to new challenges. This infrastructural development will continue in 2025.
It has not been all plain sailing since the flagship project was finished, as passengers have suffered major disruption. In the summer, Transport for London (TfL) has claimed that the Elizabeth line is ‘more reliable’ as improvement works got underway, MyLondon reports.
In February 2024, Network Rail announced a £140 million ‘accelerated performance improvement plan’ to address issues affecting the Elizabeth Line west of Paddington. Officials said work to ‘stabilise’ the issues that have led to cancellations and delays – including passengers being left stuck in trains ‘for hours’ in December 2023 – will take place until December 2024, including in the Thames Valley.
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Even though the above work is scheduled to have been finished by the beginning of 2025, no doubt experts will be keeping an eye on how services are performing. We will see if any further alterations are needed.
Working on getting more Elizabeth line trains
Ministers have confirmed that the Elizabeth line is going to get 10 new trains to cope with an expected increase in demand, in part due to HS2 services going to Old Oak Common Station. The interchange will act as the line’s temporary terminus in the capital before its Euston station is built. On June 14, Alstom announced that it has signed a contract worth around £370 million for the new nine-car Aventra stock, along with associated maintenance, until 2046.
Bosses say the additional Aventra electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains will be built at Alstom’s Derby Litchurch Lane Works, the only UK facility that designs, engineers, builds and tests trains for domestic and export markets. Currently, the capital’s flagship railway line has a 70-strong fleet of Alstom-built Aventra Class 345 trains.
Officials say these would be insufficient to meet demand later this decade and through the 2030s. Even more trains could be delivered, it turns out. TfL documents stated in June: “To procure additional trains that are compatible with the existing fleet and the Elizabeth line’s unique infrastructure at a reasonable cost, we have agreed with Alstom a change to the existing contract to extend the backstop date allowing TfL to exercise further options up to 13 more class 345 trains.”
Papers added that Alstom’s costs are split across the financial years 2024/25 to 2027/28, and ‘milestone payments’ will be made on achievement of ‘key programme milestones’. They also said: “Costs to enable stabling of additional units at the Westbourne Park turnaround facility are under review along with other options on the network.
“Alstom have indicated that an order for 10 trains would be manufactured as apriority and that trains would be available from Quarter 2 2026. Alstom have indicated that they could store trains after manufacturing if needed to help ease the transition into operations. However, our preference is to accept them into operational service as soon as available. We anticipate that short-term capacity is available at the depot for stabling while the permanent capacity is provided at Westbourne Park or other location on the network.”
Officials are also exploring additional services. Documents said: “The aim will be to maximise the benefits while taking advantage of the implementation opportunities. We have more direct control over the implementation opportunities for the eastern branches that involves increased services in the core and paths already available on the Great Eastern route. Additional services on the west will have more interfaces with Network Rail and freight and we will look to optimise the available capacity on the Great Western route and the use of existing reversing locations.”
Commuters wait at the Canary Wharf Elizabeth Line station in east London on November 7, 2022
(Image: DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Proposed extensions to the line
A report published ahead of TfL’s Programmes and Investment Committee on February 28 outlined the current status of proposed extensions to the Elizabeth line. These include a new connection between Abbey Wood and Ebbsfleet and a southern line to Heathrow Airport from Staines.
In addition, as regards Central London, officials mention that longer trains across the route is a ‘long term option’, and, on the core route, there could be in the future 30 trains per hour. The report states that adding new Elizabeth line stations ‘supports growth in London generally, HS2 and aviation access, while relieving crowding’.
There is also, officials say, potential to unlock homes and jobs in major Opportunity Areas, Heathrow, and in North Kent. Papers added: “We expect the service enhancements on the existing network to have strong business cases and will progress with further appraisal, operational feasibility and investment prioritisation during 2024.
“Heathrow extension options are dependent on the construction of new airport rail links. Ebbsfleet extension is dependent on Government’s response to our submission of the Strategic Outline Case.” The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, stated in October that she plans to free up money for infrastructure projects. Could this approach mean work behind the scenes in 2025 on making the Elizabeth line larger?
Changes to 1 Elizabeth line station and possible timetable change
A smaller scale change is the fact that there are to be more measures introduced to safeguard customers at Ealing Broadway Station. It has a ‘significant gap’ between trains and the platform.
Passengers have called it a ‘death trap’, and multiple people have reportedly been injured. A Network Rail spokesperson told MyLondon in October: “Although we are not currently funded to carry out improvements to the platforms at Ealing Broadway, we are in the process of developing options to improve safety at the station with our partners at TfL and MTR Elizabeth line. These options will be discussed with our partners in the new year, as part of our joint safety improvement plan.”
Further, TfL has said that it is reviewing Elizabeth line services as it aims to increase the frequency of trains in West London. This would mean ‘new or additional journey opportunities’, officials add. You can read more detail about this here.