A few days ago, London finally unveiled its biggest expansion of its public transport system this century. The long-awaited £18.9 billion rail link is called the Elizabeth Line, and was launched to coincide with the celebrations for the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.

First approved in 2008, the heavy rail line will dramatically improve the city’s public transport coverage, says Transport for London (TfL), reducing journey times, providing significant additional capacity and making the city more accessible. During the first five days of opening alone, more than one million journeys were made on the central section of the line. By extending the transport system to areas that were previously much slower to reach and creating new central hubs for transfers to the metro, the line could also reshape the way people navigate the city.

In addition to halving travel times within the urban core of the metropolis in many cases, it is expected that as a result of the project 1.5 million more people will be within 45 minutes of the capital’s main shopping and business centres, the West End, City and Canary Wharf, compared to 5 million today.

According to Crossrail, 1.5 million more people will be within 45 minutes of the capital’s main shopping and business centres, West End, City and Canary Wharf, compared to the current 5 million. Before the pandemic, many commuters in the London area were forced to take crammed underground carriages for parts of their journey. Commuters from East Essex or West Berkshire, for example, had to take a suburban train to a railway terminus and then get off in the Underground to continue to their final destinations. With the Elizabeth Line linking the outer suburbs directly to a series of new stations in central London, many of these commuters should be able to go directly from their home station to one within walking distance of their office, without having to go via the underground.

Opening image: Elizabeth Line, London. Photo Geof Sheppard