Future transport infrastructure projects and the Elizabeth Line

The Elizabeth Line (known during construction as Crossrail) is a railway joining existing mainline railways east and west of London through central London. It extends from Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east to Heathrow Airport and Reading in the west.

Cost overrun and delays

The Elizabeth Line opened in stages, with the full line opening in May 2022. This was three and a half years later than originally planned. In 2010 the project was forecast to cost £14.8 billion. The final cost was £18.8 billion, a 28% nominal increase from the 2010 budget.

Benefits

On an average weekday, the Elizabeth Line carries around 700,000 passenger journeys. Other economic benefits of the Elizabeth Line include:

• An estimated £42 billion boost to UK economy.
• A direct impact on the development of 55,000 new homes, with 60 per cent of employment growth in greater London within 1km of an Elizabeth Line station.
• Further potential to deliver 15,000 new homes and 8,000 jobs.
• The regeneration of neighbourhoods including Abbey Wood, Southall, and Hayes and Harlington.

Funding

The Elizabeth Line was able to leverage a variety of private sector funding sources, including:

• A Business Rate supplement.
• Developer contributions (Mayoral Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106).
• Contributions from Canary Wharf Group, Heathrow Airport, City of London Corporation and Berkeley Homes.

Project governance and lessons learned for future infrastructure projects

The Elizabeth Line project was jointly sponsored by Transport for London and the Department for Transport. The Department for Transport and Infrastructure and Projects Authority published a review of lessons learned from the sponsorship of the Elizabeth Line in March 2024. This identified the importance of ensuring that the role of the sponsor is clear, that they have practical experience of delivering major projects, and that they review and adapts the project delivery model as the project progresses.

Transport for London, the Department for Transport and the Association for Project Management published Crossrail Project 2019-2023: Completing the Elizabeth Line, a series of papers detailing lessons by senior stakeholder representatives from Crossrail, Transport for London and the Department for Transport. This similarly highlighted the importance of governance arrangements evolving as the needs of the project evolve, from construction to systems integration and then to operational readiness activities.

Ongoing issues with Elizabeth Line services

A number of issues have been raised with Elizabeth Line services, including:

• Network Rail performance on the section of the route between London Paddington and Reading.
• Passengers being trapped on board stranded trains for extended periods [PDF].
• Passenger injuries due to the size of the gap between Elizabeth Line trains and the platforms at Ealing Broadway station.

Potential extensions

A number of potential extensions to Elizabeth Line services have been proposed. In particular, a group of London boroughs have campaigned for services to be extended to stations in north Kent, and a rail link to Heathrow airport from the west has been proposed. Neither project is currently funded.