It comes just a week after the opening of Bond Street Elizabeth line station, which marked the completion of the last new station on the new railway. Services from Reading and Heathrow in the west will no longer terminate at Paddington, but will run through the new tunnels under central London to Liverpool Street, and vice versa from Sunday. Similarly, services from Shenfield and other east London stations will no longer terminate at Liverpool Street, but continue in tunnels to Paddington.
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Services from the line’s south-east branch at Abbey Wood will be able to run direct to Heathrow or Reading instead of terminating at Paddington for now. The November 6 changes also see the line operate seven days a week. Since it opened on May 24, two and a half years late and £4 billion over budget, there has been no regular Sunday service. More than 27 million journeys have been made in the central segment and more than 54 million journeys in total. Heathrow tickets will cost £10.80 off-peak and £11.50 on-peak – up to £7.30 more than the same journey on the Tube, but less than half the price of the £25 Heathrow Express service . The third and final stage of the line opening – to allow direct trains between Reading or Heathrow and Shenfield – is due to take place next May. This will include end-to-end routes, including from Shenfield to Heathrow, and up to 24 trains an hour during the peak between Paddington and Whitechapel. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the Elizabeth Line was playing a “critical role in our recovery from the pandemic” and was providing a £42 billion boost to the UK economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of new homes and jobs.
