Despite disappointing reviews by Londoners and even the Mayor, the Elizabeth line has transformed London's rail network and could play a part in UK's railway development.
It has not been a good fortnight for the Elizabeth line. It only became fully integrated in November 2022 (just over a year ago) and has now the worst cancellation rise of any train line in the UK. At the start of this month, some Elizabeth line passengers found themselves stuck on it for hours on end when electric cable damage near Paddington caused severe disruption. It is no longer the UK's most punctual railway with 9.1% of its services being cancelled over the summer. Its operating performance mirrors that of its construction phase - the Elizabeth line was supposed to open in 2018 and ended up being three and a half years behind schedule (almost 4 if one is only considering the complete integration of services).
Its dire performance should not be expected for a new train line. Furthermore, it is not expected when it is managed by the MTR, the corporation responsible for the 99% punctuality rate on Hong Kong's metro system. This has drawn criticism from the highest at City Hall. Greens, Lib Dems and Conservatives on the London Assembly have criticised the deterioration in performance over this summer and even Sadiq Khan has conceded that services are not meeting "the consistently high standards".
Billions over budget, severe delays and constant maintenance works. Has the Elizabeth line been a waste of money?
No (at least, in my opinion). In spite of its flaws, the Elizabeth line has transformed London's rail network. Waterloo had held the crown as Britain's busiest railway station. Yet, this year, it has dropped to third place. The two ahead? Liverpool Street and Paddington - both Elizabeth line interchanges. Liverpool Street, now Britain's busiest, recorded more than 80 million entries and exits in 2022/23 which is a 150% increase compared to 2021/22. Within this period, Paddington had a 148% increase in passenger entries and exits.
It is not just increased passenger usage that the Elizabeth line can boast about. Thanks to the Elizabeth line, TfL estimates demand at Ealing Broadway for the Central line has reduced by about 40%. It has alleviated congestion on some of London's busiest Tube commuter routes: from Paddington to Oxford Circus, Ealing Broadway and even Heathrow to Central London (~18% of Tube users who switched to Elizabeth line services came from the Piccadilly line). Outernet London, situated right in front of Tottenham Court Road station, is now on course to become the UK's busiest visitor attraction - partly thanks to the Elizabeth line: Tottenham Court Road (a Tube-only interchange prior to the Elizabeth line launch) is now the 7th busiest mainline station in the country.
By adding new sections of West and East London onto the Tube map (and even places outside of London such as Slough and Maidenhead) along with adding much needed capacity to already congested termini such as Heathrow and Ealing Broadway, the Elizabeth line can draw in more passengers to London (far more than a standard, non-AC Tube train can do).
Criticise it all you want but we need more Elizabeth lines not just for London but for other cities. Its capability to change London's railway commuter patterns should be expanded to other cities outside of London, especially when cities across the UK are dealing with outdated, ageing infrastructure. Though, it cannot be said that the Elizabeth line is the perfect model for future railway projects - TfL believe that only a small proportion of Elizabeth line users came from those that switched from car travel.
However, the usage statistics are clear - where there is public transport capacity, people will use it. The Elizabeth line may not be perfect but it has definitely brought its benefits to London and if railway development is the way forward to level up other parts of the country, we should definitely look to the Elizabeth line for this.