Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
ELIZABETH LINE MOVES A STEP CLOSER
TFL TAKES OVER FROM GWR TO RUN PADDINGTON TO READING SERVICES
TRANSPORT for London (TfL)will soon be taking over the Great Western Railway, stopping services between London Paddington and Reading.
From Sunday, December 15, the GWR service will come to an end and the next step in the delivery of the Elizabeth Line will begin.
Customers will be able to use contactless payments between London Paddington and Reading from January 2, 2020.
From January TfL rail fares will be aligned with the standard fares to Reading, which have now been confirmed as £24.40 for a peak adult pay as you go journey between Reading and London Paddington (with the off-peak fare of £10.60).
Daily and weekly capping are expected to be introduced in spring 2020 and between December 15, 2019 and January 2, 2020, existing fares will apply.
Once up and running there will be trains every 15 minutes during peak times and one every half an hour offpeak.
Children under 11 accompanied by an adult and customers who are eligible for the Freedom Pass will be able to travel for free to Reading on the TfL service.
Unfortunately, fans of Oyster cards might be disappointed as they will only be able to be used up to West Drayton, and from there you will need a paper ticket or to use contactless from the start.
Howard Smith, operations director for TfL Rail, said: “Running TfL Rail services to Reading is an important step towards opening the Elizabeth line and reinforces the key transport links between these two areas for local people and businesses.
“Customers will benefit from the free travel for under-11s and the convenience of pay as you go contactless fares from the New Year.”
The Elizabeth Line will eventually go all the way from Reading, through central London to Shenfield in Brentwood, allowing 1.5 million more people to get into Central London within just 45 minutes.
What stations will Crossrail go to?
The Elizabeth Line map runs from east to west, with two branches out at each end.
One western route goes through
Reading, Twyford, Maidenhead, Taplow, Burnham, Slough, Langley, Iver and West Drayton.
The other western branch runs through Heathrow terminals five, four, two and three, joining the other branch at Hayes and Harlington.
The line then runs through Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing, Ealing Broadway, Acton Main Line, Paddington, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, Liverpool Street and Whitechapel, before splitting again.
One part will go north, running through Stratford, Maryland, Forest Gate, Manor Park, Ilford, Seven Kings, Goodmayes, Chadwell Heath, Romford, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Brentwood and terminating in Shenfield.
The southern branch will go down through Canary Wharf, Custom House, Woolwich and terminate at Abbey Wood.
Crossrail was originally meant to open in 2019 but that has been postponed.
The project website says: “During 2020 we will undertake testing of the completed railway including an extensive period of trial running to build absolute confidence in the safety and reliability of the whole system before opening to the public.
“The Elizabeth line will open as soon as practically possible in 2021. In early 2020 we will provide Londoners with further certainty about when the Elizabeth line will open.”