journey time paddington to reading on elizabeth line

What is the Crossrail Elizabeth line route and how long does the journey take?

The much-awaited Elizabeth line will finally open this month

• 18:22, 4 MAY 2022
• Updated 20:13, 4 MAY 2022

The highly-anticipated Elizabeth Line is finally set to open on the 24th May , four years after Crossrail announced the new project.

From Reading to Shenfield, the Elizabeth line - also known as Crossrail - has 41 stops and passes through popular London hotspots such as Liverpool Street and Paddington.

The new train line aims to make journeys across the capital from badly connected areas much quicker and easier, but how long does each journey take exactly?

Read more: Crossrail: Need-to-know Elizabeth Line shortcuts to cut your commute

Ahead of the opening, travel map app Citymapper has created a journey time calculator for the Elizabeth Line to show users just how quick trips across London will now be.

(Note: the station at Heathrow Terminal Four won't be opening yet.).

Elizabeth Line journey times from Canary Wharf

Whitechapel

Current: 17 minutes

Elizabeth line: 4 minutes

Liverpool Street

Current: 26 minutes

Elizabeth line: 7 minutes

Current: 30 minutes

Elizabeth line: 9 minutes

Tottenham Court Road

Current: 27 minutes

Elizabeth line: 12 minutes

Bond Street

Current: 22 minutes

Elizabeth line: 14 minutes

Current: 35 minutes

Elizabeth line: 17 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Liverpool Street

Current: 10 minutes

Elizabeth line: 5 minutes

Current: 12 minutes

Elizabeth line: 8 minutes

Current: 15 minutes

Elizabeth line: 10 minutes

Elizabeth line: 13 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Bond Street

Elizabeth line journey times from tottenham court road.

Current: 32 minutes

Current: 16 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Paddington

Current: 31 minutes

Canary Wharf

Custom House

Current: 47 minutes

Elizabeth line: 20 minutes

Elizabeth line: 22 minutes

Current: 58 minutes

Elizabeth line: 29 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Farringdon

Elizabeth line: 3 minutes

Current: 18 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Whitechapel

Current: 23 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Abbey Wood

Current: 7 minutes

Elizabeth line: 6 minutes

Current: 41 minutes

Elizabeth line: 11 minutes

Current: 52 minutes

Elizabeth line: 15 minutes

Current: 43 minutes

Elizabeth line: 18 minutes

Current: 55 minutes

Elizabeth line: 23 minutes

Current: 48 minutes

Elizabeth line: 26 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Woolwich

Current: 28 minutes

Elizabeth line: 2 minutes

Current: 40 minutes

Elizabeth Line journey times from Custom House

Current: 34 minutes

Current: 39 minutes

Current: 38 minutes

Current: 33 minutes

What are you hoping for from the new Elizabeth line? Tell us in the comments below!

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Elizabeth Line journey times explained: Crossrail route map and the full list of new TfL stations

The new crossrail line opens on tuesday, 24 may and will cover 41 stations including reading, heathrow and slough.

Transport for London has confirmed that the Elizabeth line will open on 24 May, 2022 following years of delays. The new Tube and Crossrail will start service – subject to safety checks – just in time for the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations .

The Elizabeth line will run through the centre of London, spreading out to four peripheral London locations – Reading, Heathrow, Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood, south-east London.

Described by TfL as “one of the most complex digital railways in the world,” the new line combines pioneering technology and design to help serve central London and commuter towns.

Elizabeth line journey times

Crossrail service will start with 12 trains an hour (one train every 5 minutes) running between Paddington and Abbey Wood from 6.30am to 11pm, Monday to Saturday.

The line will not run on Sundays, however this will change in the autumn. A special service will operate on Sunday 5 June, 2022 between 8am and 10pm to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee .

The full line should open by autumn 2022.

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Elizabeth line map

TfL has released an official map showing the  route of the new Elizabeth line . For a full  high-resolution map click here.

Elizabeth line timetable

• The Elizabeth line will cut journey times from Abbey Wood, south-east London, to Paddington by almost half to 29 minutes.
• Journeys between Liverpool Street and Woolwich will also be halved to 15 minutes.
• Trips between Farringdon and Canary Wharf will take 10 minutes, instead of 24.

Other example journey times:

• Bond Street to Liverpool Street: Seven minutes
• Woolwich to Farringdon: 14 minutes
• Paddington to Canary Wharf: 17 minutes

East section journey times (autumn 2022)

• Stratford to Bond Street: 15 minutes
• Romford to Liverpool Street: 27 minutes

West section journey times (autumn 2022)

• Tottenham Court Road to Ealing Broadway: 13 minutes
• Paddington to Slough: 26 minutes

Full list of Crossrail stations

The new Crossrail line will cover 41 stations, not in order:

• West Drayton
• Hayes & Harlington
• West Ealing
• Ealing Broadway
• Acton Main Line
• Bond Street
• Tottenham Court Road
• Liverpool Street
• Whitechapel
• Forest Gate
• Seven Kings
• Chadwell Heath
• Harold Wood
• Canary Wharf
• Custom House
• Heathrow Airport Terminals 2 & 3
• Heathrow Airport Terminal 4
• Heathrow Airport Terminal 5

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Station information, reading to paddington, * estimated journey time:.

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* Journey times are calculated using average scheduled times between stations. 5 minutes are added for each connecting service. Actual times may of course differ. Some services do not operate at certain times of the day or week.

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

How long will the new Elizabeth Line take to travel across London? Projected journey times

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Getting around London on the underground can be a lengthy process with delays, tube strikes , baffling routes and temporary line closures.

Thankfully, the Elizabeth Line has finally partially opened , albeit several years late, with the new Crossrail system promising to cut down commute times.

Upon completion of the £18.8 billion project, the Travel for London (TfL) service will link 41 stations over 100 kilometres from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through central London, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

And now, commuters and those heading on their summer holidays may be delighted to learn that the Heathrow Terminal 4 station has opened.

So, how long will the journeys take on the Elizabeth Line , both within the city and across the rest of the line?

How long will the Elizabeth Line take to travel from central London to Heathrow Terminal 4?

According to the Crossrail website , Elizabeth Line services from Paddington, in central London, to Heathrow Airport will ‘run every 30 minutes’, with journeys taking roughly 35 minutes each way.

Currently, the route from Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 4 comprises several stops:

• Acton Main Line
• Ealing Broadway
• West Ealing
• Hayes & Harlington
• Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3
• Heathrow Terminal 4

From Monday to Friday, the connection from central London to Heathrow terminals from 4.53am for Terminals 2, 3 and 4. The last Elizabeth Line tube to Heathrow terminals will depart from Paddington at 11.17pm.

On Saturdays, you can head from Paddington to Heathrow from 4.45am, with the last departure leaving Paddington at 11.18pm.

How long will the new Crossrail take to travel across London?

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The Elizabeth Line promises to give 1.5 million more people access to central London within 45 minutes, as well as reducing journey times across the capital.

To reach this goal, the project has required 42 kilometres of new tunnels, 10 new stations, over 50 kilometres of new track.

Here is a breakdown of the sections of the line, projected journey times, as well as when they are expected to begin operating.

Central section: May 2022

Trains will start at Paddington in the West and go through to Abbey Wood and will pass through such stations as Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf.

Example journey times:

• Bond Street to Liverpool Street: Seven minutes
• Woolwich to Farringdon: 14 minutes
• Paddington to Canary Wharf: 17 minutes

New Tube map just dropped 👇 pic.twitter.com/oJdFBzCevd — Transport for London 🏳️‍🌈 (@TfL) May 19, 2022

East section: Autumn 2022

This section will run from Liverpool Street station to Shenfield   in Essex, passing through east London areas such as Stratford and Romford.

• Stratford to Bond Street: 15 minutes
• Romford to Liverpool Street: 27 minutes

Eventually, passengers will be able to travel from Reading and Heathrow through central London to Shenfield or Abbey Wood without needing to change trains.

West section: Autumn 2022

This route will begin at Paddington   mainline station and will split after Hayes & Harlington.

One branch will carry on to Maidenhead and Reading and the other to Heathrow   airport terminals.

• Tottenham Court Road to Ealing Broadway: 13 minutes
• Paddington to Slough: 26 minutes

It should be noted that these times are estimations at this point, with the final version of the timetable is expected to be in place by May 2023.

MORE : These are the stations on the Elizabeth Line you can’t use your Oyster card

MORE : Does the Elizabeth Line run on Saturday and Sunday?

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GWR customers can enjoy big journey-time savings on Elizabeth line

The Elizabeth line opens tomorrow (Tuesday 24 May) – providing significant journey-time savings for Great Western Railway customers.

Commuters will be able to travel from London Paddington to Canary Wharf in just 17 minutes – half the time the journey would take today.

It means the capital’s central business hub will be within an hour’s reach from Reading; and under 90 minutes from Oxford and Swindon.

To illustrate the improvement in journey times, we invited local railway historian Tim Dunn to race against himself using both the Elizabeth line and traditional London Underground. You can view the video here:

GWR Managing Director, Mark Hopwood, described the opening of the line as a game-changer for passengers travelling into the heart of London.

“The Elizabeth line will be completely transformational for Great Western Railway customers, improving connectivity and reducing overall journey times from Paddington into other key points in the city.

“It’s a really exciting step forward for the whole industry but it will bring particular benefits to Great Western Railway. We know that 81 per cent of our customers who travel into Paddington then take an onward journey elsewhere in London.

“If you’re travelling from Reading or Oxford, Paddington becomes a much more attractive option as you’re able to reach the heart of the city in half the time it would have taken previously.

“We expect these new services to help make travel on GWR services into the capital even more compelling, attracting new customers across our network and boosting demand as we work hard to attract customers back to the railway.”

When the line opens tomorrow, passengers will be able to travel from Paddington to Tottenham Court Road in just five minutes, compared to 14 minutes previously; Liverpool Street in 11 minutes (25 minutes previously); and Abbey Wood in south-east London in 29 minutes, compared to 61 minutes today.

The line will initially operate as three separate railways, in the east, west and through central London.

Services will start with 12 trains an hour (a train every 5 minutes) between Paddington and Abbey Wood from 06:30-23:00, Monday to Saturday. Work will continue in engineering hours and on Sundays to allow a series of testing and software updates. 

Customers travelling between Reading or Heathrow into London will initially need to change at Paddington for services into the central section of the route, and customers from Shenfield into London will initially need to change at Liverpool Street.

Services from Reading, Heathrow and Shenfield will connect with the central tunnels in the autumn when frequencies will also be increased to 22 trains per hour in the peak between Paddington and Whitechapel.

By May next year the separate sections of Elizabeth line will become fully connected and services run to the final timetable. There will be up to 24 trains per hour between Paddington and Whitechapel during the peak when the railway is fully open.  

Find out more about the Elizabeth line here .

JOURNEY TIME COMPARISONS

*Journeys allow for up to 15 minutes interchange at Paddington for the London Underground

^Journeys allow for up to 9 minutes interchange at Paddington for the Elizabeth Line 

Contact Information

John carter.

Media and Communications Manager

Great Western Railway

0845 410 4444

[email protected]

Notes to editors

First Greater Western Limited, trading as “Great Western Railway” (GWR), operates trains across the Great Western franchise area, which includes South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, across southern England and into London. GWR provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services, and before the covid-19 pandemic helped over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year. GWR was awarded an extension to its direct award franchise (called DA3), which shall run up to 31 March 2023, with an option to extend for a further year.

The Options For Traveling From Heathrow To Central London By Rail

London heathrow airport.

IATA/ICAO Code: LHR-EGLL

Country: United Kingdom

CEO: John Holland-Kaye

Passenger Count : 19,392,178 (2021)

Runways : 09L/27R - 3,902m (12,802ft) |09R/27L - 3,660m (12,008ft)

Terminals: Terminal 2 |Terminal 3 |Terminal 4 |Terminal 5

• Heathrow Express offers a quick 15-minute journey from Heathrow Central to London Paddington, departing every 15 minutes.
• Elizabeth Line provides a longer 28-minute journey with intermediate stops, offering a cost-effective option.
• London Underground connects Heathrow to central London in about 50 minutes for a budget-friendly fare.

There are many ways to get to and from the United Kingdom's largest air hub, London Heathrow Airport (LHR). Located just along the M25 highway, Heathrow is one of the busiest airports for international flights. Several rail-based solutions are available for passengers wishing to get to the airport without the hassle of a car.

The Elizabeth Line is one of the newest rail lines serving Heathrow Airport . This article focuses on ways LHR can be accessed via rail lines, saving cost and time for passengers.

Heathrow Express

For time-conscious passengers, the fastest way to get from London Heathrow Airport to central London by rail is via the Heathrow Express . These electric trains run non-stop from Heathrow Central railway station, which serves Terminals 2 and 3, to London Paddington Station, the terminus of the Great Western Main Line. They also serve Terminal 5, just three minutes from Heathrow Central.

These journeys from Heathrow Central to London Paddington take just 15 minutes, and, interestingly enough, this is also how often the services depart. In December 2020, Heathrow Express refreshed its fleet, substituting its Class 332 trains for newer Class 387 'Electrostar' units. These four-coach trains can be doubled up to offer eight carriages, providing useful extra capacity at busy times.

Want answers to more key questions in aviation? Check out the rest of our guides here !

However, the speed and directness of the Heathrow Express come at a cost. According to Heathrow's website, Anytime Web Singles for these trains cost £25 ($31.77) each way, with returns coming £37 ($46.33). However, fixed-time tickets can be found for as low as £5.50 ($6.99) each way when booked up to 90 days in advance. Railcard holders are entitled to the standard one-third discount.

Elizabeth Line

For rail passengers who don't mind saving a bit of money by having a longer journey time, the Elizabeth Line's services offer an ideal compromise. These trains typically take around 28 minutes to travel to London Paddington, stopping at several intermediate stops. Passengers can change at Hayes & Harlington for services towards Reading, a key rail hub on the Great Western network.

These services, which only have standard class seats, used to run under the Heathrow Connect brand, when they were operated by Class 360 Desiro Trains. However, Transport For London took over the operation in 2018 and now uses Class 345 units on its Elizabeth Line services. These extend beyond Paddington to Shenfield and Abbey Wood , serving other central London stops.

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Passengers using Elizabeth Line services can pay at the ticket gates using Oyster or contactless bank cards, with the former being eligible for railcard discounts. TfL's website states that anytime singles from Heathrow to Paddington cost £12.20 ($15.50). Services run half-hourly from Terminal 5 to Shenfield and every 15 minutes from Terminal 4 to Abbey Wood. Both routes serve Terminals 2 & 3.

London Underground

What would London be without its world-famous Underground network? These trains connect all corners of the British capital and suburban areas of neighboring counties. London Heathrow Airport represents the western extreme of the Piccadilly Line. From here, trains run eastwards from just after five to just before midnight, departing as often as every five minutes.

Using the bustling tourist hotspot of Piccadilly Circus as an example, traveling on the Underground from Heathrow to central London typically takes around 50 minutes. Oyster cards and contactless fares cost just £5.60 ($7.12). Paying in cash is possible, although this does increase the price to £6.70 ($8.51).

Overall, London-bound rail passengers are spoiled for choice at Heathrow. Their decision depends on how they prioritize factors like time and cost.

How many of these options have you used on your travels? Do you have a particular favorite? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.