Who Will Benefit from the Elizabeth Line?

A new London Underground line named the Elizabeth Line in honour of our Queen, Elizabeth II – connecting Landmark office spaces across the capital – is officially opening today. But what does this mean for the average commuter, and will your trip to work benefit from the new line?

On Tuesday 17 May 2022, the Queen, alongside Prime Minister Boris Johnson, made a surprise appearance at Paddington Station to open the new Elizabeth Line that will stretch from Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the East to Heathrow and Reading in the West. During her visit, the Queen unveiled a plaque marking the opening of the line and was shown how to use an Oyster Card. The opening of the Elizabeth Line coincides with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, which marks 70 years of her reign and will be celebrated from 2nd to 5th June 2022.

Previously known as Crossrail, the new 100km+ Elizabeth Line will cross the capital from east to west. The line is expected to deliver a £42 billion boost to the whole of the UK according to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Crossrail says the Elizabeth Line will also increase Central London’s rail capacity by 10% once fully operational.

Traversing through major hubs like Paddington in the West End, Liverpool Street in the City, Stratford in the East and Canary Wharf in the Docklands, the Elizabeth Line will make it far easier to travel between the different sides of London. A journey between its two major stations, Paddington and Liverpool Street, will now take half the time as the current Circle Line route does, cutting the journey from 20 to 10 minutes. Similarly, a 25-minute trip between the financial cores of the capital, from Farringdon to Canary Wharf, has also been trimmed down to a convenient 10 minutes.

However, the biggest winners will most likely be those workers making their way from outside the city. Commuters in Slough and Reading in Berkshire to those in Shenfield and Romford in Essex will now be able to enjoy an extra snooze in bed before embarking on their journeys. Indeed, the Elizabeth Line boasts the single greatest reduction in journey time to central London, with a trip from Abbey Wood in south London to Tottenham Court Road being cut by 28 minutes. Furthermore, those coming from even further afield and flying into London for business will be able to make their way into the capital a lot quicker using Elizabeth Line services to Heathrow Airport. For those seeking the creativity of an office while minimising time spent commuting, the new line could herald a new dawn in time well spent.

Thanks to the Elizabeth Line, some of Landmark’s already well-connected office spaces are now even easier to get to. Our Farringdon office, for example, will now host the Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Elizabeth Lines as well as the Central Line through nearby Chancery Lane. To the East, even more importance has been placed on Liverpool Street which is within 10 minutes’ walk of seven Landmark offices (Gresham Street Moorgate, Royal Exchange, Old Broad Street, 99 Bishopsgate, 110 Bishopsgate, Bevis Marks, Aldgate). Two offices are close to Tottenham Court Road Station (Newman Street and Tottenham Court Road); one is by the Canary Wharf Station and Landmark even has an office in Reading. When it comes to the Elizabeth Line, it’s got us covered.