Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line Will Make Efficient Travel From Heathrow Into London Cheaper

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London is not a cheap city to visit, and getting a taxi from Heathrow to the center of London can often leave you wondering if you should remortgage your home or sell an organ to raise the fare. There’s aways the option of the London underground but that’s not exactly speedy and while the Heathrow Express train service is certainly quick it’s certainly not cheap.

London’s new Crossrail Elizabeth line has long been billed as the answer to a lot of journey problems that Londoners and those visiting London face and, as this new line will extend out to Heathrow, it’s of importance to those of us who fly in and out of Heathrow with any frequency.

The Evening Standard newspaper has now revealed the fares that the Elizabeth Line will charge once it opens in December and they makes for pretty good reading for travelers.

Here’s a map of the new Elizabeth Line (click to enlarge)….

…and here are some of the more important facts you’ll need to know:

• Travel from Heathrow into the center of London will take approximately 25 minutes which is 10 minutes more than the Heathrow Express currently takes.
• Crossrail services between London Paddington and Heathrow will replace the existing train service (Heathrow Connect) from 20 May 2018 and will be 10p or 20p cheaper depending on the tie of day.
• A one-way Crossrail peak time fare for travel between Heathrow and central London (zone 1 of the underground) will cost £12.10. That’s less than 45% of what the Heathrow Express changes now and £7 more than what the London Underground charges now.
• Peak times are as follows:
  • 06:30 – 09:30
  • 16:00 – 19:00
• The cost of traveling on the Elizabeth Line within London (zones 1-6) will match what the London Underground costs now.
• Travel between Heathrow and the financial district of Canary Wharf will cost £12.20 at peak times and £10.10 at all other times. This compares to the current cost of £13.20 on the underground.
• Crossrail’s Elizabeth line will be the first service to accept London’s Oyster Card payment solution all the way to Heathrow.
• Children under the age of 11 travel free
• Londoners 60 and over will travel free

The futuristic looking Crossrail station at London’s Canary Wharf – Image Crossrail

Thoughts

This should be very good news for travelers arriving in to Heathrow and connecting on into central London and bad news for Heathrow Express.

The Heathrow express is certainly quick but it drops passengers off at Paddington (which I don’t consider to be a particularly useful or central station) and it costs up to £27/$38 for a one-way fare.

Compare that to a slightly longer journey time on the Elizabeth Line which can drop you off right in the very heart of London (Bond St) while costing you significantly less.

There’s also a hidden bonus to using the Elizabeth Line from Heathrow if you purchase a London Oyster Card. Because London will set a £12.50 cap on the amount that an Oyster Card user can be charged on any given day, someone who pays for a peak-time Elizabeth line fare from Heathrow to the center of London on an Oyster Card (£12.10) will be able to travel around London (on the underground or on buses) for the rest of the day for just 40p more.

That has to be one of the best deals in travel!

As someone who visits London very frequently indeed I’ve been looking forward to seeing what Crossrail will offer for some time. Now that I know the fares are going to be cheaper than the underground and the journey times shorter I can wait for the December opening of the service.

Featured image courtesy of Crossrail