TfL Rail

This article is about the former railway service serving London, Essex, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire run by TfL. For the current service, see Elizabeth line.

TfL Rail was the concession which operated commuter services on two separate railway lines in London, England and its environs whilst the Crossrail construction project linking these lines was underway. It ran from 2015 until May 2022, upon the opening of the Crossrail central section, when TfL Rail was rebranded as Elizabeth line and the name was discontinued.^[2][3][4]

TfL Rail
A Class 345 at Shenfield
Overview
Owner	Transport for London
Locale	Greater London Berkshire Buckinghamshire Essex
Transit type	Commuter rail / rapid transit[1]
Number of lines	2
Line number	Shenfield – Liverpool Street Paddington – Heathrow Terminal 4 / Reading
Number of stations	32 (22 managed)
Website	tfl.gov.uk/modes/tfl-rail/
Operation
Began operation	31 May 2015; 10 years ago (2015-05-31)
Ended operation	23 May 2022; 3 years ago (2022-05-23) (rebranded as Elizabeth line)
Operator(s)	MTR Corporation
Reporting marks	XR
Technical
System length	36 miles 54 chains (59.0 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 25 kV 50 Hz AC
System map TfL Rail Legend Miles from Liverpool Street 20¼ Shenfield 18¼ Brentwood   Greater London 150 Harold Wood 13½ Gidea Park 12½ Romford 100 Chadwell Heath 9¼ Goodmayes 8½ Seven Kings 7¼ Ilford 6¼ Manor Park 5¼ Forest Gate 4½ Maryland 40 Stratford Pudding Mill Lane portal 00 Liverpool Street Crossrail 00 Paddington Royal Oak portal 4¼ Acton Main Line 5¾ Ealing Broadway 6½ West Ealing 7¼ Hanwell 90 Southall 110 Hayes & Harlington Heathrow junction 14¾ Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 16½ Heathrow Terminal 4 140 West Drayton Greater London   14¾ Iver 16¼ Langley 18½ Slough 210 Burnham 22½ Taplow 24¼ Maidenhead 310 Twyford 360 Reading Miles from Paddington

TfL Rail was introduced on 31 May 2015 when it took control from Abellio Greater Anglia of the commuter "metro" service between London Liverpool Street in central London and Shenfield in Essex. The branch comprised the first 14 stations on the Great Eastern Main Line, with interchange at Shenfield for medium- and long-distance services beyond to East Anglia. TfL Rail had also taken over operation of some services from Paddington to Heathrow Airport and Reading. Services were operated by MTR Corporation under contract to Transport for London (TfL). Between May 2016 and May 2017, TfL Rail carried over 47 million passengers on the Shenfield branch.

History

In June 2013, TfL announced that Arriva, MTR Corporation, Keolis / Go-Ahead Group and National Express had been shortlisted to bid for the concession to operate Crossrail, which was under construction.^[5][6]

In July 2014, TfL awarded the contract to Hong Kong's MTR, for a duration of eight years with an option to extend by an additional two years.^[7][8]

MTR Corporation (Crossrail) was created as a new train operating company and took control of the "metro" service between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield from the previous operator, Abellio Greater Anglia, on 31 May 2015.^[9] The existing Class 315 trains were re-painted in TfL Rail livery, and appropriate branding, advertising and message boards were added at the 14 stations along the line. Every station is staffed, from the first train to the last of the day. In June 2017, Class 345 trains began running between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield.^[10]

In May 2018, TfL Rail took over operation of the Heathrow Connect service between London Paddington and Heathrow, as well as some GWR services between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.^[11] In December 2019, TfL Rail took over operation of the Great Western Railway stopping services between London Paddington and Reading. In November 2019, Class 345 trains began running between London Paddington and Reading, as a soft launch of the service.^[12][13] In July 2020, Class 345 trains began running between London Paddington and Heathrow.^[14]

The two branches became part of the Elizabeth line when the central section opened on 24 May 2022, with the current branches connecting up with the core later.^[15]

Route

The eastern branch of TfL Rail ran over the existing 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 km) of track on the Great Eastern Main Line between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield. The western branches operated over part of the Great Western Main Line and the Heathrow tunnel between London Paddington and Heathrow for 16 miles 38 chains (26.5 km), and entirely over the Great Western Main Line between London Paddington and Reading for 36 miles (58 km).

Stations

Stations served by TfL Rail^[16]

Station	Image	Dates			Location
		Opened	Managed from	Served from	Zone	Local authority
Reading		30 March 1840	Managed by Network Rail	15 December 2019	N/A[a]	Reading
Twyford		1 July 1839	Managed by Great Western Railway			Wokingham
Maidenhead		1 November 1871				Windsor and Maidenhead
Taplow		1 September 1872	May 2018			Buckinghamshire
Burnham		1 July 1899				Slough
Slough		8 September 1884	Managed by Great Western Railway
Langley		1845	May 2018
Iver		1 December 1924				Buckinghamshire
West Drayton		4 June 1838			6	Hillingdon
Heathrow Terminal 5[b]		27 March 2008	Managed by Heathrow Express	Diversions only[b]
Heathrow Terminal 4		23 June 1998		May 2018
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3
Hayes & Harlington		1864 or 1868	May 2018		5
Southall		1 May 1839			4	Ealing
Hanwell		1 December 1838
West Ealing		4 June 1838			3
Ealing Broadway		1 December 1838
Acton Main Line		1 February 1868
London Paddington		4 June 1838	Managed by Network Rail		1	City of Westminster
Sections disconnected
London Liverpool Street		2 October 1874	Managed by Network Rail	31 May 2015	1	City of London
Stratford		20 June 1839	Managed by TfL		2/3	Newham
Maryland		6 January 1873	31 May 2015		3
Forest Gate		1840
Manor Park		6 January 1873			3/4
Ilford		20 June 1839			4	Redbridge
Seven Kings		1 March 1899
Goodmayes		8 February 1901
Chadwell Heath		11 January 1864			5
Romford		20 June 1839			6	Havering
Gidea Park		1 December 1910
Harold Wood		1 December 1868
Brentwood		1 July 1840			9	Brentwood
Shenfield		29 March 1843	Managed by Greater Anglia		C

1. Stations between Iver and Reading only accept contactless Pay-as-you-go and are therefore not in the Oyster zones
2. Heathrow Terminal 5 was not officially served by TfL Rail, but services were diverted to this station when Heathrow Terminal 4 was closed during COVID-19

Former services

Shenfield branch

A Class 315 and Class 345 at London Liverpool Street

TfL Rail took over operations from Abellio Greater Anglia on 31 May 2015.^[17] TfL Rail subsequently introduced a fleet of new Class 345 trains.^[18][19] On 22 June 2017, Class 345 trains entered passenger service on the Shenfield branch.^[20]

The Class 315 trains continued to be maintained at the existing Ilford depot, but the Class 345 trains are maintained at Old Oak Common and Ilford depots.

Heathrow branch

TfL Rail inherited five Class 360 units from Heathrow Connect when it took over operations on 20 May 2018. These trains were used to operate the existing half-hourly (2tph) service to Heathrow.^[21] On 30 July 2020, Class 345 trains entered passenger service on the Heathrow branch.^[14] The last Class 360 trains were withdrawn in September 2020.^[22]

Reading branch

On 26 September 2019, TfL Rail announced that it would take over the Paddington to Reading stopping services on 15 December 2019,^[23] using Class 345 trains in place of the Class 387 and Class 165 trains used by Great Western Railway. Before that, on 25 November 2019 six GWR services a day started to operate using Class 345 trains, operated by TfL, to get drivers ready and stock in place for the main 15 December switch over.^[24]

Route tables

Prior to the opening of the Elizabeth line on 24 May 2022, the timetabled weekday off-peak service pattern consisted of:^[25]

Shenfield branch
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Liverpool Street to Shenfield	8	Stratford Maryland Forest Gate Manor Park Ilford Seven Kings Goodmayes Chadwell Heath Romford Gidea Park Harold Wood Brentwood	345 315
Reading and Heathrow branches
Route	tph	Calling at	Stock
London Paddington to Reading	2[a]	Ealing Broadway Southall Hayes & Harlington West Drayton Iver Langley Slough Burnham Taplow Maidenhead Twyford	345
London Paddington to Hayes & Harlington	2	Ealing Broadway West Ealing Hanwell Southall
London Paddington to Heathrow Terminal 4[b]	2	Acton Main Line Ealing Broadway West Ealing Hanwell Southall Hayes & Harlington Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3

1. During peak times, service frequency increased up to 4 trains per hour
2. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Heathrow Terminal 4 station was closed, services diverted to Heathrow Terminal 5

Rolling stock

Fleet carried over to the Elizabeth line

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Carriages	Number	Routes operated	Built	Years in operation
			mph	km/h
Class 315		EMU	75	120	4	8[citation needed]	Liverpool Street – Shenfield[26]	1980–1981	1980–2022
Class 345 Aventra		EMU	90	145	7 or 9	70	Liverpool Street – Shenfield Paddington – Reading Paddington – Heathrow Airport	2015–2019	June 2017–present

Past fleet

Former units operated by TfL Rail include:

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Carriages	Number	Routes operated	Built	Withdrawn
			mph	km/h
Class 360 Desiro		EMU	100	160	5	5	London Paddington – Heathrow Terminal 4 (Heathrow Connect)	2004–2005	2020