First London Tube map with Elizabeth Line published

Major £18bn underground railway route will open next week after years of delays

The Elizabeth Line will feature as a double purple line on the new London transport map. Reuters

Transport for London (TfL) has released a new Tube map with the Elizabeth Line included for the first time.

The new east-west railway has been added to the map before its opening on May 24.

It is displayed as a double purple line rather than a solid line to “differentiate the Elizabeth Line as a new railway as opposed to a London Underground line”, TfL said.

The line stretches from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport in west London to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood in south-east London.

Trains will initially operate in three sections, which are expected to be integrated in the autumn.

The new central section, built by the delayed and overbudget Crossrail project, runs through tunnels from Paddington in west London to Abbey Wood.

Services on the two other sections already operate as TfL Rail and will be rebranded as the Elizabeth Line from May 24.

The line is named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, who visited Paddington station on Tuesday to mark the completion of the Crossrail.

The map also includes the Bank branch of the Northern Line, which reopened this week after a 17-week closure for major upgrades, and the London Overground extension to Barking Riverside, which launches in the autumn.

The Tube map is based on a 1931 design by London Underground electrical draughtsman Harry Beck. The first published version was released in 1933.

TfL’s interim customer and revenue director Julie Dixon said: “Our world-renowned map now has another iconic addition in the Elizabeth Line, which will serve London and the south-east for hundreds of years to come.

“When we open on Tuesday May 24, the new Elizabeth Line will begin providing greater connectivity and step-free access from Reading and Heathrow to Shenfield and Abbey Wood through the centre of London.

Ms Dixon called the latest Tube map “a real credit to the team who have put it together”.

“It has been both a challenge and a privilege to update Harry Beck’s original design to literally put a new piece of transport history on the map,” she continued.

“This latest version takes into account a number of wider changes to the transport network, but will ensure Londoners and visitors alike are able to navigate around our transport network with ease.”

Queen Elizabeth marks the completion of the Elizabeth Line — in pictures