The Elizabeth Line has been transformative for places like Romford, a suburb of eastern London. Romford used to get direct trains to only Liverpool Street: it now has them to most of central London, Heathrow Airport, and the western suburbs. The trains also run twice as frequently as they used to. The rest of the city center (plus most of its suburbs) can be reached with one change of train. Because the trains to Romford no longer run into the terminus part of Liverpool Street, other services using the station have become more reliable as well.
Most importantly, this has been done cost-effectively. Although the Elizabeth Line tunnel was expensive, for the price of 21 kilometers of tunnel, London got a 117 kilometer-long railway network. In short, Romford has got most of the benefits of a connection to the London Underground, without needing to build an underground line all the way to the suburb.
— Read on worksinprogress.co/issue/the-magic-of-through-running/
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