TfL Rail

TfL Rail is the concession of two separate railway lines in London and its environs whilst the planned link-up between these lines is being constructed. This will form part of the Crossrail service when it opens in mid-2022. The Elizabeth line was initially due to open in December 2018.

TfL Rail was introduced in May 2015 when it took control from Greater Anglia of the commuter "metro" service between Liverpool Street in central London and Shenfield in Essex. The branch comprises 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 has also taken over operation of some services from Paddington to Heathrow Airport and Reading. Services are 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.

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.

MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Ltd was created as a new train operating company and took control of the "metro" service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from the previous operator, Abellio Greater Anglia, on 31 May 2015. 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 May 2018 TfL Rail took over operation of the Heathrow Connect service between Paddington and Heathrow, as well as some GWR services between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington.

In November 2019, Class 345 trains began running between Paddington and Reading, and are planned to run between Paddington and Heathrow in early 2020.

The line will be renamed the Elizabeth line when the central section opens in March 2021, with the current branches connecting up with the core in later 2021.

Route
The eastern branch of TfL Rail runs over the existing 20 miles 16 chains (32.5 km) of track on the Great Eastern Main Line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield. The future Crossrail route will retain the use of most of this track, except the portion between Liverpool Street and Stratford, where trains will use new tunnels to connect to the central section of the route.

The western branches operate over part of the Great Western Main Line and the Heathrow tunnel between Paddington and Heathrow for 16 miles 38 chains (26.5 km), and entirely over the Great Western Main Line between Paddington and Reading for 36 miles (58 km).

Stations

 * Acton Main Line for GWR services
 * Brentwood
 * Burnham for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Chadwell Heath
 * Ealing Broadway for Central, District, Piccadilly, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Forest Gate
 * Gidea Park
 * Goodmayes
 * Hanwell for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Harold Wood
 * Hayes and Harlington for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Ilford
 * Iver for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Langley for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Liverpool Street for Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Overground, Cross Country, C2c, Greater Anglia, EMR and Thameslink services
 * Maidenhead for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Manor Park
 * Maryland
 * Paddington for Bakerloo, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Heathrow Express, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Reading for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, South Western Railway, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Romford
 * Seven Kings
 * Shenfield
 * Slough for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Southall
 * Stratford for Central, Jubilee, DLR, Overground, C2c, Greater Anglia, Southeastern and Thameslink services
 * Taplow for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * Twyford for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * West Drayton for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services
 * West Ealing for Chiltern Railways, Cross Country, GWR, Thameslink, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway services

Shenfield Branch
The eastern branch of TfL Rail operates with a fleet of new Class 345 trains.

The Class 315 trains will continue to be maintained at the existing Ilford depot, but the Class 345 trains will be 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 May 20th, 2018. These trains will be used to operate the existing half-hourly (2tph) service to Heathrow while the Class 345 units will initially supplement this with a half-hourly (2tph) service to Hayes & Harlington, a service formerly operated by Great Western Railway Class 387 units. Class 345 trains will run on the Heathrow branch from early 2020.

Reading branch
On 26 September 2019, TfL Rail announced that it would take over the Paddington to Reading stopping services on 15 December 2019, 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.