The Elizabeth Line is helping to drive a return to London offices, as new data shows attendance at sites along the line soared in the first year since its launch.
Flexible workspace operator IWG said the number of visits to its sites along the Elizabeth Line are up 23% in April compared to a year earlier. The Elizabeth Line opened to the public in May of last year.
Paddington saw the biggest increase, with a 50% rise in visits, but there were also significant jumps at Canary Wharf and Liverpool Street, while there were also major rises in commuter towns outside of London, such as Slough.
“There is now a wealth of evidence to show that long and costly daily commutes will be a thing of the past for a large proportion of white-collar workers, as hybrid working continues to take hold,” IWG founder and CEO Mark Dixon said.
“Where arduous commuting barriers have been reduced, be that through improved transport links such as the Elizabeth Line or the increased availability of local workspaces in the suburbs and former dormitory towns, the demand for offices and hybrid workspace is thriving.”
The rail link will enter its final phase later this month, offering direct trains from Shenfield in Essex to Heathrow Airport for the first time.
According to recent data from Transport for London, one in six of all UK rail journeys are now made on the £20bn cross-London line.
