Footfall is predicted to increase with faster transport into central London
(Picture: REUTERS)The opening of the Elizabeth line on Tuesday will turbo-charge the West End’s recovery by delivering a £400 million boost to spending this year, business leaders predict.
Tens of millions more visitors a year are expected to visit London’s shopping and entertainment heart once the £19 billion east-west railway is finally added to its transport infrastructure.
Jace Tyrrell, head of the New West End Company, which represents more than 600 businesses, has upgraded its forecast for spending this year from £8.2 billion to £8.6 billion to reflect the impact of the line opening as well as the return of tourists. West End footfall is still down around 20 to 30 per cent on pre-pandemic levels and the recovery is still “fragile”, according to Mr Tyrrell.
But he added: “The opening of the Elizabeth line has come at the perfect time for the West End. The influx of visitors is set to further drive the district’s recovery, ensuring that we remain on track to hit £8.6 billion in turnover this year.”
Over the past two years spending has been little more than half the normal £10 billion as successive lockdowns, working from home and the foreign tourist stay-away have ravaged the heart of the capital.
The New West End Company says it is hard to predict how many extra people the Elizabeth line will bring the West End and estimates it could be anywhere between 20 million and 60 million. Mr Tyrrell said the work on the new stations at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road “has already delivered around £2.5 billion of regeneration that would not have happened without it”.
These included the redevelopment Hanover Square next to the Bond Street station — which is not due to open until “early autumn” — and the Outernet entertainment complex at Denmark Street near the Tottenham Court Road station.
Helen Brocklebank, chief executive of luxury brands trade body Walpole, said: “It’s going to be great. In a way it’s a good thing it’s been delayed because everyone discovered during the pandemic how important their local domestic customers are. Now they will be all be able to get into town — and right into Bond Street — that much quicker. I expect it will have a really good impact on footfall and it will add an extra five to 10 per cent to revenues.”
But the economic benefits of the Elizabeth line — which stretches more than 60 miles from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east — are expected to be felt much more widely than just the West End.
The boss of London’s largest events venue, ExCeL London, has hailed the opening as a “game-changer” for his industry. The Royal Docks venue will have its own dedicated Elizabeth line station cutting journey times by up to two thirds. The number of people within 45 minutes’ rail travel time of ExCeL will increase by up to 68 per cent.
Chief executive Jeremy Rees said: “The Elizabeth line will give people more of that most precious of commodities — time — allowing them increased opportunities to network, learn and of course trade just as we saw pre-pandemic when some £165 billion was transacted per year at UK events.”
