Network Rail reveals £140million plan to tackle Elizabeth line disruption west of Paddington

A plan has been announced to address problems that have plagued the Elizabeth line west of Paddington in recent months.

Network Rail revealed details of the £140million plan following a meeting with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said the issues over the past six months were “not acceptable”.

The money will be allocated from existing budgets to tackle the issues, with the majority set aside from Network Rail’s CP7 budgets from 2024 to 2029, the mayor’s office said in a statement.

It’s clear that the recent performance on the Elizabeth line has been below the high standards set when the railway was opened

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan

No additional taxpayer funding has been requested, it added.

Work will begin immediately to stabilise the network, while the following 12 months will see longer-term improvement.

Mr Khan said recent performance on the Elizabeth line has been “below the high standards set”.

“The Elizabeth line has been transformational, seeing well over 4.5 million journeys every week, but it’s clear that the recent performance on the Elizabeth line has been below the high standards set when the railway was opened,” he said.

“I have been absolutely clear with Network Rail, MTR (the line operators) and TfL that the issues we have seen over the last six months are not acceptable.

“I am pleased that they have brought forward a comprehensive plan to resolve the problems on the line, and I will continue to hold them to account.”

Services to the line were affected on Monday with a landslip between Twyford and Reading impacting routes to and from London Paddington.

Last December, thousands of rail passengers were stranded for hours on the Elizabeth line and other trains when overhead power cable blocked all lines in and out of Paddington.

Passengers were trapped on trains for hours in December (Emma Bentley)

About 4,000 travellers had to wait about four hours to be rescued when seven trains – four Elizabeth line, two Heathrow Express and one Great Western Railways intercity service – were brought to a halt near Ladbroke Grove.Passengers, including parents with young children, had to be led to safety along the train tracks.