Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed four bidders have been shortlisted as part of the procurement process to operate the Elizabeth line from May 2025, when the current contract with MTR Elizabeth line expires.

The Elizabeth line opened in May 2022 is London's first accessible railway and is the largest infrastructure project in a generation.

It has transformed travel life In London and the South East, providing new journey options and reduced journey times

The service provides links to Reading, Heathrow, Shenfield and Abbey Wood, running through central London with up to 24 trains per hour at peak time.  Since May 2022 there have been more than 300 million journeys on the railway.

The shortlisted bidders are:

• Arriva UK Trains
• First Keolis Elizabeth line (a joint venture between First Group PLC and Keolis SA)
• GTS Rail Operations Limited (A joint venture between Go Ahead Holdings Limited, Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Metro Co. Ltd)
• MTR Corporation (UK) Limited

Howard Smith, Elizabeth line Director, said: "The Elizabeth line has had a transformational impact, providing new, more direct journey options for customers, including at ten new central London stations.

"We have introduced new, more spacious trains, which run more frequently through 41 stations that were either newly built or modernised, supporting hundreds of millions of customer journeys each year. The new Elizabeth line operator will play a major role in supporting us to continue that growth and success, providing high levels of customer service and satisfaction."

The next operator will build on the success of the Elizabeth line, collaborating with key partners to optimise reliability, as well as sustaining the high levels of customer satisfaction and growth. They will also need to work closely with TfL, Network Rail and HS2 preparing for the operation of Elizabeth line services to the new superhub station at Old Oak Common.