London tubes to run half an hour later
The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone today announced that Tube trains will start, and end, later at the weekends from 2007.
The Tube will run half an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights and start one hour later on Saturday mornings. This means that last Tubes will leave central London stations at around 01:00 instead of 00:30 on Friday and Saturday nights.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "We know the majority of Londoners would like the Tube to run later at weekends, so they can travel home safely after a night out at the theatre or a club. This announcement today means that next summer the Tube will run later on Friday and Saturday nights to make it easier for Londoners to get home after a night out, alongside the other night time travel options we have expanded, such as the night bus network and licensing the mini-cab trade. A significant minority rely on the Underground to get to work early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This package ensures the Tube runs later on Friday and Saturday nights whilst protecting the needs of early morning commuters."
Richard Parry, London Underground (LU) Strategy and Service Development Director, said: "Most Tube users and Londoners want a later weekend Tube. But we need to strike the right balance between late evening and early morning Tube users. The decision to run the Tube for half an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights and one hour later on Saturday mornings from late May 2007 strikes that right balance."
With the Tube starting one hour later on Saturday mornings, trains will arrive in central London at around 07:00 from the middle of next year. Sunday morning services would remain unchanged from the present, where trains reach central London around 07:30. This will allow essential maintenance to track, trains and signals that can only be carried out at night when the network shuts down to still take place.
A small group of stations currently close earlier than others and will continue to do so. These include stations on the Metropolitan line north of Harrow-on-the-Hill, the Bakerloo line north of Queen's Park, intermediate stations on the Central line between Hainault to Woodford via Roding Valley as well as Heathrow Terminal 4 (reopens September 2006), Kensington Olympia and Cannon Street. “
Find out more about the consultation
As was mentioned above, the initial plan was to run one hour later on Friday and Saturday nights, but the later starts the following morning met with too much opposition – especially as Sunday morning starts are already later than the rest of the week.
posted by Suzy Scott @ 23:45
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