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| Westminster during the Night Tube, April 8th 2017 |
This weekend London celebrates one year since the start of a necessary service that helped modernise the city, Night Tube. Operating at weekends and now on five London Underground lines, getting Night Tube was a controversial and complicated procedure, but one year on, the capital is already seeing the benefits.
Despite being an enthusiast of the London Underground, it took six months before I used the Night Tube for the first time. My first experience of travelling on the London Underground late at night occurred after Chelsea played Arsenal in February 2017 when my friend and I completely lost track of time in the pubs around Earl's Court. The Night Tube has received plenty of criticism about the type of user at night, mainly questions about those who have drank too much alcohol. However, campaigners for the Night Tube would argue that it is safer than people using illegal minicabs or the rise in Uber. One thing that struck me that night was the variety of people using the Night Tube, it was not just those who have been out partying in the evening, but people who work during the night, or who work in 24-hour entertainment, and those who have been to events in museums or concert halls that finished late into the evening.
If you have never used Night Tube, or if you are planning to visit London and need to travel late at night, it is important to know that the services only operate on Friday and Saturday nights, and currently on just five lines. You can use services 24-hours on the entirety of the Victoria line and Jubilee line, the other three lines that Night Tube operates on, the Central line, the Northern line and Piccadilly line, only have services on part of the lines. The Central line operates between Ealing Broadway and Hainault, and between White City and Loughton. The Northern line operates between Morden and High Barnet or Edgware (via Charing Cross), this therefore means that the Mill Hill East and Bank branches are not served. Finally, the Piccadilly line operates between Cockfosters and Heathrow Terminal 5, but not Heathrow Terminal 4 nor the branch between Acton Town and Uxbridge.
This is not the end for Night Tube? It was announced recently that London Overground services between Dalston Junction and New Cross are scheduled to begin on the Night Tube in December 2017. This has caused controversy amongst enthusiast as it is not correct to call London Overground night services Night Tube. Likewise, there are rumours that the Dockland Light Railway will be providing services throughout the night on Friday and Saturdays by around 2021. It is expected that once signal upgrades have been completed on the Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines they will join Night Tube. I personally do not believe that the Waterloo & City line is likely to join Night Tube based on the fact currently the line does not operate on Sundays. However, I could well be wrong.
Has the Night Tube been a success in its opening year? It is predicted that Night Tubes 8 millionth user is likely to use the service this weekend on the services first birthday. With more services and the capital becoming more accustomed to the logistics of the Night Tube it is highly likely that more and more people will be using this necessary and important service. At the end of the day I am all for encouraging people using public transport as much as possible.
