Early Evening Northern Line Closures Cancelled

Good news for Northern Line travellers who were facing a summer of early closures throughout the summer. The Bank and High Barnet branches of the line were due to shut at about 9.30pm BST on Mondays to Thursdays from next week. However, TfL has decided to revert to a normal schedule now all of its maintenance work has been brought back in-house.


Camden Town tube station station by markhillary
London Underground's MD, Mike Brown, said "London Underground is working with Tube Lines to review the upgrade and hence we are cancelling the immediate early-evening closures planned". He added they were looking for a plan "that gets the job done to a timetable that suits Londoners, and with the minimum disruption to our customers and businesses".

Small businesses in the area believed that work would force some night time retailers to close. No announcement has yet been made on how the 40 year old signalling system will be upgraded, but TfL have promised to be "engaging fully with the business community" and listening to traders' (and hopefully commuters) views.

Wonder if the traders on the Hammersmith & City Line and Circle Lines will have such good news? Currently they're expecting are expecting a dramatic slump in business from July 24 to August 15. Work is taking place to remove a disused taxi ramp and canopy at Paddington and will have a knock on effect, with no trains running between Hammersmith and Edgware Road for three weeks.

A TfL spokesman has already apologised for the inconvenience and said: "We will shortly be commencing a publicity campaign to inform passengers, residents and businesses about the alternative travel options. There is no other option than to close this section of line however it is planned to coincide with the start of the school holidays when the Tube will be less busy."