Thursday 3 March 2016

Upgrades for Piccadilly and Metropolitan Lines



Recently, London Underground announced that engineering works are to take place on the Piccadilly Line on the 5th and 6th March and the Metropolitan Line on the 16th May 2016.

TfL today advised customers planning to use the Piccadilly line this weekend to expect longer journeys, due to planned upgrade work.

To improve the reliability of the Piccadilly and District lines London Underground (LU) is carrying out essential planned work this weekend to replace 700m of track at Turnham Green and renew a set of signalling points at Acton Town.


This means that this weekend there will be no service on the Piccadilly line between Hammersmith and Northfields / Uxbridge and there will be no service on the District line between West Kensington and Ealing Broadway / Richmond.

Travel advice
Customers travelling to Heathrow from central London should head to Ealing Broadway Tube station, via the Central line, and board the express replacement bus, which will take them the short distance to Boston Manor.

From there customers will be able to join the Piccadilly line and continue their journeys to Heathrow. TfL staff will be on hand to offer travel advice and porters to help customers with their luggage.

To travel into central London from Heathrow customers can get the Piccadilly line to Boston Manor and change there for the rail replacement bus to Ealing Broadway for the Central line.

Alternative routes
Piccadilly line trains through central London will run at reduced frequency and will be very busy. Passengers are advised to use alternative Tube routes where possible, especially via the Victoria line between Finsbury Park/King's Cross St. Pancras/Green Park.

Additionally, for travel to and from west London customers should use Circle line services between King's Cross St. Pancras and Hammersmith.

Following the work, trains will be able to run faster and more smoothly through the area. Points failures will be much less frequent, meaning fewer delays to customers and more reliable journeys.

David Waboso, LU's Director of Capital Programmes, said: 'Our engineers will be working around the clock this weekend to carry out this vital improvement work. I am sorry for the disruption to customers during the closure, which we are keeping as short as possible.

'When the work is completed by the early hours of Monday morning, the track will be immediately more reliable and trains will be able to travel faster through the area.'

During the planned engineering work there will be no Piccadilly line services on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March between Hammersmith and Northfields / Uxbridge.

There will also be no District line services between on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March between West Kensington and Ealing Broadway / Richmond.

Also, on the 16th of May the Metropolitan Line will be closed due to track and drainage upgrades on the section between Baker Street and Finchley Road.

London Underground (LU) will begin major work on the Metropolitan line from Monday 16 May, making journeys quicker and more reliable for customers.

The condition of the track and drainage between Baker Street and Finchley Road is very poor. It is prone to flooding after periods of heavy rain and is a regular cause of signal failures, which delays customers.

To help resolve the problem, engineers will replace 6.4km of track and drainage systems between Baker Street and Finchley Road.

LU has chosen to extend its normal evening engineering hours so the work can be completed in around two years. The alternative would have involved either a full closure of this section of the line for almost six months or a very large number of weekend closures over seven years.

The extended engineering hours will mean that on Monday to Wednesday evenings the Metropolitan line will close earlier than usual, at around 10pm between Aldgate and Wembley Park. Some very early morning trains on Tuesdays to Thursdays will also be affected. A very small number of weekend closures will also take place to allow works to progress at a faster rate.

For journeys between Baker Street and Aldgate, customers will still be able to use the Circle or Hammersmith & City lines. For journeys between Baker Street, Finchley Road and Wembley Park customers can use the Jubilee line. Metropolitan line trains will continue to serve all stations north of Wembley Park during this work.

David Waboso CBE, London Underground's Capital Programmes Director, said: `Our engineers will be working as quickly as possible to replace the track and drainage systems on this stretch of the Metropolitan line. I apologise to customers for the disruption but when the work is complete they will immediately benefit from a more reliable service.'

Monday to Wednesday nights are the quietest times on the Metropolitan line when there are up to 30 per cent fewer journeys compared to the latter half of the week.

During the rest of the week, regular engineering hours will be utilised for these works. Last trains on Thursday to Sunday evenings will therefore continue to run as normal.

It's interesting how they have to keep upgrading the infrastructure in order to prevent any major incidents. During the 1990’s the London Underground had a lack of funding for upgrading the system to make it more reliable, but now at least, London Underground has plenty of funding in order to keep the system intact.

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