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.
From
TFL Press Release
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.
From
TFL Press Release
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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