News
Anger at early Northern Line closures
Monday, 08 February 2010
THE Northern line is to shut early on weekdays for 17 months so rail signals can be upgraded.
The Underground line which runs through stations in Wandsworth, Lambeth and Southwark, into central London and the City, will close at 11.30pm, north of Kennington from Monday to Thursday from July.
The early weekday closure will mean that there will be fewer trains in the evening, probably from around 8.30pm, as they have to be returned to their depots.
Stations between Stockwell and Morden with also be closed for 16 weekends from March.
Tube Lines, the firm responsible for upgrading the line, has also applied to close the same section early from July until November 2011, but has not been given permission by Transport for London.
A Tube Lines spokesman said: “We requested a mixture of extended engineering hours (EEH) from 11.30pm until start of traffic and 52-hour part line weekend closures.
“The use of EEH is considered the best way of balancing the need to manage your work efficiently whilst minimising inconvenience to passengers.
“We need London Underground to confirm the full timetable of closures to ensure on-time completion of the line upgrade.”
London’s Mayor Boris Johnson is understood to be upset at Tube Lines request for additional closures.
His transport adviser Kulveer Ranger said: “We are angry because this is where we feel that Tube Lines have not really learnt a lot from what has been a debacle in terms of delivering the Jubilee line update, for which they are also responsible.”
Commuters south of the river have already had to deal with more than two years of Victoria line closures.
Work on both lines is not scheduled for completion until 2012.
Email: greg.truscott@slp.co.uk
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