Overground trains will not run overnight until 2017 (Pic: Wikimedia Commons)
Night Tube trains on the Victoria and Central lines will run on Friday and Saturday nights from August 19, it was announced yesterday.
The long-awaited date was revealed by the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, who added that Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern line trains are due to follow in the Autumn.
Tower Hamlets will be the only EastLondonLines borough to benefit from the new services, as the Central and Jubilee lines run through the borough. London Overground trains, which cover much of east and south east London, will not see a Night Tube service until 2017 despite rising passenger numbers.
Joe Dromey, councillor for New Cross in Lewisham, said: “There is an urgent need for more investment in south-east London’s transport infrastructure. Out of 270 underground stops, just seven are in south-east London.
“The Night Tube is good for London, but all areas should benefit from improved 24-hour transport.”
Evening services on the Overground routes between Dalston Junction or Highbury and Islington, and New Cross Gate, Crystal Palace and West Croydon will double from two trains per hour to four between 10.00pm and 11.30pm. All Overground trains will also have an extra carriage added to help cope with the increase in passengers.
Dromey said: “A 24-hour Overground service would be fantastic for Lewisham and for London too. It would help improve our transport connections and support the development of our night-time economy.
“We also urgently need to extend the Bakerloo line to Lewisham and beyond in order to keep up with our rising population. We’ll be raising this with our new Mayor of London soon.”
The announcement follows a lengthy dispute between Transport for London and unions representing underground drivers and workers which started when plans for the night tube were originally announced in 2014.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) said: “There are major unresolved issues in relation to the tube lines’ engineering workforce and it is imperative that the company now moves quickly to address the points at the core of that dispute and reaches a proper negotiated settlement with the union that doesn’t leave that essential group of workers disadvantaged on conditions and pensions.
“RMT also still has major concerns over the safe running of the Night Tube…Against a background of massive cuts over shadowing TFL budgets all parties have to be clear that the Night Tube, a development that RMT supports, cannot be delivered on the cheap.”
