The Night Tube was one of the casualties of the Covid pandemic, with the all-night service which ran across five of the lines during the weekend having been suspended since March 2020.
Despite the capital’s nightlife returning in July as Boris Johnson lifted the last of the lockdown measures – allowing nightclubs and other late-night hospitality venues to reopen, as well as other large events to resume – so far there is no sign of the service returning.
The lack of night Tube leaves limited options for those looking to get home safely late at night – with cab services such as Uber experiencing a surge in demand, leading to many passengers having to wait for longer, and pay higher rates.
Just when will the Night Tube resume? Here’s what you need to know…
When will the Night Tube return?
If you’re hoping that the Night Tube may also come back soon now that London is opening up again, we’ve got some bad news for you – it’s unlikely that the service will be resuming until 2022. At the earliest.
Speaking in April, Transport Commissioner Andy Byford told the Standard: ‘We need the personnel to keep the day services going and frankly there isn’t the demand for it, so there are no immediate plans to restore the Night Tube within a year, and certainly not before 2022.’
‘Securing the whole network is more important than keeping the night tube going.’
It does appear that the Night Tube will be making a return next year though, since Transport has recently been recruiting for staff to work in various roles covering Friday and Saturday night shifts.
The Night Tube began running on Friday and Saturday nights in 2016, on the Central and Victoria Lines, eventually expanding to include the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee – while a limited section of the Overground also ran a night-time service.
However, it was shut down – along with night-time Overground services, the Waterloo and City Line, and many Underground stations – in March 2020 as Covid began to spread across London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said at the time that people ‘should not be travelling by any means unless they really really have to’.
However the Mayor has been coming under increasing pressure to restart the Night Tube sooner, in the wake of concerns over women’s safety following the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.
A petition calling for free night-time transport for women on low incomes has garnered over 60,000 signatures so far – while a spokesperson for Mr Khan has said he hopes to try and restart the service sooner.
Sadiq is committed to taking action to improve safety for women in the capital and has been clear he wants to open the night tube as quickly as possible,’ the spokesperson told Mail Online.
‘He has urged TfL to look into the feasibility of getting one or two lines reopened this year, which we hope will be possible.’
MORE : Fire breaks out at Westminster Tube station ’10 storeys underground’
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