Tube users in west London will benefit from 24-hour services on the Central and Piccadilly lines on Fridays and Saturdays from 2015.
Transport for London has unveiled plans for the Night Tube, running trains all night on the Piccadilly line between Cockfosters and Heathrow, and the Central line between Hainault and Ealing Broadway, as well as on the Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines.
People travelling home after a night out will now be able to get the Tube home to stops in Hammersmith and Fulham, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Ealing and Hounslow.
But TfL also announced that every ticket office would close by 2015 and 750 jobs would be cut, saving £50million a year.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “This will not just boost jobs and our vibrant night-time economy, it will further cement London’s reputation as the best big city on the planet in which to live, work, visit and invest.”
Westminster Council leader Philippa Roe said the proposals will boost the West End’s leisure economy.
“When we first established the West End Commission at the start of this year, one of the major recommendations that came through was to run the Tube at later times at the weekend,” she said.
“We are delighted that our work with businesses, Transport for London boss Sir Peter Hendy, and the TfL team has now made that a reality.
“The West End Partnership may be in its infancy but we are already getting results that will benefit the entire West End of London.”
An extensive improvement project on the Hammersmith and City, Circle, District and Metropolitan lines means they will remain closed overnight for maintenance work. However, Gareth Powell, London Underground’s director of strategy, said TfL may look into providing 24-hour services on these lines from 2019.
“When this upgrade is complete, we will look again at introducing night services on the parts of those lines where there is known to be demand, but we do not envisage night services on those four lines before 2019,” he said.
John Beeston, from Ealing Passenger Transport Users’ Group, said: “We welcome any extension to public transport services.
“We have two concerns. We would want to be sure that there are staff on the platforms during the early hours of the morning and that TfL does not merely rely upon CCTV.
“And we hope it would not mean other operations such as London Buses cut back on the frequency of services, such as the 207 bus.”
