Excited Londoners and tourists jostle to be among the first to take the Night Tube – a new service that will see the Victoria and Central lines run all night on Fridays and Saturdays.
“The truth is that it is not politicians and their top officials who will deliver a Night Tube for London”, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers General-Secretary Mick Cash said in a statement Friday.
“With the start of the Night Tube on London Underground on Friday 19th August 2016, I am aiming to be one of the first members of the public to spend 24 hours in the London Underground network; without exiting the ticket gates!”
The first Night Tubes have rolled on to London Underground platforms – nearly three years since the plan was first announced.
Strikes over pay postponed the launch until now.
The night tube launches this weekend along the Central and Victoria lines in London, so one property agent has uncovered how much homes along the routes cost.
Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the departure of the first Victoria line service from Brixton station.
“You can feel the buzz”, Khan told the news service.
“Whether you like it or not, you can not get away from the fact that people will prefer the economy and the speed of the Tube”, said Steve Garelick, a union official representing licensed London taxi drivers.
This weekend, just the Victoria and Central lines are starting, with the others to follow in the autumn, but all five have been mapped here according to house price growth in the last 12 months.
The London Underground introduced limited overnight.
“It’s great that the Tube’s going to be open all night”, said Omar Khan, a 27-year-old clothing designer who was planning to party through the night with his friends.
Until now, the main late-night option for most Londoners was the city’s famous double-decker buses.
They now run approximately every 20 minutes between Ealing Broadway and White City and between Leytonstone and Loughton/Hainault.
Boris Johnson deserves credit for talking about the night tube, but it was important to get the details right.
“I’m pleased and proud that we’re here”.
By the end of the year, the service will also include the Northern, Piccadilly and Jubilee lines.
Meanwhile a spokesperson for the British Transport Police revealed “nothing out of the normal” had taken place across the night.