[title]
London’s transport system has been struggling this year. From never-ending train strikes to flooding and storms, it seems that our public transport network can’t catch a break. Tube stations have also been closed a lot this year, so much so that one person asked TfL to tot up the total number of station closures in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
According to figures published by TfL in response to the FOI, there were 1,138 station closures between January and August this year, a decrease from 1,378 during the same period last year. Lancaster Gate was at the top of the list with 66 closures, while Holland Park came in second, closing 61 times this year so far. In third place was Chancery Lane, which was shut a whopping 48 times from January to August.
Let’s hope Chancery Lane doesn’t beat its record last year, which was an unbelievable 137 closures in one year – that’s over a third of the days in the year.
Stations have been closed because of a number of factors, such as staff shortages, trespassers and fire alarms being set off maliciously, TfL said. Extreme weather, UK Power Network issues and problems with lifts and escalators were also listed as some of the reasons.
Nick Dent, TfL’s director of customer operations, said: ‘I’d like to apologise to customers who have experienced short notice closures. We do everything we can to avoid having to close a station and always work to minimise the length of time a station is closed for.
‘The situation is improving and we have seen fewer closures this year than last year. We are also proposing changes that will help to reduce station closures by enabling us to deploy staff more flexibly, increasing reliability for our customers.’
These are the top ten most closed tube stations this year:
- Lancaster Gate
- Holland Park
- Chancery Lane
- Goodge Street
- Mornington Crescent
- Hyde Park Corner
- Temple
- Southwark
- Aldgate East
- Arsenal
TfL, sort it out.
If you’re looking for up-to-date info on this city’s transport network, look no further than Time Out. After all, how can you make the most of a city if you can’t get out and about? For recent coverage of the status of the tube, see our articles on the London train strikes, transport disruption this week and a recent announcement from TfL about four tube lines closing next weekend.
Listen to Time Out’s brilliant new podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’: episode 12 with Paul Feig in Mayfair is out now.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.