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London’s glorious night tube, which ran on the Victoria, Jubilee, Central, Northern, Piccadilly and Overground lines and provided an easy route home for workers and party-fiends alike, was suspended at the start of the first COVID lockdown in March 2020.
But despite hospitality opening up again after the ending of restrictions on July 19, TfL has warned that the night tube won’t return until 2022 – at the very earliest.
TfL boss Andy Byford told the Evening 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.'
The night tube was first introduced in 2016, and was gradually expanded up until the pandemic. Its delayed return is a blow for the late-night economy. Not only is the night tube much quicker than night buses, but it also serves vital venues outside central London.
The current last tube is, on most lines, usually around midnight. So as clubs open up again, get used to watching the sun come up as you doze off on a night bus. Or, of course, you could just stay out until first train in the morning.
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