diamond geezer

 Wednesday, May 01, 2013

WEST END APPEAL FOR 24 HOUR TUBE screamed the headline in yesterday's Evening Standard. Their front page article referred to a report published by the West End Commission, a 12-strong thinktank set up to investigate how best to support the future of the West End. The Standard duly voxpopped a handful of Londoners to ask them what they thought of all-night tubes, and not surprisingly they approved. "Not doing this would be silly," said one. Meanwhile the paper's editorial led with the plea 'Our city needs its tube to run all night'.

Unfortunately, if you bothered to read it, that's not what the report said. The report said the tube should run an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays, and that Crossrail and Thameslink should consider later running too. The report briefly suggested that certain tube lines be extended to run "post 3am to meet the night club exodus", but a 24 hour tube was never mentioned. It's a lovely-sounding idea, except that century-old lines require overnight maintenance, and there isn't the funding, and most of the extra trains would run nigh empty anyway.

London has a fantastic nightbus service which snakes to all corners of the capital. But apparently some people don't feel safe on buses, or can't abide how long they take, so end up taking taxis instead. We'd all rather get home quickly and cheaply after a late night out, obviously, but perhaps it's a little selfish to expect TfL to run an all-night tube service especially for clubbers and casino employees. And surely the problem isn't solely restricted to the underground? Across much of south London the issue isn't the tube, it's the other rail services, many of which stop running rather earlier.

So I thought I'd investigate "last trains from the West End". I've used TfL's Journey Planner to identify the time of the last train home from the West End this Friday evening. I've assumed that all journeys begin within a triangle bounded by Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road and Embankment. I've routed via rail journeys only, no nightbuses. And I've been fairly subjective in my choice of destinations, most inside London but some a little further out. Apologies if I've missed any later services.

NW 23.56 Amersham 00.07 Denham 00.31 Harrow 00.33 Uxbridge 00.33 Stanmore 00.35 St Albans 00.41 Watford	N 23.45 Cheshunt 23.59 Enfield 00.17 Elstree 00.34 Barnet 00.35 Cockfosters 00.39 Potters Bar 00.41 Edgware	NE 23.54 Dalston 00.31 Epping 00.31 Stratford 00.31 Ilford 00.31 Shenfield 00.39 Chingford 00.39 Walthamstow
W 23.43 Shepperton 23.46 Staines 00.11 Slough 00.32 Heathrow 00.33 Ealing	Last train from the West End Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Leicester Square, Charing Cross or Embankment	E 23.47 Beckton 23.54 Wapping 00.00 Grays 00.40 Barking 00.40 Upminster
SW 23.39 Leatherhead 23.58 Weybridge 00.02 Ewell 00.04 Epsom 00.04 Sutton 00.06 Twickenham 00.15 Surbiton 00.30 Kingston 00.30 Richmond 00.35 Wimbledon	S 23.59 Caterham 00.04 Wandsworth 00.15 Peckham 00.20 Crystal Palace 00.22 Herne Hill 00.30 Brixton 00.30 Streatham 00.35 Morden 00.35 Purley 00.40 Croydon	SE 23.52 Catford 23.52 Hayes 00.02 Bexleyheath 00.10 Sidcup 00.15 Sevenoaks 00.18 Greenwich 00.18 Dartford 00.18 Erith 00.22 Bromley 00.48 Orpington

Does London really have a late night travel problem when these are the times of the last trains home from the West End? Or would an extra hour's drinking-up time really make a huge difference to the lifeblood of our capital?

posted 07:00 :

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