VILLIERS URGES TUBE LINES TO KEEP NORTHERN LINE CLOSURES TO A MINIMUM

Following the publication yesterday of a proposed schedule of closures to enable work to be carried out by Tube Lines on upgrading the Northern Line, Theresa Villiers said:

“Clearly this announcement on closures is very depressing news for commuters. I have been following the debate over potential closures very carefully over recent months. As soon as reports appeared in the national press about the schedule of closures, I contacted Tube Lines Chief Executive, Dean Finch, to express my concern. I urged him to reconsider the proposals in order to reduce the disruption caused to my constituents.”

“Unfortunately, there are no easy answers here. If the Northern Line is to be upgraded, that inevitably means closures and all the inconvenience they cause. However, I will keep up the pressure on Tube Lines to keep the closures to a minimum. We need to exercise common sense on this issue.”

“I am also pressing them for further details on what Tube Lines are proposing. They have asked for extended engineering hours which would mean the line closing early in the evening. Although the plan is that the last trains from central London would leave at around 10.30, the frequency of trains would be affected from 8.30, when the system starts to wind down. Before any final decisions are taken on the closure programme, we need chapter and verse on what it will mean in practice for Barnet. I am following up my conversation with Dean Finch with a letter asking him to set out the impact of these plans on the frequency of evening services to and from High Barnet and when the last trains will leave from our end of the line.”

“What is also vitally important is that Tube Lines don’t repeat the mistakes they made on the Jubilee Line where they came back asking for additional closures when they failed to complete their work on time.”