Will the 24-hour tube kill off London’s night-bus drama? | Craig Taylor
It’s one of the capital’s great rites of passage. But its bizarre glory may well be lost to future generations when the all-night underground gets going
On 12 September London could at last shake off its reputation as The City That Often Sleeps. A year ago Transport for London (TfL) announced that it would run 24-hour weekend tube trains on the Jubilee, Victoria, and most of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly lines, at last following the lead of Stockholm, Copenhagen and New York, and becoming a truly 24-hour capital. Passengers will be charged off-peak fares. On Saturdays one-day travelcards will end at 4:29 on Sunday morning, which means clubbers will have to miss only the final hour and a half at Fabric before the club goes silent, at 6am.
As the city braces itself for another round of tube strikes, and rumours grow of a delayed launch date for 24-hour services, it’s worth asking: what will be gained? Optimists hope for leisurely pre-theatre dinners and an explosion of dessert orders as West End playhouses push back their curtain time an hour or two, or three. The night-time economy will, they say, flourish. Even the dry TfL report implies a London recast and relaxed.
Related: London Underground to run 24-hour weekend tube from September 2015
New Yorkers’ advice for a city going 24 hours – leave the last carriage alone
Because of the seating, a night-bus ride often offers up the best possible dialogue.
Source: Guardian Transport
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