Piccadilly Line closures planned this summer ahead of new tube trains arriving

The delayed introduction of 94 new tube trains for the line will not now begin until the end of this year

The Piccadilly Line at Arnos Grove Station

A series of closures on the Piccadilly Line this summer have been announced by Transport for London (TfL) ahead of new tube trains being introduced from the end of this year.

TfL is advising Piccadilly line passengers to plan ahead during upcoming closures, with a major five-day shutdown starting on Thursday, 30th July and continuing through to the end of Monday, 3rd August.

There will also be a set of midweek closures in August, from Tuesday 18th to Thursday 20th and Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th inclusive

The will allow TfL to carry out essential upgrades to the power supply, tracks, platforms, depots and sidings while continuing to test the new trains’ interaction with existing London Underground infrastructure, alongside assessments of their efficiency and performance.

TfL says the new trains will bring “significant benefits to customers” including walk-through carriages, increased reliability and frequency, improved accessibility and CCTV.

The complex upgrade and testing programme is said to be “essential to ensure the line is ready for the first new trains to start entering service”.

Work already completed during previous closures of the line includes weight-load testing of the new trains, with 400km covered using a test train in its fully loaded state of 68 tonnes, and work at 119 Piccadilly Line platforms to ensure they are ready to accommodate the new trains, which are longer than the current fleet and have different door placement.

Some of the closures are also being used to continue routine maintenance work.

Stuart Harvey, TfL’s chief capital officer, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we carry out these essential upgrades to the Piccadilly Line and rigorously test the new trains which will transform journeys for many decades to come.

“Introducing a new fleet of trains is a huge engineering and logistical feat which inevitably requires upgrades and intensive testing. Although much of the hard work goes on behind the scenes, there are times when we need to close sections of the railway to ensure that these pioneering new trains can operate effectively and interact correctly with a wide range of complex infrastructure.

“We are very confident that once this intensive period of upgrades and testing is completed, and the new trains start to enter service, our customers will reap the benefits of moving around the capital on these game-changing new trains.”

The new trains are part of a £3.4billion investment by TfL to modernise the Piccadilly Line and help it “run more reliably, safely, inclusively and sustainably”.

Each new walk-through Piccadilly Line train provides 10% more capacity and the increased fleet size will allow frequency at peak times to increase from 24 to 27 trains per hour.

However, TfL’s investment does not include a signalling upgrade that would have enabled the new trains to run at a similar level of frequency to the Victoria Line, which operates 36 trains per hour during its busiest periods.

The introduction of the new tube trains is also significantly delayed, as they were originally supposed to have been operational last year. The full fleet of 94 trains will not now all be in use until June 2027.

The full list of confirmed Piccadilly Line closures is available on TfL’s website:
Visit tfl.gov.uk/piccadilly-works

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

ACT NOW!

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.