Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:
----- Original Message -----
From: "OneHourLater"
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 7:38 PM
Subject: 'Weekend Tubes': decision on later start and finish times

Thank you for taking part in our consultation about whether the Tube should
run later at weekends. We have now made the decision about the scheme and
can feedback to you.

We received strong support for a later night Tube but concerns were raised
about the effects of a later start, particularly on Sunday mornings, as the
Tube already starts later than other days of the week.

As a result, we developed an alternative scheme:

* Running half an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights.
* Starting one hour later on Saturday mornings.

This left Sunday mornings unchanged, enabling two thirds of those originally
affected by a later weekend start to continue to use the Tube.

We have now decided to run the Tube half an hour later on Friday and
Saturday nights and start it one hour later on Saturday mornings from the
end of May 2007.

Friday and Saturday nights

On Friday and Saturday nights, last Tubes will leave the West End at around
01:00 instead of 00:30.

(A small group of stations that currently close earlier than others and will
continue to do so. These include stations on the Metropolitan Line north of
Harrow-on-the-Hill, Bakerloo Line north of Queen's Park, intermediate
stations on the Woodford-Hainault loop of the Central Line as well as
Heathrow T4, Kensington Olympia and Cannon Street. Please see our website
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/initiative...ter/faqs.asp#4 for
more details).

Some sections of track and stations are owned and controlled by Network Rail
and/or National Rail Train Operating Companies and we are discussing how to
apply the scheme to them.

Saturday and Sunday mornings

The Tube will start one hour later on Saturday mornings. First trains will
arrive at central London stations at around 07:00. Sundays will remain
unchanged, so first trains will still arrive at central London stations at
around 07:30.

Consultation issues and further information

For more information about the consultation results and our decision please
visit our website
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/initiative.../onehourlater/.

Please call 020 7126 3920 if you have any queries or would like this
information in any other language or format.

Yours sincerely

Mike Bartram
TfL Head of Consultation



I replied to the consultation as well, on the lines that while larger
numbers of people might answer that they'd like to be able to get home
more easily after nights out, their journeys weren't as important (and
didn't need to be as quick) as people who work on Saturday mornings or
who have trains or planes to catch.

But in the end it looks like they went with making things slightly more
convenient for a larger number and threatening livelihoods and
appointments of a smaller number.

Night buses are good enough now that non-urgent getting home after
clubbing is not really a problem for most places that the Underground
goes to, and many more.