London Underground’s Piccadilly line will close entirely throughout the upcoming weekend, meaning other transport routes may be busier than usual.
Travellers are being urged to plan their journeys in advance, as the entire Piccadilly line will remain closed on January 17 and 18.
Connecting north and west London as well as Heathrow Airport, there will be no service on any of the lines throughout the weekend, including Friday and Saturday night tube service.
Passengers are being advised to seek alternative travel arrangements, which can be planned through TfL’s journey planner.
Although there are a handful of additional planned track closures across the London transport network, the Piccadilly line is the biggest scheduled disruption this weekend.
Some of the best alternatives for Piccadilly line users this weekend include the Elizabeth line, which quickly connects passengers to Heathrow, and the District line, which also serves central and west London.
A number of bus services are also available throughout the weekend, helping to ensure passengers can get to their destinations without much hassle.
This weekend’s closures are part of broader plans to upgrade the Piccadilly line, which will take place until June 2026.
Part of a £2.9bn investment programme, Transport for London (TfL) is renovating various parts of the deep underground train line and upgrading “ageing assets on the line.”
Although TfL is doing the work in stages to minimise disruption and allow people to still travel, this upcoming weekend will mark the only time the entire route is closed until April.
Facilitating more than 158 million trips each year since 1975, the Piccadilly line renovations are designed “to help the line run more reliably, safely, inclusively and sustainably.”
It will eventually include a new fleet of 94 walk-through trains, which are scheduled to start running on the line between June and December of this year.
When the new trains replace the old carriages, TfL says it will also be able to increase the number of trains every hour, helping to ease congestion during the busiest periods of the day.
New depots are also being introduced, along with improved services for travellers needing accessibility support, upgraded tracks, additional CCTV, and signalling modifications.
TfL claims the planned work will help support 25,000 jobs across the capital.
