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Tube Closures in London

Just wanted to drop an FYI to anyone going to London: Don't count on specific tube lines being open on weekends! This past weekend we returned to London from Edinburgh, got into the tube station to go from King's Cross to Paddington- the Circle Line would be perfect! Except it was closed for track repairs. So was the District line; we were fortunate to catch an alternate line for two stops, then switched to the Bakerloo to Paddington, so we made it, but was the tube CROWDED- sardine time. The entire weekend the two lines were closed- to compound the fun, we wanted to go to Trafalgar square, and knowing the easiest tube lines were closed, we decided to use the bus... except the bus service on the line we wanted was "suppressed" for that day. Ugh.

Just be aware of alternate manners of getting around on the weekends in London-

P.S. We got to Trafalgar by again using two different tube lines, so it wasn't impossible, just inconvenient!

P.S.S. We had a great time on our 3 weeks in England, Wales and Scotland!

Posted by
10344 posts

We also experienced the weekend Tube closures on our recent London trip. If you're already in the city and using the Tube, they have a lot of announcements and signs about the closures. We found, as did Tony, that the weekend closures can significantly affect your travel, for example, you'll be forced to take alternative Tube lines or buses.

Posted by
2296 posts

Thank you, Tony, for posting this. And, while the TFL site posts most of the closures, either they don't post all of them or don't make the boundaries clear, because we ended up wet and cold trying to find Plan B to LHR. It was my fault for not checking the repair board on Saturday ( and I would underline that if I could). Three days before our departure, TFL indicated a portion of the District was closed but said nothing about the Piccadilly.

Lesson learned: Check the repair board in the tube station, check TFL, have a Plan B.

Posted by
5457 posts

Not all engineering work is planned in well in advance - emergencies do arise so keep an eye on it.