Today at long last London becomes a 24 Hour City

The moment I’ve been waiting for so long is finally upon us! No more trying to hunt down expensive and elusive late-night taxis, no longer the need to brave the weird twilight zone of the night buses. After numerous false starts and several bouts of industrial action, The Night Tube is finally upon us.

For two nights a week, and starting on the Central and Victoria lines, Londoners now need no longer rush for that panicky last train home. From Friday through to Sunday evening, the tubes in London will run non-stop. Late-night trains will run every 10 minutes on the full Victoria line and on the Central line between White City and Leytonstone. They will run approximately every 20 minutes between Ealing Broadway and White City and between Leytonstone and Loughton/Hainault.

The second phase will extend the service to Jubilee, Piccadilly and Northern lines later this autumn. And then phase 3 in 2017 will add Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines.

I’ve always longed for New York-style proper late night entertainment and eating out. The ability to go for a late dinner and late movie after a stressful / strenuous day’s work. I’m hoping that more establishments take advantage of the extended transport hours to introduce increased flexibility. I’m thinking various gyms and leisure activities might also take advantage of extended hours.

I am personally a huge fan of the Tube and it is my preferred mode of travel around London. Several museums and London Zoo even have special late-night openings in Summer, and those customers are now able to travel out and back with much greater ease.

As it currently stands, there really isn’t that great a choice of late night options - all Londoners know the few restaurants - Balans etc. that open truly late, alongside bagel shops, corner shops, takeaways and the like. Hopefully this will civilise and gentrify these late night services, and we will see the rise of some more worthy destinations too. It should certainly be a shot in the arm for the ailing nightclub industry...