Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced the night tube will reopen; but is it safe?
London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed the Night Tube will start running again on 27th November.
The Night Tube will resume on the Central and Victoria lines from late November.
Transport for London failed to maintain the service since March 2020 after a combination of a lack of revenue and a pitiful government bailout made the service economically unviable.
Reinstating the night tube will come as welcome news to the thousands that signed Ella Watson’s petition on change.org last week calling for its return.
“In the UK and London women and girls are unsafe on the streets, especially at night” wrote Ella. “This petition calls on the following men to take responsibility for women’s public safety and reopen the night tube this winter : Mayor of London and Chair of TfL Sadiq Khan, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Transport Commissioner Andy Byford and Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Grant Shapps”.
The announcement follows a viral tweet from journalist Mared Parry who tweeted Sadiq Khan “London is such a dangerous place for women, do something about it before even more lives are lost”
HOW IS THE NIGHT TUBE STILL NOT RUNNING? Not only is there a fuel crisis, but uber gave up on london a few weeks ago and is charging £30 for 20-min journeys. LONDON IS SUCH A DANGEROUS PLACE FOR WOMEN, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BEFORE EVEN MORE LIVES ARE LOST @SadiqKhan @TfL
— Mared Parry 🎬🏴 (@maredparry) September 30, 2021
Campaigners say reinstating the night tube is the first step to securing safe passage home for women on a night out and comes after the murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa.
How safe is the Night Tube?
In a statement, Transport for London said: “The Night Tube offers a safe, low crime environment.
“More than 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement officers patrol London’s transport network, while thousands of frontline transport staff support customers and an extensive CCTV network is in place across the Tube”.
But how many of these patrols happen at night?
Asked if Transport for London will provide British Transport Police to patrol the reopened service, the Mayor of London said they would need government support.
Speaking to PoliticsJOE last week, Sadiq Khan said: “We want the government to give us more support both in terms of MET service and BTP and TFL staff, I do not want to reduce staff on our underground, closing ticket offices like the previous mayor (Boris Johnson) did.”
Campaigners say if more police are not patrolling the night tube, the night bus, is safer.
Though slower, and often emptier, night buses offer CCTV.
The Jubilee and Northern line trains are fitted with on-train CCTV (in every carriage). As are the newly refurbished District Line trains.
But the reopening Central and Victoria line trains do not.
No time frame has been announced for the reopening of the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines. In a statement announcing the return of the Night Tube, TfL said that additional training still needs to place to reopen full night service.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “I know how important this is to London’s thriving night-time economy, to London’s recovery and to the confidence and safety of everyone travelling home at night, particularly women and girls.
“I am determined to make our city as safe as possible for all Londoners”.
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