Our Ref:         FOI-1875-2021

Thank you for your request received on 16 December 2020 asking for information about the Night Tube.
 
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked for:
 
• The numbers of users of the Night Tube in the first 12 months of its operation (from August 2016) and in the last 12 months prior to March 2020 and, by way of comparison, in respect of the same periods the numbers of bus passengers during Night Tube operation hours. If it is easier to provide calendar year data, that would of course be satisfactory; and
 
Please see the requested first full year data for the Night Tube below. These figures are all entries at affected stations between 00:30 and 05:30 on Friday and Saturday nights.
 
52 weeks from launch: 7.861m
Annual first full calendar year (2017): 8.700m
 
Please see the data below for the last full year prior to March 2020.
 
Entries to the five Night Tube lines 00:30 to 05:30 on Friday and Saturday nights:
 
Nightly: 217,938
Annual: 11.115m
 
Nightly is an average over the year acknowledging demand is higher over the summer, bank holidays and at Halloween and in the run up to Christmas, but lower in the winter.
 
Annual is 51 weeks of the year acknowledging demand is substantially lower over Christmas week.
 
Bus performance data can be found on our website:
 
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/buses-performance-data
 
• The revenues and costs of the Night Tube service (including incremental staffing, cleaning, maintenance and security costs and any costs paid to third parties) during those periods or in respect of the Night Tube service.
 
We do not hold information on the exact periods requested as we record information by financial year. Please find the information we hold below:
 
Financial year ending 31 March 2017  31 March 2020
Revenue £8m £10m
Costs £21m £26m
 
More information on the Night Tube, including a 2014 report on the impact of the Night Tube on London’s night-time economy, can be found on our website:
 
https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/tube-improvements/what-we-are-doing/night-tube
 
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.
 
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
 
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
 
Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]