LU breaks Olympic record for weekly passenger numbers

17 December 2014
28.3 million journeys were made on the Tube last week
"This record breaking week comes after we broke the daily record for passenger numbers on the Tube twice in three weeks last month. This clearly shows that there is an increasing demand to travel on London Underground and that continued investment is crucial to help continue to modernise and improve the Tube network for our customers"
Nigel Holness
Operations Director, London Underground
  • Ever increasing passenger numbers demonstrates the need for continued investment in London's transport network

Transport for London (TfL) revealed today that last week (week ending Saturday 13 December) was the busiest week on the Tube in its history.

The London Underground (LU) network carried over 28.346 million people in that week. This exceeded the last record-breaking total reached in the week ending Saturday 13 August 2012 during the London 2012 Games when 28.235 million journeys were made.

The latest passenger figures follow LU's 2013/14's record performance when it carried 1.265bn passengers - up by a third over the last ten years, following unprecedented levels of infrastructure and performance improvements.

Nigel Holness, LU's Operations Director, said:

'This record breaking week comes after we broke the daily record for passenger numbers on the Tube twice in three weeks last month. This clearly shows that there is an increasing demand to travel on London Underground and that continued investment is crucial to help continue to modernise and improve the Tube network for our customers.

'Those who travel on the Tube have already benefited from the upgrades of the Jubilee and Victoria lines. This is in addition to the work that is currently being undertaken to transform the Northern, Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines as well as significant work to many stations across the network. We need to maintain this pace of modernisation to ensure that London Underground is a network that is fit for the future.'

London's population is set to grow from 8.4m today to around 10m by 2030 - that's an extra Tube train full of people every three days - and it is therefore essential that there is continued investment in increasing services and transport infrastructure to meet this increasing demand.

Making journeys on LU has become easier over the years. The Oyster card system provides an easy way for people to pay for their journeys and contactless cards are now accepted for travel on the LU network. More than 19 million journeys have now been made using contactless payment cards since the launch of the new convenient way to pay on 16 September.

 

Notes to Editors:

  • The latest passenger figures follow LU's 2013/14's record performance, when it carried 1.265bn passengers - up by a third over the last ten years.
  • London's population is set to grow from 8.4m today to around 10m by 2030 - that's an extra Tube train full of people every three days - and it is therefore essential that there is continued investment in increasing services and transport infrastructure to meet this increasing demand.
  • To support this, LU is carrying out a huge programme of modernisation, with major stations, trains, track and signalling being updated or replaced to provide more capacity for a growing city. By the end of 2016, 191 new spacious and air-conditioned trains will have been introduced on the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines for a more comfortable journey.
  • The line upgrades are at the core of LU's investment programme, which will deliver more than 30 per cent increase in capacity. The upgrade programme is being delivered over the coming years, with work to modernise the Northern line nearly complete, and the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines well underway.
  • Redevelopment work to increase capacity at key stations and make them step-free is underway at a number of stations including Victoria, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street. More than half of LU's 270 stations have now been modernised or refurbished to make them brighter and easier to use, with improvements such as tactile strips, better CCTV and help points, electronic information displays in ticket halls and on platforms and improved seating and lighting.
  • During next year, LU will be modernising the way customers are served at stations, with staff brought out from underused ticket offices and back offices to where they can assist customers most effectively - in ticket halls, on gate lines and on platforms. There will be more staff visible and available to help customers buy the right ticket or use their contactless payment card, plan their journeys and keep them safe and secure, and all stations will be staffed at all times. Later this year, every member of station staff will have access to a mobile device which will provide them with access to travel information with which to help customers.
  • From 12 September next year, LU will introduce the 'Night Tube' - all night 24 hour services on Friday and Saturday nights on the Jubilee, Victoria and most of the Piccadilly, Central and Northern lines. The Night Tube will cut journey times, support the creation of some 2000 new jobs and boost London's economy by £360 million.