Busy Bank Holiday weekend of events and vital transport upgrades

26 August 2015
Vital roads and public transport upgrades carried out during the quieter summer months to minimise disruption

This Bank Holiday weekend will be busy in London with events such as Notting Hill Carnival and the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, alongside vital work to upgrade the road and transport network. Transport for London (TfL) is therefore strongly advising Londoners and visitors to the Capital to plan their journeys on road, Tube and rail services in advance.

Key days and locations to plan ahead for include:

  • Victoria line improvement work (finishing 30 August)
  • London Overground improvement work between Hackney Wick and Stratford (29 - 31 August)
  • Proposed First Great Western industrial action (29 - 31 August)
  • Network Rail engineering work between London Liverpool Street and Ilford, and between Gidea Park and Shenfield (29 - 31 August)
  • Improvement work to the A406 at Nightingale Bridge around the junction with the M11 (29-31 August)
  • Barbarians vs Samoa Rugby Union match at The Stadium, QEOP (29 August)
  • Rugby League Challenge Cup Final at Wembley (29 August)
  • Chelsea vs Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton (29 August)
  • Notting Hill Carnival (30-31 August)

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: `London's calendar of events is the envy of the world. Every year, millions of tourists visit this great city and add to the tens of millions who use our services every day. Each and every one of these journeys matter to us, and we'll be making sure that everyone has all the information they need to plan their journeys ahead of travelling to, from or around events and around the vital upgrade work that means we will have a transport network fit for the future.'

Services around Stratford may be busier than usual due to Barbarians vs Samoa Rugby Union match at The Stadium, QEOP on 29 August. Victoria line users are also reminded of the ongoing closure of the line between Walthamstow Central and Seven Sisters for vital track work which will finish on 30 August. This means there is no service between Seven Sisters and Walthamstow Central and a reduced service on the rest of the line.

The clear advice is to regularly check before travelling by using TfL's Journey Planner and visiting tfl.gov.uk/major-works-and-events. Real-time information is also available by following @TfLTrafficNews and @TfLBusAlerts. The page tfl.gov.uk/major-works-and-events will show major future planned events and work in the Capital.

Passengers planning to travel by rail are reminded to check before they travel this August Bank Holiday as Network Rail will be carrying out improvements as part of its railway upgrade plan: www.networkrail.co.uk/august.

Over the weekend, TfL is taking advantage of reduced volumes of motorists and commuters at this time of year - which are down by nearly five and four per cent - to minimise disruption during essential work to increase capacity, reliability and the quality of London's transport services.

Each event and planned work will be different and in some instances will involve temporary road closures, busier or amended services. Although the vast majority of services will be running as normal, Londoners and visitors are urged to plan ahead and check their travel options before making a journey this busy weekend. TfL is committed to ensuring that London continues to work and grow, and by carrying out vital upgrades in quieter periods, disruption is significantly reduced.

TfL and the Mayor of London are investing more than £4bn to radically improve London's roads over the next decade. The Road Modernisation Plan, the biggest investment in the Capital's streets for a generation, will deliver hundreds of new projects which will transform the look, layout and safety of the existing road network. Sophisticated traffic management plans to limit the impact on road users will be in place, and the use of SCOOT technology, proven to reduce delays by up to 12 per cent, is being expanded across London to keep traffic moving.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

  • London is already the most popular city in the world for tourists, projected to welcome 18.82 million international visitors this year, and hosting events across the Capital allows the whole city to benefit.
  • The summer months see traffic reduce by five per cent on London's roads, equating to more than 350,000 fewer journeys every day.
  • On London Underground, customer numbers reduce by 3.7 per cent during the summer, which equates to around a million less journeys a week.
  • Information on the economic benefits of events to London can be found here: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Value%20of%20Cultural%20Tourism-CIN%2044%20-%2025Mar2015.pdf
  • Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique (SCOOT) manages vehicular traffic flow across London on a second-by-second basis. More than half of all junctions in London now use SCOOT technology, which uses sensors buried in carriageways to detect real-time traffic conditions and optimise traffic light timings to reduce delays.
  • Events large and small help to boost London's tourism, contributing almost £10bn to the Capital's GDP and supporting nearly 300,000 jobs.