Covent Garden Tube station lift works completed

07 November 2015

Major work to replace all four lifts at Covent Garden Tube station has been completed on schedule. This means that London Underground (LU) customers can now use the Tube station as normal (it is no longer exit only) and westbound Piccadilly line trains are stopping at the station again at weekends.

The lifts were replaced two at a time with the first two new lifts opening in November 2014. The remaining two are now available for customers to use.

The four new lifts - which replaced ones that were 25 years old - provide a 25 per cent increase in customer capacity because they're quicker and utilise larger lift cars. They are also more energy efficient, contributing towards Transport for London's (TfL's) commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of London Underground stations.

Steve Griffiths, London Underground's Chief Operating Officer, said: `I thank customers for their patience while this complex work took place. The new lifts at Covent Garden are bigger, quicker and more reliable, making journeys at the station easier and more comfortable.'

Engineers were required to completely remove the old lift cars and replace all of the structural, mechanical and electrical parts. The steel structure within the lift shaft was also modified, which added to the complexity of the project.

The station will still on occasion be restricted to exit-only during exceptionally busy periods

  • The Piccadilly line platforms at Covent Garden Tube station are accessed by four lifts. The lifts were replaced two at a time between February - November 2014 and February - November 2015 with the station exit only while the work took place
  • Customer satisfaction on London Underground has risen to its highest ever level and capacity is at record levels thanks to new trains and signalling systems. More than 1.3 billion customer journeys were made in 2014/15.
  • Three lines have been completely modernised in the past decade, giving a major boost to the network's capacity - up by one-third on the Jubilee line, 21 per cent on the Victoria line and 20 per cent on the Northern line.
  • More upgrades are coming - with new air-conditioned trains now serving the Metropolitan, District, Hammersmith & City and Circle lines, new signalling planned for those lines, and the radical modernisation of the Central, Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Waterloo & City Lines in the 2020s
  • New air-conditioned walk-through trains are being introduced on 40 per cent of the LU network. The Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines already have these trains in service and they are now also on the District line - where more trains are due by the end of this year.