Major improvement work on the Bakerloo line escalators has been completed ahead of schedule
"I'd like to thank passengers for the patience they've shown while we have carried out this vital modernisation work ‎at Paddington Tube station"
Mark Wild
Managing Director of London Underground
  • Accompanying major work to boost capacity and pave the way for the new Elizabeth line is now well underway

Major improvement work at Paddington Tube station to renew the heavily-used escalators serving the Bakerloo line has been completed nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.

It means that the Bakerloo line platforms re-opened to customers today (Monday 1 August 2016) after engineers replaced thousands of moving components of the escalators ahead of time. This gives the two escalators a further 20 years of life, improving their reliability for customers as the number of people using the station continues to rise.

During the work engineers also continued to carefully dig a new 165m tunnel underneath the station in preparation for Elizabeth line services in 2018. The tunnel has connections at platform level for the future escalators and a lift so that customers will be able to easily interchange between the Bakerloo line and the new Elizabeth line services.

The work is the latest part of a huge‎ modernisation of London Underground that is seeing major stations, trains, track and signalling being updated or replaced to provide more capacity and reliability for a growing city.

Around 165,000 customers use Paddington Tube station daily - with 82,000 people using the Bakerloo line. When the Elizabeth line starts running from the station in December 2018, the number of customers using TfL services at Paddington is expected to increase to 248,000.

Mark Wild, Managing Director of London Underground, said:

'I'd like to thank passengers for the patience they've shown while we have carried out this vital modernisation work ‎at Paddington Tube station. It serves as a major interchange, and when the Elizabeth line starts running the number of passengers using our services at the station are set to treble.

'To keep disruption‎ to passengers to a minimum, we combined the escalator and Elizabeth line preparation work so that services were affected for the shortest possible time. The work that's been carried out has laid the foundations for a better station for our customers in the future.'

The next major phase of ‎modernisation will see new signalling on the Circle, District, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines, bringing faster, more frequent and more reliable journeys to millions of people.

 

Notes to Editors:

  • The Bakerloo line platforms at Paddington Tube station were closed from Saturday 2 April 2016.
  • During the work, a new switch room and lift lobby were constructed, as well as a cross-passage between the Bakerloo line platforms ready for the new escalators to the Elizabeth line.
  • The Elizabeth line will open in phases:
  • TfL Rail services commenced in May 2015 between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
  • In May 2018 the TfL Rail service opens between Paddington (National Rail) and Heathrow Terminal 4, replacing the existing Heathrow Connect service and part of the Great Western inner suburban service.
  • In December 2018 the Elizabeth line will open. Services will run between Paddington and Abbey Wood; Liverpool Street and Shenfield as well as Paddington Main Line to Heathrow Terminal 4.
  • In May 2019 the Elizabeth line through service extends from Shenfield to Paddington.
  • In December 2019 the Elizabeth line will be fully open, extending to Reading and Heathrow Terminal 4.