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If you’ve attempted to take the Piccadilly line in recent weeks, you’ll know that things aren’t quite right. The navy blue tube line has been hampered by delays (and overcrowding caused by delays) and closures, with issues dating back to November.
And this week TfL has revealed that those issues won’t be getting cleared up anytime soon. The closure of the western end of the line (between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge) will continue until at least ‘mid-January’, as will reduced services between Acton Town and Rayners Lane – now running every 15 minutes throughout the day.
The cause of all this disruption? Leaf-fall, apparently.
So, can TfL not prepare better for leaf-fall, given it happens every year? Well, the issues apparently aren’t so much to do with leaves in general but the quantity of them. Storms in November caused higher-than-usual levels of leaf-fall on Piccadilly line tracks, which in turn damaged the wheels of the navy blue line’s 50-year-old trains. As a result, the Piccadilly has fewer trains in service, causing delays.
TfL explained the situation: ‘Conditions this year have been particularly challenging, with leaves staying on trees for longer than usual, before falling rapidly during recent storms.
‘This has meant that despite efforts to manage services during times of particularly high leaf fall, we now have fewer trains available than are needed to run a reliable service.
‘The existing train fleet is nearly 50 years old, and a number of these trains can no longer be used.
‘This means that from January 2025, we will be required to operate the Piccadilly line with slightly fewer trains.’
On top of all this, TfL has also announced a series of part-closures at weekends on the Piccadilly line between January and June. This is to prepare for the introduction of the Piccadilly’s new air-conditioned, walk-through trains – which you can see being built at a Yorkshire factory here.
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