Joanne McCartney AM calls on Government to fund Piccadilly Line Upgrade

Joanne McCartney AM, Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield & Haringey, has called on the Government to properly fund the Piccadilly line signalling upgrade.

Ms McCartney has said the upgrade will transform the service for residents in Enfield and Haringey, as well as commuters from across London as the current service is often overcrowded.

Writing to the Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Assembly Member McCartney highlighted that the Piccadilly line makes up more than one in ten journeys on the tube so is one of the most important routes in London.

Following her campaigning, Transport for London (TfL) is delivering new, higher-capacity trains on the Piccadilly line, which will be operational from 2025. These will result in a 23% increase in peak service from the current levels.

However, if the much-needed signalling upgrade was combined with this, it would enable more trains to depart. This would allow a peak service of 36 trains an hour – a significant two thirds capacity increase from today’s service.

The Piccadilly Line upgrade has been a long-standing campaign of Ms McCartney and other London politicians such as the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. She has called for Government to agree a multi-year funding deal for TfL so that the upgrade, which was first proposed in 2011, can go ahead.
Ms McCartney expressed deep concern over the government’s consistent short-changing of TfL. Other transport authorities, such as Network Rail, National Highways and other Metro Mayors outside of London, receive multi-year investment programmes from Government but the Mayor of London and TfL does not.

Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield & Haringey, Joanne McCartney AM, said:

“Our communities in Enfield and Haringey have had to live with a poor Piccadilly line service for too long. The Government has been twiddling their thumbs for too long. It’s time that they stepped up and funded the upgrade.

“It is disheartening to witness the government’s repeated short-changing of TfL. Other cities have been given multi-year funding agreements but the Government is treating London differently.

“The government must provide the financial backing required to move the Piccadilly Line signalling upgrade forward. This is not merely something that would be nice to have, it will truly transform the line for my constituents and other Londoners who rely on the line.”