It’s a good Friday for Tube as journeys set to hit record high
More than 4.2 million journeys are expected to be made on the Tube today — a record.
Transport for London believes today or next Friday will see the number of passengers carried on London Underground surpass all previous figures.
Public transport journeys have been creeping back up to levels not seen since before the economic downturn. Friday November 26 saw the Tube go over the four million mark for the first time in two years.
The all-time record for Tube journeys is 4.17 million recorded on Friday December 7, 2007.
Transport bosses believe that on current trends the number will be topped this year in the run-up to Christmas.
It come as TfL figures showed a record number of total journeys in a month with London Underground carrying more than 90 million passengers and an additional 6.7 million on the Docklands Light Railway in the four-week period between October 17 and November 13.
TfL managing director Mike Brown said the record number of journeys made — despite strike action last month — demonstrated the role public transport plays in the capital's economy.
On London Tramlink, the second half of November saw more than 100,000 people carried on a single day for the first time. London Overground now carries 200,000 passengers per day with the number of passengers on the recently opened East London line rising from 40,000 in June to 70,000 in October.
Mr Brown said: "These figures show the huge role that our Tube and rail services play in the capital's economy, and demonstrate why the Mayor and TfL's campaign to protect our Tube upgrades has been so crucial.
"The Tube alone has seen a 16 per cent rise in passengers in the last seven years, and now operates 70 million train kilometres a year — a 27 per cent increase on 15 years ago.
"It's vital that we keep up with the huge demand we're seeing for Tube and rail services, but we continue to look for innovative ways in which to carry out the work needed to give Londoners a first-class network."
