Northern Line to be split in two

Tube bosses are splitting the Northern line in two, returning the tube format last used around 90 years ago in order to tackle rush-hour congestion on this line.

They have been given approval by Mayor Boris Johnson to press ahead with an upgrade that will increase the number of trains on the City and Charing Cross branches.

The changes at Kennington, which will cost £312 million, will add even more capacity. There will be a second phase of the upgrade, due to be completed by 2018.

By then, the number of trains on the City branch will increase from 22 to 32 an hour northbound and 20 to 28 southbound during the morning peak. The number of trains on the Charing Cross branch in rush hour will rise from 20 to 28 an hour in both directions.

Kennington has been chosen because passengers do not have far to walk between the City and Charing Cross platforms, and because the station has the capacity for Charing Cross trains to be turned round.

The changes will return the line to a format not seen since 1926. The City and South London Railway ran from King William Street in the City to Stockwell, while the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway became what is now the Northern line’s Charing Cross and Edgware branch.

The closest tube station to umi’s Budget London Hotel is Bayswater Tube Station and it’s only a couple of minutes walk from our hotel.