Night Tube signals turning green as Mayor meets new driver recruits

Night Tube signals turning green as Mayor meets new driver recruits

· New Night Tube service to launch this year

• 200 part-time drivers are being recruited to drive the trains

• The service will run on five Tube lines throughout Friday and Saturday nights

• Night Tube to deliver £360m boost to London economy

The Mayor of London today met some of the first recruits who will be driving the capital’s Night Tube as preparations continued ahead of its introduction.

Approximately 200 part-time drivers are being specially recruited and trained to run the new service which will transform night time journeys across London for millions of people and boost the economy by £360m.

Today, the Mayor met a class of 12 of these recruits at London Underground’s training headquarters, Ashfield House, as he took the controls of a cutting-edge training simulator to get a feel for what goes into driving an Underground train up to eight cars long with hundreds of passengers on board.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “The introduction of our 24-hour weekend tube is going to be great news for those looking to work and play throughout the night. It will transform weekend travel across the capital and give our rapidly-growing city another economic shot in the arm. I know Londoners are looking forward to it, and after meeting the new recruits today, I can see they can’t wait to get started too.”

Nick Brown, Managing Director of London Underground, said: “The Night Tube isn’t just going to be great for our customers, it will provide a boost for London’s economy and create jobs across the city. The Tube is no exception and we’re welcoming in and training up committed and capable staff members who will be driving trains throughout Friday and Saturday nights on the five Night Tube lines. I wish them all success with their training and assessments over the coming months.”

The service will transform night travel in the capital with journey times to be cut by an average of 20 minutes, and some reduced by more than an hour. It will open up London's night-time economy to a host of new opportunities, with the Night Tube supporting around 2,000 permanent jobs.

The new part-time drivers being recruited spend the majority of their 14-week training time driving with an instructor as they learn every aspect of the line and trains that they will be working on. Trainees learn LU’s rules and procedures to drive trains and keep passengers safe and well informed, and how to fix faults with the train and avoid delays. Towards the end of the process they complete a final assessment called a ‘road test’ that must be passed before they become a licensed train driver. The pass rate is 90 per cent.

Around a quarter of the 200 new drivers have been recruited from within Transport for London, with three quarters new to the company. The advertisement for the jobs attracted more than 6,700 applications to work Friday and Saturday nights.

ENDS