Posted 1st August 2016 | 1 Comment

Bakerloo trains return to Paddington ahead of time

WORK to renew escalators serving the Bakerloo line at London Paddington has been completed nearly two weeks ahead of schedule, and Bakerloo trains are calling at the station again today.

London Underground said thousands of moving components had been replaced, and that the machines should now be good for the next 20 years. They carry the 82,000 people each day who leave or join Bakerloo trains at Paddington, and the number is continuing to rise.

While the escalator work was under way, engineers also continued to dig a 165m tunnel which will form a subsurface connection between the Bakerloo platforms and the Elizabeth line which will open in 2018.

When passengers using District, Circle and Hammersmith & City trains are taken into account, the daily Underground total at Paddington rises to 165,000 passengers, and this is expected to increase to 248,000 when the Elizabeth line opens.

London Underground managing director Mark Wild said: “I’d like to thank passengers for the patience they’ve shown while we have carried out this vital modernisation work ‎at Paddington.

“To keep disruption‎ to passengers to a minimum, we combined the escalator and Elizabeth line preparation work so that services were affected for the shortest possible time. The work that’s been carried out has laid the foundations for a better station in the future.”

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  • Leo, London

    Isn't the article backwards? As far as I know the reason for the closure was to connect the future tunnel to the Crossrail station. When preparing that project hey figured they might as well use that time to replace the escalators too.
    [That's not how TfL has explained it. Our copy reflects the official version.--Editor.]