Transport For London (TFL) are launching a night tube service for Friday and Saturday nights.

Commencing in the wee hours of Saturday September 12th the service will run trains every 10 or 15 minutes on Saturday and Sunday mornings, until 04.30. Initially offered on the whole of the popular Jubilee and Victoria lines, the Piccadilly line from Cockfosters to Heathrow Terminal 5 and long lengths of the Central and Northern lines, the service will extend in future to parts of the Circle, District, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines.

Fares for the service will be standard off-peak, with those using Oyster and contactless payment cards enjoying the current capping arrangements setting a maximum charge. One-day Travelcards purchased on a Friday or Saturday will be valid for use on journeys commencing up until 04.29 the next day.

TFL say that passenger numbers on Friday and Saturday nights have risen around 70% since 2000 and that London is now a 24-hour city. They also say that the service will complement the services of London taxi and private hire vehicles, a view that may or may not be shared by London’s cab drivers.

Unions representing TFL’s well-paid tube drivers see the new service as an opportunity to screw even more money out of their employers, and have promised a summer of disruption if TFL don’t pay them more, starting with Wimbledon and holding tube passengers to ransom until TFL give in. So, what’s new?