Politics & Current Affairs

Night Tube: Are two lines enough?

6 November 20215 November 2021By
Night Tube: Are two lines enough?

The night tube is returning on Central and Victoria Lines in November after many demands and petitions from the public surrounding women’s safety at night.

London’s night tube service will partially restart from the 27th of November after being suspended throughout the pandemic. 

Trains will run through the night on Fridays and Saturdays on Victoria and Central Lines with no update about Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee lines just yet.

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, highlighted that the night tube will not just boost the confidence of Londoners travelling home at night, but will also boost London’s thriving night-time economy. 

A Change.org petition created by Ella Watson regarding reinstating the night tube received more than 150,000 signatures in a month, following her demands for safer travelling. Explaining in the description why she had started this petition, she displayed some of the horrific figures of violence against women specifically. 

Ella isn’t the only one calling for the night tube to be reinstated. Many people on twitter and other social media apps, like Instagram, highlighted how important the night tube was to them. 

Many Instagram accounts regarding the safety of women have appeared in the last few weeks, one of which being @girlsnightinleeds_. With accounts for nearly every major city in the UK, Girls Night In planned successful nightclub boycotts to prove to the government and nightclubs that they would rather stay home than be in danger.

Student life and the night tube

The absence of the night tube affected many students and full time residents of London ever since life has resumed after lockdown. Many students, in particular, are exposed to dangers on their way home at night, without a safe way to travel. 

What’s more, students commuting into London from outer boroughs have extreme difficulties getting back from nights out after 12am due to the lack of transport. Ordering a Bolt or Uber isn’t always as easy, with long waiting times and frequent cancellations late at night. This leaves many students wandering the streets looking for a way to get home, increasing the danger, risk, and anxiety involved ingoing out.

The night tube allows students to get home safely with added security. Additionally, on public transport passengers are surrounded by people, making any attack less likely to happen.

Having spoken to students that commute, it is very clear that the night tube would be very beneficial to them and their safety. Throughout freshers week, many students had to leave events very early in order to catch the last train home, limiting them from meeting new people. If they miss the train home, some may have to stay in London for hours before transport becomes available again. 

Why the Central and Victoria Lines are not enough

Even though the Central and Victoria line offer stops throughout London, there are many areas that they do not cover, leaving people forced to find alternative ways home. Students from North London have displayed concerns about this, as the night tube doesn’t get to many other areas like Enfield and Barnet. 

Night buses, although available, have very long waiting times in which people may begin to feel uncomfortable or in danger. Many people feel uncomfortable being alone, waiting for the bus late at night for 30 minutes.

An extended night tube route would fix all of these issues, allowing residents to feel safe in their own city while going back to normal life after the many months locked indoors. 

Spiking and Women’s Safety on a Night Out – Analysis

As accounts of spiking are growing all over the UK, now is the time for the government to act. As women, it is very difficult to enjoy a night out as many of us have to think of our safety first. There are so many things we have to keep in mind and having a safe way home should not be one of them. 

Is it safe for women to go out? Why is there not more being done to ensure our safety?

There are petitions circulating about women’s safety in the UK and many more countries. The most recent viral petition that got the government talking demanded that nightclubs thoroughly search people going in. This is one of the first steps we need to take as women and as a society to ensure our safety. 

We should not be worried about getting spiked, injected with a substance or contracting any diseases while being out. This, on top of all the news stories and horrifying murders of Sabina Nessa and Sarah Everard in London, have made it extremely terrifying and isolating for women all over the country. 

Women in power are also talking about the night tube after recent events of violence towards women. In a segment on Vanessa Feltz show on BBC Radio, MP Nikkie Aiken raised her concerns about the night tube not being fully available with all 5 lines running.

“We’ve got the trains Vanessa, we’ve got the drivers, why haven’t we got the night tube up?”

Aiken then highlighted that about 60 per cent of night time economy employees are women who need a safe way home.

After all the recent distressing cases of violence against women, the night tube is one step in the right direction that many would benefit from, but especially women.