The Night Overground is set to reopen on Friday for the first time since the start of the pandemic, TfL has confirmed.
Services between Highbury & Islington and New Cross Gate will run every 15 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights starting from December 17.
It follows the partial reopening of the Night Tube at the end of November, which saw all-night services resume on the Victoria and Central lines.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said that the return of the Night Overground will “make a huge difference to Londoners” over Christmas and New Year.
Khan said: “Returning just in time for the key festive period, this is another milestone in London’s recovery, linking up diverse and vibrant areas of the city and offering a quick, easy and safe way to get around.”
But the reopening of the Night Overground comes as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 sweeps the capital, with it set to become the dominant strain by Tuesday.
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Following the Prime Minister’s advice to work from home if possible over fears of a “tidal wave” of the new variant, TfL saw passenger numbers on the Tube drop by 18 per cent on Monday morning.
Night Tube services over the past weekend also saw fewer passengers than in previous weeks, with a drop of almost 10 per cent reported by TfL.
There were 18,625 journeys on the Central line between 12.30am and 4.30am on Saturday, down 8.2 per cent, and 18,821 on the Victoria line, down 6.2 per cent.
Since reopening, the Night Tube has faced disruption due to strike action over changes to staff rotas.
This weekend is set to be the last of the planned 24-hour walkouts on the Victoria and Central lines by members of the RMT union. The Night Overground will not be affected by the strikes.
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