London Underground (LU) has announced that proposed changes to the District line will go ahead.
The changes will see the withdrawal of the weekday Kensington (Olympia) service and introduction of additional services on the Wimbledon branch. Nearly 18,000 customers, local business and other stakeholders took part in the consultation.
LU say 80 per cent were in favour of the changes, although there was significant opposition to the proposals from Olympis, residents in the Olympia area, and businesses who trade off the exhibition centre.
The new timetable, which will come into effect in December, will provide capacity for an additional 4,000 passengers every weekday morning on the busy Wimbledon branch, which carries nearly 30 per cent of District line passengers, say LU. In the evening, there will be further capacity for more than 800 people on services to Ealing Broadway and an enhanced late evening service on the Wimbledon branch with six trains per hour until 23:30. The District line Olympia service will continue to operate at weekends and special services will operate to serve major weekday events at the Olympia exhibition centre.
TfL say they are working closely with the Olympia venues’ management on the detail of the special services, and further measures to assist people attending all other events.
Service improvements on the West London line will compensate in part for the loss of the tube service.
