Queues are likely at Underground and London railway stations on Monday after the Queen’s funeral, transport bosses have said. Major London train stations will be open all night over the weekend and on Monday to accommodate the huge crowds expected to attend. Hundreds of extra train services are being scheduled and some will run through the night. Network Rail says, however, that these will mainly serve stations within the M25.
Transport bosses are expecting particular pressure on London’s transport system on Monday afternoon and evening. This is the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral after her passing at her Scottish estate in Balmoral. London train stations including Victoria, Waterloo, Charing Cross and Euston will be open throughout the night across the Bank Holiday weekend.
Some stations will also have stationary “welfare trains” so people have somewhere to shelter at all hours. Many shops, restaurants and toilets will remain open in train stations as well. LNER, which is not running “night trains”, has already announced an Azuma train will be stationed at London King’s Cross station all night, with staff on hand to assist. Avanti is also putting on extra charter services this weekend to help ease congestion between Manchester and London. Four extra services a day will run on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Transport for London (TfL) says it will invite customers on its services to observe the national one-minute silence at 20:00 BST on Sunday 18 September, and the two-minute silence at around 11:55 on Monday. TfL says buses will pull over for these, if it is safe and practical to do so, and switch their engines off. The Underground, Overground and other rail services in London will also invite passengers to take part but services will continue to run. As it will be a bank holiday, peak travel restrictions have been lifted. Andy Byford, the commissioner of TfL, told the BBC on Friday that the biggest challenge was yet to come.
“This weekend is going to be very busy, a lot of people will be wanting to come in to pay respects to Her Majesty… the day of the funeral will be one of the busiest, biggest, challenges TfL has ever faced,” he said. Speaking from a special control centre which has been set up in Southwark, he said he believes there could be more than a million people travelling into central London on Monday.
Transport bosses are asking those who do not have a long way to travel home to not rush off straight after the service to ease the pressure on Tube and railway stations. They say staff will be around to help elderly or vulnerable passengers and that customers should keep an eye on the most up-to-date travel information. Although trains and Tubes have been busy in the past few days, particularly in central London around mourning events, overall passenger usage remains below pre-Covid levels.
Many commuters and business people are thought to have stayed away from the city centre. Anyone who bought Anytime, Off-Peak, or Super Off-Peak train tickets can get full refunds during the mourning period if the tickets were bought before the Queen’s death was announced. Road closures and diversions are expected to continue for several days after Monday, as event infrastructure is removed, TfL said.
National Highways is also warning people to allow extra time travelling in and out of London this weekend, as motorways and major roads will be very busy. Motorists are advised to avoid central London because of road closures. Motorway service stations will remain open, although there might be reduced levels of services at some locations on Monday. Heathrow Airport has also warned people to take public transport instead of driving to the airport on Monday because of road closures around Windsor.
