Planned closures on the Piccadilly Line over the summer months 2026

TfL announce schedule of planned part closures on the Piccadilly line as vital upgrade work and testing of the brand-new trains gathers pace

Transport for London has announced a schedule of planned closures of the Piccadilly Line over the next few months to enable them to continue testing of the new Piccadilly line trains on the Underground network before they start entering service between December 2026 and June 2027.

The closures will mostly be at weekends, with many starting from 00.30 on Saturday mornings (meaning Friday Night Tube services are suspended) until the end of service on Sunday. However, there will also be some closures which include weekdays, especially during the week over the summer holiday period. These include:

• Acton Town to Heathrow, and Rayners Lane to Uxbridge, from Thursday 28 to Sunday 31 May
• Cockfosters to Uxbridge on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 July and Monday 3 August. There will also be a closure from Cockfosters to Heathrow on Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 August
• A set of midweek closures in August (Tuesday to Thursday for two consecutive weeks) from Cockfosters to Uxbridge:
• Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 August
• Tuesday 25 to Thursday 27 August
• During these closures, the Metropolitan line will run as normal between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge

The full list of confirmed Piccadilly line closures is available on TfL’s website at:

tfl.gov.uk/piccadilly-works

New trains for the Piccadilly Line; Siemens

£3.4bn investment to modernise the Piccadilly Line

The new trains coming in from December will replace the existing fleet which has been serving London since 1975, promising to bring significant customer benefits including improved reliability, efficiency and comfort.

The new trains are part of a £3.4bn investment to modernise the Piccadilly line.

Their introduction has been delayed because when TfL took delivery of the new trains from Siemens, they realised there was more work to be done to the Underground infrastructure to accommodate the new trains than they had anticipated.

READ ALSO: Introduction of new trains on the Piccadilly Line delayed by a year

The new trains are longer than the current fleet and have different door placement. They will be operating on infrastructure that is, in many areas, over 100 years old and interacts extensively with other lines.

The schedule of part-closures will allow TfL to carry out essential upgrades to the power supply, tracks, platforms, depots and sidings while continuing to test the new trains’ interaction with existing London Underground infrastructure, alongside assessments of their efficiency and performance.

‘This complex upgrade and testing programme is essential to ensure the line is ready for the first new trains to start entering service’, says TfL.

New train; Siemens

‘Where possible, weekday closures have been timed to take place in school holidays when demand on the network is significantly reduced’

Work already completed during part closures of the line includes weight-load testing of the new trains, with 400km covered using a test train in its fully loaded state of 68 tonnes, and work at 119 Piccadilly line platforms to ensure they are ready to accommodate the new trains.

Some of the closures are also being used to continue routine maintenance work, such as the renewal of points in the Hounslow area from 28-31 May.

‘Where possible, weekday closures have been timed to take place in school holidays when demand on the network is significantly reduced’.

TfL advises customers to use TfL Journey Planner and TfL Go, to check before travelling and to allow more time for their journeys.

New Piccadilly Line train interior; Siemens

Once this intensive period of upgrades and testing is completed, “customers will reap the benefits of moving around the capital on these game-changing new trains”

Stuart Harvey, TfL’s Chief Capital Officer, said:

“I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we carry out these essential upgrades to the Piccadilly line and rigorously test the new trains which will transform journeys for many decades to come. Introducing a new fleet of trains is a huge engineering and logistical feat which inevitably requires upgrades and intensive testing.

“We are very confident that once this intensive period of upgrades and testing is completed, and the new trains start to enter service, our customers will reap the benefits of moving around the capital on these game-changing new trains”.

The new trains feature walk-through carriages, wider all-double doorways to help customers get on and off more easily, enhanced real-time digital display screens for customer information, and on-train CCTV cameras for additional customer security. They will also feature air-conditioning for the first time on the Deep Tube network thanks to an innovative, articulated design.

They also provide ten per cent more capacity, despite being lighter than existing designs, ‘which means they consume 20 per cent less energy and provide a smoother ride for customers’.

The increased fleet size will allow frequency to increase from 24 to 27 trains per hour, and the programme overall will boost peak capacity by 23 per cent in central London compared to the current service.