A programme of improvements and maintenance on London’s road and public transport network has been completed by Transport for London (TfL) and its contractors over the Easter period.
 
The majority of London’s transport network operated as normal between Friday 3 and Monday 6 April. However, TfL used the quieter Easter period to carry out essential improvement work to ensure that London Underground (LU) and the road network continues to support over 30 million journeys each day.
 
LU made the most of the Easter period to complete essential track improvement work at Neasden, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Finchley Road. Over 500 LU staff and contractors upgraded the points and crossings at Neasden and Harrow-on-the-Hill and replaced the track at Finchley Road.
 
On the roads, TfL continued to deliver its £4bn Road Modernisation Plan across the Easter weekend, including:

• Ongoing work to deliver the new cycling infrastructure across London, particularly on Cycle Superhighway North-South between Elephant & Castle and King’s Cross;
• Resurfacing work in Westminster on Bridge Street by Parliament Square.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “London's population is growing very rapidly and so we need to work harder than ever to make sure that our road and public transport networks keep the city working and growing. We planned this work very carefully during this quieter period to save road and public transport users from weeks of disruption at much busier times later in the year. While we do everything we can to limit disruption, we recognise that there is never a good time to undertake this work. My thanks to Londoners for their patience while it was delivered."
 
To limit disruption to road and public transport users, work was carried out over Easter when road traffic is 25 per cent lower than usual and there is less demand on Tube and London Overground services.

Delivering the Easter work in a co-ordinated way has saved Londoners from around three weekends of repeated disruption.

To increase capacity on London Overground services, one of the most popular and punctual railways in the country, construction work was undertaken at six stations to allow for the extension of trains from four to five carriages long. 

The £320m London Overground programme, designed to meet rapidly increasing demand for these services, includes building new storage facilities, upgrading existing maintenance depots and extending platforms. Work remains on schedule for completion on the East, West and North London lines by the end of 2015. 

Work was also undertaken at Whitechapel London Overground station and Custom House DLR station in preparation for Crossrail.