Piccadilly line to remain suspended between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge until late-January

Plans to restore Piccadilly line services between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge have been pushed back to late January.

Transport for London (TfL) closed the Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge and has been running a reduced service between Acton Town and Rayners Lane to limit further wheel damage caused by unusually intense leaf fall last autumn, which damaged some of their trains.

Services were due to be restored by now, but TfL now says that while it continues to make “good progress in repairing the damaged train wheels, our fleet shortages have been impacted by a number of damaged train motors caused by recent poor weather.”

They’re now aiming for the full service to be restored by late January.

The problems stem from unusually heavy leaf fall this year, which caused extensive damage to train wheels and means they have fewer trains to run along the tube line.

TfL previously said that the leaf fall this winter was unusual, with leaves staying on trees for longer than usual before falling in large quantities during the storms late last year. The sudden drop of so many leaves at once overwhelmed their usual autumn processes for clearing the tracks before it damaged the trains.

In brief, the leaf fall causes the tracks to be coated in a thin very slippery goo, and if trains slide along the tracks when applying brakes, apart from the safety issue, it also means the wheels get a flat surface worn in them where they slipped over the tracks. If the damage gets too bad, they need to regrind the wheels back into circles, and that takes time. When so many trains are affected at once, then they have to take trains out of service.

Full service is now expected to be restored later this month.

Metropolitan line services between Uxbridge and Rayners Lane are unaffected.

Uxbridge station (c) ianVisits

A new Piccadilly line timetable came into effect on 13th January to allow for short-term weekend closures to prepare for the new trains that are due to start in service in late 2025.

Dates of weekend Piccadilly line closures

Weekend Piccadilly line closure
Fri 24 January (Night Tube) Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters until 03:30
Sat 25 – Sun 26 January King’s Cross St Pancras to Cockfosters (after 03:30 Sat 25 January)
Fri 31 January (Night Tube) Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters until 03:30
Sat 1 – Sun 2 February King’s Cross St Pancras to Cockfosters (after 03:30 Sat 1 February)
Fri 14 February (Night Tube) King’s Cross St Pancras to Osterley until 03:15
Sat 15 – Sun 16 February King’s Cross St Pancras to Northfields and Uxbridge (from 03:15 Sat 15 February)
Fri 7 March (Night Tube) Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters
Sat 8 – Sun 9 March Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters
Fri 21 (Night Tube) – Sun 23 March King’s Cross St Pancras to Osterley and Uxbridge
Sat 5 – Sun 6 April Wood Green to Cockfosters
Fri 18 – Mon 21 April Acton Town to Uxbridge
Fri 2 – Sat 3 May Hyde Park Corner to Acton Town (until 07:00 Sat 3 May)
Fri 9 May (Night Tube) Osterley to Cockfosters (until 04:15)
Sat 10 – Sun 11 May Hyde Park Corner to Cockfosters (after 04:15 Sat 10 May)
Fri 16 May (Night Tube) Cockfosters to Heathrow and Uxbridge
Sat 17 – Sun 18 May King’s Cross St Pancras to Osterley and Uxbridge
Sat 24 – Mon 26 May Hammersmith to Cockfosters
Sat 7 – Sun 8 June Wood Green to Cockfosters
Sat 21 – Sun 22 June Hammersmith to Cockfosters