The State Funeral of Her Majesty the Queen is set to be one of the biggest events that the nation's capital has ever seen, with hordes of mourning citizens crowding the streets as they hope to pay their final respects.
To cope with the extreme rise in rail passage to and throughout London, Transport for London (TfL) have established new practices for their daily operations as the Elizabeth line has extended its services to run through the night. The line’s western and eastern branches, from Paddington to Reading and Liverpool Street to Shenfield, will operate round the clock from tonight, Saturday and Sunday.
The central section of the line will be running until midnight, with passengers between Paddington and Abbey Wood given an extension on availability for the first time since the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
To accommodate the expected heights of passenger numbers, Westminster, St James’ Park, and Hyde Park Corner Tube stations will be closed on the Monday morning of the funeral, with Green Park Station being an exit only infrastructure to deal with crowd control.
Andy Byford, London's Transport Commissioner, said:
"It is going to be extremely busy in London on Monday and there may be short notice changes and queues to enter stations as a result of the large number of people travelling. We will be running a safe, reliable, and frequent service to help ensure that everyone can travel home safely after paying their respects. We would encourage people to consider making use of the wide range of facilities open across London for refreshments after the State Funeral.
“As well as allowing time to continue to pay respects, this will help ensure smoother journeys home for everybody."
With the unprecedented, expected traffic in and around the city, TfL have been advising that people plan their trips in advance and prepare for major disruptions throughout journeys.
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