Packed platform at Acton Town as Piccadilly line runs only to Heathrow
Footage from the evening rush hour shows the westbound platform at Acton Town crowded from end to end during a five-day Piccadilly line closure for upgrade work.
Passengers filled the westbound platform at Acton Town station on Thursday evening, 29 October, while most of the Piccadilly line was closed for engineering work.
Footage shared with UB1UB2, filmed at about 6pm, shows the platform packed from one end to the other. The departure board shows trains to Ealing Broadway and to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 and 5, with the clock reading just before 6pm.
The person who filmed it said people were getting off District line trains and then waiting on the same platform for Piccadilly line trains to Heathrow. Acton Town was the eastern end of the only Piccadilly line section still running.
What is closed and when
Transport for London confirmed that from Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October there would be no Piccadilly line service between Cockfosters and Uxbridge. Trains ran only between Acton Town and the Heathrow terminals.
The whole Piccadilly line is then due to close on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, including the Night Tube on Friday and Saturday nights. Normal service is expected to return on Monday 2 November.
Because trains from central London were not reaching Acton Town on the Piccadilly line, passengers heading for the airport had to change there, mostly from the District line. That pushed rush-hour commuters and airport travellers with luggage onto the same platform.
Getting around during the closure
TfL is running replacement buses. From Wednesday to Friday, route PL4 runs between Acton Town and Rayners Lane and serves stations including Alperton, Sudbury Town, Sudbury Hill and South Harrow. Routes PL5 and PL6 cover parts of the closed section in north London.
On Saturday and Sunday, the PL1 replacement bus is due to run from Acton Town to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, stopping at several stations on the western end of the line.
For Heathrow, TfL is pointing passengers to the Elizabeth line, which serves the airport from central London and from stations across Ealing and Hillingdon. Between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge, the Metropolitan line runs on the same tracks and can be used instead.
TfL has told passengers to check before they travel and to allow extra time, because replacement bus journeys may take longer than the Tube.
Why the line is closing
The closures are part of TfL's £3.4bn Piccadilly line upgrade. TfL said the closures are needed to test the line's new trains and to upgrade its infrastructure. The first new trains are due to start carrying passengers between December 2026 and June 2027.
The new fleet will replace trains that have been running on the line since the 1970s. The work has included raising power capacity at substations, upgrading trackside cabling and platform works at Piccadilly line stations. TfL has said most closures will be at weekends and during school holidays.
This closure fell during the October half-term, a busy week for travel to and from Heathrow. Passengers flying over the weekend are advised to plan their route to the airport in advance.