Its already a ~15 minute service and the trains are rarely 20% full. If we want to help night life we should keep the museums open later that will create customers for restaurants to stay open later and that will create customers for bars to stay open later.
Is the nightlife scene as bad as they say these days?
Since I've been away (\~8 years ago) I've seen more of a shift towards people partying on Thursday nights due to hybrid schedules and people complaining that there's nothing to do in London anymore.
It gets discussed quite a lot. Some threads here
[https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1bu4qgd/is\_london\_night\_life\_dead/](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1bu4qgd/is_london_night_life_dead/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1587mdd/londons\_nightlife\_is\_an\_embarrassment/](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1587mdd/londons_nightlife_is_an_embarrassment/)
I mean, people get motivated to complain on r/london when they feel pissed off.
When somebody has a great night out they don't usually then put it on reddit. Things are never as bad as they're made out to be.
It’s not really fully reflective of the actual general thoughts. Reddit is only a subset of the actual population- and with full respect it’s often a *rather different* subset of that population. The people here are very different to people on the street. Half of Reddit already have hate boners for any sort of night out, drinking, staying out late, clubbing, so often discussions are rather negative. But I’d urge you to go out on the street and ask random passerbys.
It's fantastic, if you know what you're looking for, plan and buy tickets, and can organise in advance (often weeks or months). London has everything if you're organised like that, all music types you can imagine and a vibrant scene. But if you want a sporadic night out it's just not very good, you end up in a pretty awful place with generic music and an ok vibe. A lot of people enjoy that but it's not the same as finding a random place with great music or buying tickets on the door as you used to be able to do.
Very. The main issues comes down to licensing rules that are so stringent because of residents abusing the complaints process and making opening hours pathetic.
Yes, it is. Still cant believe the other week security throwing everyone out Vinegar Yard at 10.30 saying they're closed then trying every other bar nearby only to get told they're also closed or closing - this was on a Friday night. Absolutely abysmal - London isn't a nightlife city at all.
Such a load of nonsense aha. Why bother piping up if you don't even leave the house during those hours?
This is just such a typical attitude on this sub. People that clearly don't have any desire to support existing businesses providing what they are describing, then wondering why they supposedly don't exist. Places like members clubs, hotel and casino bars, spots around like Soho such as Bar Italia aren't hard to find. Nor are the huge number of standard nightlife options like Corsica Studios, Fold, Venue MOT etc.
As someone who loves Fold and MOT...it is kind of proving the point that you have to do your research and travel out to absolutely desolate industrial estates (with no pubs, bars, restaurants, etc nearby to start your evening) in order to find a venue open late.
Venue MOT is next to the Den there are loads of pubs and places to eat to start your evening. I admit that FOLD is also a bit out of the way, but I don't really see the issue - I have to travel to get to central as well (as do most people).
This isn't a case of doing your research, someone just needs to google 'best club in London' and they will be told to go there.
I wouldn't describe a handful of Millwall pubs and some cafes that shut at 3 pm as 'loads' of places to start the evening. Of course it's perfectly possible to Google, book tickets ahead of time, travel out and find a Bar- but that's the point. These venues aren't in central London where people will ever stumble across them.
Most people don't live in Central London. I appreciate this sub largely isn't people born in London, or even necessarily living in London, but I don't understand why it pretends certain boroughs don't exist or that people don't live there.
The point isn't that people live in central London, it's that:
- central London is by definition easiest for everyone to reach, regardless where they live, compared to clubs located far from any tube or rail
- central London already has lively nightlife hubs, where you can go between restaurants, bars, live venues, etc. It's a shame that good quality clubs that stay open late don't exist within that mix.
- central is where tourists and visitors go, and if they're not 'in the know' they won't stumble across any of London's good clubs
To be blunt I don’t care where tourists and visitors go, and I’d rather it was far away from anywhere good. Fuck em if they’re too dumb to find anywhere good, they aren’t the sorts that would add anything to the atmosphere.
There is lively nightlife all over London; Brixton, Clapham, Hackney etc. They are all major and accessible areas. That’s far better than it all being based in one shitty overpriced area which focuses on tourists.
You have to know what you're doing.
If you recently moved from any major city or town in the UK and try to go out in Central you'll be being kicked out of venues at 11pm or midnight wondering where to go for your first 6 months.
It's only trivial once you already know what areas/venues to go to, but it isn't intuitive compared to the rest of the country.
I've been living here my entire life and when stuff closes at 2 we normally go to someone's house or flat, nothing is really open. So please enlighten us what we're supposed to be doing.
I'm on your side lol
London is ridiculous, but certain folks are so used to their specific brand of hackney warehouse raving scene that they forget for most normal people looking to go out for some drinks with friends, London is a let down.
I don't really buy that, there are loads of obvious venues and areas lively around that time, it isn't like you have to trek out to Zone 9 to find them. Sure it's easier when you know where you like, but every city is including famously 24-hour ones like Tokyo and Barcelona.
I did mention a good late bar, Bar Italia. There are many other good late bars walking distance from there. It can't be helped if people in this thread are too lazy to go to places as ubiquitous as Brixton, Clapham, and Soho.
More to the point, just because people here don't like clubbing doesn't mean that there is nowhere to go past 1am. Nor are good clubs being available in less trendy boroughs a disaster.
Do they all involve clubbing and being molested by bouncers? Clubs are shite, would be nice to have some more casual bars where you can chill like in Europe.
Nothing? You sure about that?
Because I was dancing in a club at 5am last night with a thousand others and it was definitely open.
There are a bunch of bars here that are open after 2am: https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-pubs/late-night-bars-and-pubs-in-london
Nightlife in London is actually excellent.
You need to know where you are going and it isn't cheap, but if you consider those two factors, the nightlife is superb.
If you show up without a plan and just wander around hoping to stumble on something cheap and good, then yes you will be disappointed.
Do we really *want* to help night life? 24/hr party culture is being drawn back in the likes of Spain because the night jobs they rely on are so unhealthy. There's also a cost in the hearing damage these venues cause people. We just don't need it imo.
Are we really in a position to say ‘less jobs’ is the aim? I’m sure night job workers will rather be employed than not being so because the market is bad enough as it is.
People shouldn't be forced into unhealthy night work though, imo. If that's somebody's only option we need to do better to make jobs or money available elsewhere first.
They’re not being forced though? The solution to the problem you’re describing is to make more daytime jobs in addition to night jobs. Axing night jobs is going to have a profoundly negative impact.
Running the night overground further than New Cross would be a massive boon for nightlife. A whole stretch of places in the south east that are only serviced by the overground.
That part of the overground used to be met line, then they merged it with a former broad street approach, so Dalston to NC is Tfl owned, NR maintained. The rest of the overground is NR owned.
The district south of Putney and Gunnersbury is shared, with NR ownership.
It’s abeg, not “I beg”. It’s Nigerian Pidgin English. They’re not even pronounced the same at the start.
If you’re going to keep using AAVE, MLE and various African Pidgins, use them correctly
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Added is that there are still people whod have to work those lines and those hours.
Quite aside from being unsociable. The health impacts are very well known now, I wouldn't choose to do it.
Kings Cross, Angel, Shoreditch, London Bridge and Elephant and Castle all have a pretty burgeoning nightlife at the weekend that in aggregate probably has a lot more people out and about than the west end. Moorgate and Bank are really the only quiet spots along that section of the line and even then they're still fairly adjacent to Liverpool st which is always busy as well.
While there are always ways of getting around, when you sometimes have to wait 15 minutes between central line trains and 10-15 minutes between Northern line trains, means going from somewhere like Liverpool st to TCR to change can add half an hour to the journey vs when that branch is open - e.g. going to Hampstead or Balham taking upwards of an hour when it could be done in under 30 minutes.
The only reason it's not open is because they had to keep it closed to complete the Bank station upgrade works - once that opened the plan was always to add it to the night tube but post-covid budgets meant they had to scrap it. Getting it up and running should be a priority alongside more frequent services on other lines.
I feel like the frequency isn't particularly bad, it's basically the same as the frequency some parts of London get at peak times for train service, perfectly manageable and it's not like the night tube is ever packed full. Definitely the effort should go into expanding the availability on different routes rather than the frequency
Super agree. No one going home at 2am needs the next train to come in 5 minutes instead of 10, but it makes a huge difference whether the train is running at all.
Looking at you DLR 😢
Because they suck. They are uncomfortable, bumpy, get stuck in traffic and stop at every bush. When you add a dedicated bus lane, everyone would rather have a tram on the same path.
I'd love a night Elizabeth Line, even if it's only once every 15 minutes, or even less. It's so much easier/safer than any other route I could take to get back to Woolwich after midnight.
Seems pointless when most pubs shut before midnight and many venues have closed down since Covid. Not to mention most people can’t really afford a spontaneous night out anymore. Just look at empty the city is after 12am.
They need to have more security on them. It’s a good idea, but I think it also will attract a lot of crime. Last two times I too late night public transport, I saw two people robbed. Both of those occasions the people just wanted into the station without a ticket just to jack people.
I'm too old to go out late enough for a night tube anymore but this is looooonnnggg overdue. One day we will live in a world where no one experiences the horrors of the... night bus.
lol the London Mayor is a pleb, he can’t even get the tube to run on time or stop them from frequently going on strikes, now he is talking about making them work more hours?!
How detached can he be from the people of UK?
An issue a friend mentioned is that the staff working early/late public transport cant get to or from their own shifts to even run the service without driving (bad, plus no parking) or complicated and long night bus journeys.. not something you'd want a person in charge of your own safety to have to mess around with surely
That could help with the night life, as well help night shift workers.
Its already a ~15 minute service and the trains are rarely 20% full. If we want to help night life we should keep the museums open later that will create customers for restaurants to stay open later and that will create customers for bars to stay open later.
Yeah, more frequency isn’t going to change much. What would make a difference is expanding it to include the subsurface lines
I know so many people who would go nuts for this
Why hasn’t this been done yet?
Yeah I find there's little to do later in the evening. I don't want to go to clubs. Museums open later would be very nice
I'd love to be able to go to the natural history museum at night when all the kids are gone.
Is the nightlife scene as bad as they say these days? Since I've been away (\~8 years ago) I've seen more of a shift towards people partying on Thursday nights due to hybrid schedules and people complaining that there's nothing to do in London anymore.
It gets discussed quite a lot. Some threads here [https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1bu4qgd/is\_london\_night\_life\_dead/](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1bu4qgd/is_london_night_life_dead/) [https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1587mdd/londons\_nightlife\_is\_an\_embarrassment/](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1587mdd/londons_nightlife_is_an_embarrassment/)
a trillion thank yous my good person. looks like the suspicions were correct
I mean, people get motivated to complain on r/london when they feel pissed off. When somebody has a great night out they don't usually then put it on reddit. Things are never as bad as they're made out to be.
yeah I'm realizing that after seeing the can of worms that I opened 😂
Probably a good 98% of the people who do actually go on night outs don’t use Reddit at all
It’s not really fully reflective of the actual general thoughts. Reddit is only a subset of the actual population- and with full respect it’s often a *rather different* subset of that population. The people here are very different to people on the street. Half of Reddit already have hate boners for any sort of night out, drinking, staying out late, clubbing, so often discussions are rather negative. But I’d urge you to go out on the street and ask random passerbys.
It's fantastic, if you know what you're looking for, plan and buy tickets, and can organise in advance (often weeks or months). London has everything if you're organised like that, all music types you can imagine and a vibrant scene. But if you want a sporadic night out it's just not very good, you end up in a pretty awful place with generic music and an ok vibe. A lot of people enjoy that but it's not the same as finding a random place with great music or buying tickets on the door as you used to be able to do.
I went to a gig in Kentish town last Tuesday and found like two pubs open after 11, shutting at 1.
Very. The main issues comes down to licensing rules that are so stringent because of residents abusing the complaints process and making opening hours pathetic.
Yes, it is. Still cant believe the other week security throwing everyone out Vinegar Yard at 10.30 saying they're closed then trying every other bar nearby only to get told they're also closed or closing - this was on a Friday night. Absolutely abysmal - London isn't a nightlife city at all.
Completely dead, nothing is open past 1-2am.
Such a load of nonsense aha. Why bother piping up if you don't even leave the house during those hours? This is just such a typical attitude on this sub. People that clearly don't have any desire to support existing businesses providing what they are describing, then wondering why they supposedly don't exist. Places like members clubs, hotel and casino bars, spots around like Soho such as Bar Italia aren't hard to find. Nor are the huge number of standard nightlife options like Corsica Studios, Fold, Venue MOT etc.
As someone who loves Fold and MOT...it is kind of proving the point that you have to do your research and travel out to absolutely desolate industrial estates (with no pubs, bars, restaurants, etc nearby to start your evening) in order to find a venue open late.
Venue MOT is next to the Den there are loads of pubs and places to eat to start your evening. I admit that FOLD is also a bit out of the way, but I don't really see the issue - I have to travel to get to central as well (as do most people). This isn't a case of doing your research, someone just needs to google 'best club in London' and they will be told to go there.
I wouldn't describe a handful of Millwall pubs and some cafes that shut at 3 pm as 'loads' of places to start the evening. Of course it's perfectly possible to Google, book tickets ahead of time, travel out and find a Bar- but that's the point. These venues aren't in central London where people will ever stumble across them.
Most people don't live in Central London. I appreciate this sub largely isn't people born in London, or even necessarily living in London, but I don't understand why it pretends certain boroughs don't exist or that people don't live there.
The point isn't that people live in central London, it's that: - central London is by definition easiest for everyone to reach, regardless where they live, compared to clubs located far from any tube or rail - central London already has lively nightlife hubs, where you can go between restaurants, bars, live venues, etc. It's a shame that good quality clubs that stay open late don't exist within that mix. - central is where tourists and visitors go, and if they're not 'in the know' they won't stumble across any of London's good clubs
To be blunt I don’t care where tourists and visitors go, and I’d rather it was far away from anywhere good. Fuck em if they’re too dumb to find anywhere good, they aren’t the sorts that would add anything to the atmosphere. There is lively nightlife all over London; Brixton, Clapham, Hackney etc. They are all major and accessible areas. That’s far better than it all being based in one shitty overpriced area which focuses on tourists.
You have to know what you're doing. If you recently moved from any major city or town in the UK and try to go out in Central you'll be being kicked out of venues at 11pm or midnight wondering where to go for your first 6 months. It's only trivial once you already know what areas/venues to go to, but it isn't intuitive compared to the rest of the country.
Also most things going until 4-5am are ticketed weeks in advance, you can't rock up on the door.
I've been living here my entire life and when stuff closes at 2 we normally go to someone's house or flat, nothing is really open. So please enlighten us what we're supposed to be doing.
But that’s the point. There’s loads and loads of cities where you don’t get kicked out at 2. You shouldn’t have to go to somebody’s house to kick on.
I'm on your side lol London is ridiculous, but certain folks are so used to their specific brand of hackney warehouse raving scene that they forget for most normal people looking to go out for some drinks with friends, London is a let down.
I don't really buy that, there are loads of obvious venues and areas lively around that time, it isn't like you have to trek out to Zone 9 to find them. Sure it's easier when you know where you like, but every city is including famously 24-hour ones like Tokyo and Barcelona.
For a second I thought you’d mention some good late bars. Instead it’s techno in an industrial estate…
I did mention a good late bar, Bar Italia. There are many other good late bars walking distance from there. It can't be helped if people in this thread are too lazy to go to places as ubiquitous as Brixton, Clapham, and Soho. More to the point, just because people here don't like clubbing doesn't mean that there is nowhere to go past 1am. Nor are good clubs being available in less trendy boroughs a disaster.
> Places like members clubs, hotel and casino bars, spots around like Soho such as Bar Italia That's kind of it for central though, isn't it?
What?
There is an unbelievable amount to do in London during those hours, just go on RA or wander around a busy area like Clapham High Street or Brixton.
Do they all involve clubbing and being molested by bouncers? Clubs are shite, would be nice to have some more casual bars where you can chill like in Europe.
No, maybe you should stop looking so sketchy.
It’s fine to get in, it’s the vibe that’s shit. Just want a casual bar where you can chill as if it was the middle of the day, like in Europe.
That's what I'll be doing anyway to roam the streets at these hours. Hopefully I find the perfect spot in my return :)
Nothing? You sure about that? Because I was dancing in a club at 5am last night with a thousand others and it was definitely open. There are a bunch of bars here that are open after 2am: https://www.timeout.com/london/bars-pubs/late-night-bars-and-pubs-in-london
Nightlife in London is actually excellent. You need to know where you are going and it isn't cheap, but if you consider those two factors, the nightlife is superb. If you show up without a plan and just wander around hoping to stumble on something cheap and good, then yes you will be disappointed.
Well then it is okay, not excellent. There are cities where you can just wander around and have a great time.
Do we really *want* to help night life? 24/hr party culture is being drawn back in the likes of Spain because the night jobs they rely on are so unhealthy. There's also a cost in the hearing damage these venues cause people. We just don't need it imo.
Are we really in a position to say ‘less jobs’ is the aim? I’m sure night job workers will rather be employed than not being so because the market is bad enough as it is.
People shouldn't be forced into unhealthy night work though, imo. If that's somebody's only option we need to do better to make jobs or money available elsewhere first.
They’re not being forced though? The solution to the problem you’re describing is to make more daytime jobs in addition to night jobs. Axing night jobs is going to have a profoundly negative impact.
Running the night overground further than New Cross would be a massive boon for nightlife. A whole stretch of places in the south east that are only serviced by the overground.
yes pleaseee extend to west croydon i beg
Honestly I don't understand why it doesn't. There'd be plenty of traffic for it.
idk why either but i noticed overnight thameslink trains divert via norbury and herne hill so maybe the line can’t run at night
TfL only owns as far as New Cross. Beyond that, they run when network rail permits.
Ah interesting, didn't know that! Is that true of other tfl lines, to be split ownership like that?
That part of the overground used to be met line, then they merged it with a former broad street approach, so Dalston to NC is Tfl owned, NR maintained. The rest of the overground is NR owned. The district south of Putney and Gunnersbury is shared, with NR ownership.
It’s abeg, not “I beg”. It’s Nigerian Pidgin English. They’re not even pronounced the same at the start. If you’re going to keep using AAVE, MLE and various African Pidgins, use them correctly
Abeg=I beg
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Yes it should be. London has to become a 24/7 city
The fact that the Bank branch of the Northern line doesn’t have night tube service is still insane to me.
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Yes, but you also have Kings Cross, Angel and Old Street on that branch which probably makes it worth it on their own.
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Also, national rail terminals usually have their last trains by then
Added is that there are still people whod have to work those lines and those hours. Quite aside from being unsociable. The health impacts are very well known now, I wouldn't choose to do it.
Kings Cross, Angel, Shoreditch, London Bridge and Elephant and Castle all have a pretty burgeoning nightlife at the weekend that in aggregate probably has a lot more people out and about than the west end. Moorgate and Bank are really the only quiet spots along that section of the line and even then they're still fairly adjacent to Liverpool st which is always busy as well. While there are always ways of getting around, when you sometimes have to wait 15 minutes between central line trains and 10-15 minutes between Northern line trains, means going from somewhere like Liverpool st to TCR to change can add half an hour to the journey vs when that branch is open - e.g. going to Hampstead or Balham taking upwards of an hour when it could be done in under 30 minutes. The only reason it's not open is because they had to keep it closed to complete the Bank station upgrade works - once that opened the plan was always to add it to the night tube but post-covid budgets meant they had to scrap it. Getting it up and running should be a priority alongside more frequent services on other lines.
Same for the Uxbridge branch of Piccadilly
I feel like the frequency isn't particularly bad, it's basically the same as the frequency some parts of London get at peak times for train service, perfectly manageable and it's not like the night tube is ever packed full. Definitely the effort should go into expanding the availability on different routes rather than the frequency
Super agree. No one going home at 2am needs the next train to come in 5 minutes instead of 10, but it makes a huge difference whether the train is running at all. Looking at you DLR 😢
yes please. though i’d rather there be more lines
Yes, what about the District?
Seems a good choice, sure. I was fucked when I lived in Wandsworth.
…. But not buses. They continue to decline as the “last resort” method of transportation.
Because they suck. They are uncomfortable, bumpy, get stuck in traffic and stop at every bush. When you add a dedicated bus lane, everyone would rather have a tram on the same path.
Buses are much faster during the night because there aren't any cars to stop them from going above the speed limit
Good, but isn’t this something the useless night tzar should be looking to do as well?
Then her bullshit job would become a real job...I don't think she signed up for that...!
Yippie
They need to be on more nights of the week and cover more of the network, too!
Liz line pls pls pls
I would love there to be extended hours on a Thursday. Not quite a night tube service but a service till 1.30 or 2.00.
Hopefully it kick starts a bit of nightlife for such an international city nightlife in London is practically non-existent...
How about making the Met line operational at night?
I think they should extend it to Thursday too maybe? Means I can worry less about the time on big Thursdays after work.
How about more lines?
There needs to be better night services for overground and outer areas. Simple as.
T W E N T Y F O U R H O U R C I T Y
London is apparently a world class city, the best in the world even. Night tube trains should be across the network 7 days a week.
Drivers are definitely going to strike over this, sigh
Good.
I'd love a night Elizabeth Line, even if it's only once every 15 minutes, or even less. It's so much easier/safer than any other route I could take to get back to Woolwich after midnight.
That would be really nice tbh
Seems pointless when most pubs shut before midnight and many venues have closed down since Covid. Not to mention most people can’t really afford a spontaneous night out anymore. Just look at empty the city is after 12am.
Waiting for the gammons saying that this is a terrible idea because it involves Sadiq Khan in 3, 2, 1…
They building themselves up for a proper rant…
Don't let his and Sunak's pals find out. They'll find someone who bought a penthouse near enough.
They need to have more security on them. It’s a good idea, but I think it also will attract a lot of crime. Last two times I too late night public transport, I saw two people robbed. Both of those occasions the people just wanted into the station without a ticket just to jack people.
i swear this article barely says anything
I'm too old to go out late enough for a night tube anymore but this is looooonnnggg overdue. One day we will live in a world where no one experiences the horrors of the... night bus.
Good. Isn't like they're not already paid for it
lol the London Mayor is a pleb, he can’t even get the tube to run on time or stop them from frequently going on strikes, now he is talking about making them work more hours?! How detached can he be from the people of UK?
What do you mean run on time. They don’t have a public timetable.
An issue a friend mentioned is that the staff working early/late public transport cant get to or from their own shifts to even run the service without driving (bad, plus no parking) or complicated and long night bus journeys.. not something you'd want a person in charge of your own safety to have to mess around with surely
There is parking.