Ten years of the Night Tube: 'I did feel like a part of history'

Ten years and 67 million passengers later, London's Night Tube is a vital part of the capital's infrastructure. But what was it like to work its opening night?

The evening of 19 August 2016: Lovely Obeng, a 19-year-old customer service assistant, started her first night shift at Tottenham Court Road station.

"The very first night of Night Tube was very exciting, I must admit," she said.

"There was so much going on; everyone had been looking forward to that particular night - the customers were very excited."

The first night proved there was a demand for the service - more than 50,000 journeys were made between 00:30 and 05:30 on the Victoria and Central lines, the two lines first to launch.

Now, the service - which runs on Fridays and Saturdays - has expanded to include the Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Windrush lines and records an average of more than 81,000 journeys each night.

Looking back, Obeng said staff felt they were witnessing a significant moment for London's transport network.

"Working the launch night, as a team, we all felt like we were part of something great," she said.

"It was something that was new and we could feel that and it was something that TfL (Transport for London) as a company worked very hard towards making that happen.

"So I must admit that I did feel like a part of history."

Working in central London meant she saw first-hand the reaction from passengers - there was a "buzz around the whole city".

"I think London needed it because it was an encouragement for our night life here," she added.

Obeng explained that during that first night, people were particularly excited to utilise the Night Tube for getting home after a night out.

"We also had working customers that were commuting from night shifts themselves or going into early morning shifts," she said, adding that customers kept thanking the team and were grateful for the service during that first weekend.

"There was a sense of joy amongst the city here at Tottenham Court Road," she said.

Plans for the Night Tube were announced in November 2013, with TfL citing growing demand for overnight travel.

But the service did not arrive without controversy.

Night Tube trains had originally been slated to start in September 2015, but the launch was delayed following a bitter dispute between TfL and rail unions over pay and working conditions.

After months of negotiations and industrial action, the service was given the green light.

Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, joined passengers on the Night Tube during the launch just months after he was appointed as the capital's mayor in May.

At the time, TfL claimed the service could add £360m to the economy over 30 years, and it was hoped it would help reinvigorate the night-time economy.

Looking back, he said: "Travelling on the first-ever Night Tube is one of my favourite memories as mayor.

"Through a decade of late nights and early starts, airport journeys and epic trips, morning shifts and nights out that go on for as long as you like, the Night Tube has become a defining feature of London as a world-leading 24/7 city."

Since launch, the service has operated each week apart from during the Covid pandemic when services were suspended in March 2020 and returned in stages from late 2021. The full network was restored by July 2022.

For Obeng, some of her strongest memories are not of major events or busy weekends, but of individual passengers.

One particular encounter has stayed with her throughout her career.

"My first few months in we had a young lady that was around the same age as me travelling through from a night out and she had literally lost all her friends, she'd lost all her belongings," she said.

"I remember her coming into the station and looking at me and she just burst out in tears."

Obeng said she discovered the pair had a lot in common and took the passenger into the control room where staff managed to reach out to an emergency contact.

"We managed to get her home safely on Night Tube. That memory will stand with me for my entire career with TfL."

Experiences like that, she said, showed that the job involved much more than helping people catch trains.

"One day I might have to become a first aider, one day I become a therapist, one day I become somebody's friend," she said.

"Every day is different because especially while you're working on Night Tube, you don't know what is going to come your way. You have to be prepared for all scenarios and all situations."

Obeng described the night shifts as "not easy" but they had "taught her so much" and made her "resilient".

Now 29, Obeng moved to day shifts for the first time since the overnight service began.

"I did want to experience a different style of the station and the different passenger flow" but "night shift will be a part of me forever."

Despite Thursday's growing reputation as London's "new Friday", with many office workers increasingly treating it as the start of the weekend and fuelling the capital's night-time economy, TfL said there were no plans to introduce the services on Thursday nights or expand the service to other Underground lines.

The transport body said any expansion would require additional funding and significant changes to overnight maintenance schedules but "could be considered once major TfL modernisation programmes are complete".

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