The world's oldest underground rail network takes a big step forward this weekend when London's "Tube" starts all-night Friday and Saturday services after years of obstruction and delay. In a move bound to please revellers, shift-workers and insomniacs, two lines will run trains through to 5.30am, with others due to follow. Now that agreement has eventually been reached, trains will run between north and south London and from east to west, before being rolled out on three further lines including to Heathrow Airport. The scheme is set to boost the capital's economy by £77 million ($NZ138 million) a year, according to the mayor, and could help support London's nightclubs and bars. Famed for its simple map design and incessant warnings to "mind the gap," it now carries over 1.3 billion passengers a year.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 20, 2016 03:56 UTC