MORE than 200 Underground staff are forgoing Christmas to test new signals on the Jubilee line, which is shutting down over the festive period. The Tube Lines employees will be working from Christmas Eve until Monday (December 29) to help speed up commute

MORE than 200 Underground staff are forgoing Christmas to test new signals on the Jubilee line, which is shutting down over the festive period.

The Tube Lines employees will be working from Christmas Eve until Monday (December 29) to help speed up commuters' journeys in the new year. The Jubilee line runs from Stanmore to Stratford passing through stations including West Hampstead, Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage and St John's Wood.

"After looking at all the options we decided the best time for a full closure is over Christmas as it causes the least disruption for commuters," said Tube Lines engineering boss George Clark.

"It is vital we fully test the new system to check that services can run smoothly and safely before passengers come on board. Unfortunately, this can only take place during a closure of several days.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused, but the closures are necessary in order to deliver a faster and more efficient Jubilee line in the long-run."

The new signalling system is part of a £600million investment in the Jubilee and Northern lines. When the new system comes into passenger use, a typical journey between Wembley Park and Waterloo will take 28 minutes compared to the current time of 31 minutes.

Tens of thousands of kilometres of new cabling have already been laid, each train has had more than 5,000 wires re-connected and 30 new signal equipment rooms have been built.

The Jubilee line has 63 trains, 27 stations and 76km of track.