More Central line trains pledged

Tube chiefs issued a brave pledge today by vowing to improve delays from next week on their busiest line.

The Central line's 600,000 daily users have been told that, from Sunday, they "should not have to" wait more than three and a half minutes for a rushhour train in Zone 1.

A maximum gap of 10 minutes between trains is promised for the same zone outside the peak hours of 7am and 10am and 4pm and 7pm.

Meanwhile, the wait between services should come down noticeably in some outer zones of the Central line, London Underground says. Passenger groups today described the performance targets as a "bold" move in the light of Central line's inconsistent performance. Capital Transport Campaign said: "It is the level of reliability that passengers deserve, and probably haven't had since the 1930s."

The pledge is the culmination of the 10-year Central Line Project, which has seen some £860million invested in trains and signalling, a new signalling centre at White City and the refurbishment of Bank and Holborn stations.

Commuters seeth on 'misery line'