THE CENTRAL LINE did not run with enough trains on a single weekday last month, it has been revealed.

The London Underground line that connects parts of Redbridge, Waltham Forest and Epping Forest with central London is notorious for being plagued by chronic stop-starting, overcrowding, and being stifling hot in the summer, and freezing cold in the winter.

In January commuters also faced up to four-hour journeys into work after Hainault Depot workers went on strike, closing all stations east of Leytonstone.

But after London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon directly confronted Mayor Sadiq Khan on how often the line ran with the required number of trains in December, service users have been given another complaint to add to their list.

The Central Line is expected to run 78 trains at peak times Monday to Friday, 72 on Saturdays, and 61 on Sundays.

But Mr Khan was forced to admit at his Question Time session on January 18 that only two weekdays and two weekend days saw the line run at required capacity.

He added: “The Central Line fleet has experienced reliability problems on account of its age.

“Transport for London (TfL) is undertaking extensive maintenance to improve reliability of the trains, which will result in fewer delays and cancellations.”

Ms Pidgeon, who heads City Hall’s transport committee responded: “The failure to continually provide an adequate service is unacceptable and an insult to every commuter facing the daily grind of packed platforms and overcrowded trains.

“It is vital that the Mayor ensures reliability quickly improves on this line and that will only happen if serious investment takes place.

“London simply can’t afford to have such vital parts of its transport infrastructure operating at under capacity.”

Her Liberal Democrat colleague and Redbridge Cllr for Roding Gwyneth Deakins was also dismayed at the figures.

She said: “'It’s especially worrying that the Central Line is so inadequate when Redbridge Council is planning to add hundreds more homes to the South Woodford area as part of its Local Plan.

“And it's clear that Crossrail will not ease the pressure on the Epping branch of the line at all, and not much on the Hainault branch.”

Central line general manager Chris Taggart said: "I apologise to Central line customers whose journeys have been disrupted. 

"Our fleet of trains has experienced reliability problems on account of its age and we have been working hard to make repairs as quickly as possible to minimise disruption.

"We are undertaking extensive maintenance programme on the trains and over the next year few years will be investing millions of pounds as we continue to improve reliability."

Redbridge Council has been contacted for comment.