THE MP for Chipping Barnet has urged Tube Lines to use “common sense” on planned engineering works to upgrade the Northern Line.

Yesterday it was revealed there could be a series of closures on the line at weekends as well as early closing on sections on week days to get the improvement work completed on time.

Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, has contacted the chief executive Dean Finch to “urge him to reconsider the proposals in order to reduce the disruption caused to my constituents”.

She added: “Clearly this announcement on closures is very depressing news for commuters. I have been following the debate over potential closures very carefully over recent months.

“Unfortunately, there are no easy answers here. If the Northern Line is to be upgraded, that inevitably means closures and all the inconvenience they cause.

“However, I will keep up the pressure on Tube Lines to keep the closures to a minimum. We need to exercise common sense on this issue.”

She added she has also asked for more precise details of closures, including what service disruption will be caused from early closures.

Matthew Harris, the Prospective Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for the Hendon seat has asked for the document detailing the various options for the upgrades considered to be released to the public.

He said: “Tube Lines say they have no option but to close the Northern Line for so long. Well, prove it. Release the optioneering document listing all the options that you considered before picking this one.

“Anything less is an insult to passengers. I fear that Tube Lines may have simply gone for the cheapest option for themselves, rather than weighting cost against other factors. These closures will grossly inconvenience passengers. Surely there is another way?”

“If someone offered to upgrade your shower, but said that you couldn’t use it for 82 weekends while the upgrade’s being done, would you say yes? This is a crazy way to run a railway.”