Over the years, many stories and letters have appeared in the local press about the poor state and reliability of the Northern Line.

True, we have waited a long time for investment in the Underground, but last weekend when there was the shuttle bus service from East Finchley to Barnet, I walked to Woodside Park station and was amazed at the number of orange-shirted workers involved in the line-replacing work on the southbound track from Totteridge & Whetstone.

The massive task of removing tonnes of stones, sleepers and tracks and getting the resources on site to replace everything anew, working continuously for over 48 hours and having everything ready for normal working on Monday morning, must have been an enormous undertaking. Congratulations to everyone involved.

The difference between the smooth journey south from Totteridge, to the rough, bouncy ride south of Woodside Park to West Finchley, is very noticeable. Yes, it will take a few more years to complete the whole job of line replacement, and yes, it can be inconvenient at times having to use the shuttle buses (which are free), but Rome wasn't built in a day.

It is gratifying to see money being spent on modernising the Northern Line; we just need a little more patience to see it through.

Donald Lyven, Finchley