Summer of pain for O2 fans as works shut Jubilee line

Fans who have paid hundreds of pounds to see events at the O2 were today warned of transport disruption all summer because of closures on the Jubilee line.

Many at the Madonna concert at the Greenwich venue on Saturday night took up to six hours to get home.

Angry fans condemned "appalling planning" by Transport for London, which closed the Jubilee line over the weekend as part of a £600 million programme of signalling improvements. Although extra bus and ferry services were laid on, the 17,000 fans struggled to get away from the O2 .

Further closures of the line will hit transport through July and August and affect:

Concerts by R&B and rap star Ne-Yo and singer Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds on 11 July.
A concert by rapper FloRida at IndigO2 on 12 July.

Walking With Dinosaurs on 8  and 9 August.

The 4 Nations Basketball on 15 and 16 August.

The work on modernising the 30-year-old signalling network is being done by the Tube Lines consortium. A spokeswoman for TfL said: "Tube Lines have fallen behind schedule. They have requested extra closures."

A spokeswoman for Tube Lines said: "We're six months from completion and in the phase when we need to run trains. You can't do that in the three or four hours you get at night."

A spokesman for the O2 Arena said: "We know the situation is far from ideal but we do work with TfL to make the journey home as smooth as possible."

He said detailed transport options were provided to customers in the venue and every ticket holder is emailed about travel alternatives.