After a stop-and-start year of delays, Londoners will at last be able to board a night-time Tube service beginning in the early hours of August 20th. Until now, shift-workers and revellers have relied mostly on London’s night buses to shuttle them to their destinations.

These fluid populations sit beneath the harsh strip-lighting of the night bus, often sharing the warmth of camaraderie—and occasionally pieces of fried chicken—with fellow Londoners. Those fortunate enough to live or work on routes served by the new 24-hour lines may find themselves lured underground instead by the faster Tube service. As the new service starts, The Economist’s picture desk looks back at the services that so many Londoners have come to rely upon to get them home or to work in the dead of night.

Upper deck of a London night bus, 1958

The Number 43 night bus in Archway, London, 1976

A dapper young man waiting for the bus

Making friends at the bus stop, 2006

Two friends eat take away food as they wait for the bus in Hackney Central