Drayton Park would need to be rebuilt for the football, which is why Finsbury Park is being upgraded. As for weekend services elsewhere; Moorgate might be dead on a weekend, but have you heard of Shoreditch? Old Street is very busy on both Saturday and Sunday (all day), and also very busy on weeknights (more so on Friday obviously). In fact, the quiet time for Old Street would be during the day in the week - outside of commuter hours. Think Silicon Roundabout too; another reason that this part of town is nothing like what it used to be.
The Northern Line can be very congested there, and the Northern City Line actually offers a useful connection to Finsbury Park for faster services, avoiding the need to go to King's Cross, exit from the tube and walk to your platform (which isn't always fixed for any given service). Simply go to FPK, platform 6 and cross to platform 5 (or perhaps 3 in the future). Much easier, and would be just as useful at weekends.
Of course it doesn't have to become part of LO and that isn't the only way the line will get shiny new trains. In due course, there will be new trains on that line anyway. I'd be happy to have the 313s stay following a Southern-style refurbishment though - nothing wrong with them at all. What's more, they'll last a lot longer than any plastic train that replaces them (imagine a 378 in 35 years time; no on second thoughts, don't!).
One day, these stations from FPK to MOG will need to be upgraded. They have recently been given a clean-up with much brighter lighting, and even new tiles in places, but it still doesn't have voice announcements for next trains! The platforms are quite narrow and there's no step-free access.
I can't speak for all routes out of London, but FCC and TfL had the intention of getting up to a 15 minute service frequency all day, which would allow people up to WGC and Hertford North to receive a 'turn up and go' service. It would make sense for this line, given it has slow lines, to be run more like a LO/Tube service... but it doesn't matter from a passenger perspective who actually operates it.
By next year, Oyster will have been extended and that's perhaps the main thing people will care about.
The Northern Line can be very congested there, and the Northern City Line actually offers a useful connection to Finsbury Park for faster services, avoiding the need to go to King's Cross, exit from the tube and walk to your platform (which isn't always fixed for any given service). Simply go to FPK, platform 6 and cross to platform 5 (or perhaps 3 in the future). Much easier, and would be just as useful at weekends.
Of course it doesn't have to become part of LO and that isn't the only way the line will get shiny new trains. In due course, there will be new trains on that line anyway. I'd be happy to have the 313s stay following a Southern-style refurbishment though - nothing wrong with them at all. What's more, they'll last a lot longer than any plastic train that replaces them (imagine a 378 in 35 years time; no on second thoughts, don't!).
One day, these stations from FPK to MOG will need to be upgraded. They have recently been given a clean-up with much brighter lighting, and even new tiles in places, but it still doesn't have voice announcements for next trains! The platforms are quite narrow and there's no step-free access.
I can't speak for all routes out of London, but FCC and TfL had the intention of getting up to a 15 minute service frequency all day, which would allow people up to WGC and Hertford North to receive a 'turn up and go' service. It would make sense for this line, given it has slow lines, to be run more like a LO/Tube service... but it doesn't matter from a passenger perspective who actually operates it.
By next year, Oyster will have been extended and that's perhaps the main thing people will care about.
