Every ticket office on the Tube is to shut by 2015 under plans that will see 750 jobs cut.
Transport for London (TfL) said staff will be moved from behind ticket office windows to be in the station itself to help passengers.
The Tube will also run 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays on some lines.
TfL says the changes will be better for customers and help save more than £40m a year. The RMT union has already said it was a "lethal programme of cuts".
The transport authority is facing a budget reduction of about £78m in the financial years of 2013 and 2014.
TfL says six major central London stations will have special customer points to help tourists and that every station will be staffed while the tube is running.
It is also promising:
- Wi-fi coverage across all below-ground stations
- Disabled access at a further 27 stations
- Contactless bank card payment to make it easier to pay for tickets
- More new trains and updates for stations
Closing all ticket offices is one of the most radical changes to the Tube in its history - it's up there with electrification and the Oyster card.
And it will be a huge sell for London Underground and the Mayor.
We knew cuts were looming but what they have done is bundle 24hr weekend running of the Tube into the same plan.
Cynics would say London Underground are trying to undermine the unions position by sweetening the pill for the travelling public. A later running tube will be very popular. They've also said there will be no compulsory redundancies.
The unions have already said they'll use everything at their disposal to head this off. They would not want their members at stations in outer London on their own at 3am with just an iPad for company.
They will not want job losses even if the promise is all stations will be staffed. It's difficult to not see the first tube-wide strikes in four years.
Ultimately, you suspect this will be decided in the court of public opinion of the Tube's passengers.
The initial plans for the 24-hour Night Tube service at weekends will include services on the Piccadilly, Victoria, Central and Jubilee lines and parts of the Northern line, with plans for it to expand over subsequent years.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson, said: "This is just the first stage in an opening up of the tube network to become 24 hours.
"For 150 years, the Tube has been the beating heart of London, its tunnels and tracks providing the arteries that have transported millions of people and helped to drive the development and economic growth of our great city."
London Underground will now go into a 90-day consultation on its proposals but says there will be no compulsory redundancies and has promised that every member of staff who wants a job and who is "ready to be flexible" will have one.
The managing director of London Underground Mike Brown, said: "All Tube stations will continue to be staffed and controlled in future, with more staff visible and available to customers."
But the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), which represents most of the station staff who would be affected, has said it would "fight these plans with every tool at our disposal and that includes political, public and industrial campaigning on an unprecedented scale".
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said the "proposed cuts will decimate staffing levels and hit the most vulnerable users" of Tube services.
He said: "The mayor must believe he is some sort of magician if he thinks he can slash a thousand jobs and still run safe services when everyone knows that staffing has already been cut to the bone while passenger demand continues to rise.
"Throwing in the plan for night time operation at the weekends is just a smokescreen to try and camouflage the real issue which is a savage cuts to jobs, access and safety."
Manuel Cortes, leader of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association rail union, accused the mayor of being the "hypocrite of the decade".
He said: "It beggars belief that the Mayor, who was elected in 2008 on a pledge to keep open every ticket office, is now planning to close every single one, with all that means for safety and jobs.
"We shall be launching a joint campaign with Labour to reverse this decision."
In March, BBC London reported TfL is facing a 1% cut in its government grant this year, and 2% the following year.
In cash terms, it means a loss of £33m for 2013-14, and £45m for 2014-15.
In January, passengers saw a 4.2% increase on average in fares across the Tube, buses and trams.
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