A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
A disused Underground station which housed the command bunker for London’s anti-aircraft defences during the Blitz is to be sold off and is expected to fetch more than £20 million. Telegraph (and here’s a look inside. Now, how do I get a look at Down Street?)
The first steps towards building the Croxley Rail Link will be taken next month as site surveys get underway along the new route. Watford Observer
CBS Outdoor is to bring cricket fans in London up to the minute scores and text commentary from The Ashes using its digital screens on the London Underground. The Drum
World freestyle champion shows off his skills on the London Underground The Score
London Underground is to compensate losing bidders on the Bank Station upgrade project, even though none of their ideas are to be used in the final scheme. NCE
A memorial to the the 43 people who died in the 1975 Moorgate tube train crash has been unveiled. IanVisits – BBC News
Crossrail
Crossrail 2 could bring a £50 billion boost to London’s economy and tackle its overcrowding crisis, say the London Assembly. London 24
Kingston could lose its link to Waterloo via Richmond if new plans for Crossrail 2 are given the thumbs up. Local London
The tunnelling for Crossrail is now in its most intense phase – and the scale of the engineering challenge is as jaw-dropping as the cost is eye-watering. BBC
The Crossrail and High Speed Two (HS2) mega-projects could be “thousands” of engineers short during peak periods of construction, Independent
Crossrail unveils new Paddington station entrance Global Rail News
Mainline/Overground
The outgoing boss of Britain’s railways today put himself at the centre of a counter-offensive against critics of the Government’s proposed high-speed rail link, saying it was “time to stand up and fight” for it. Evening Standard
Watford Junction station will be closed to passenger trains for extended periods next year – including two weeks in August 2014. Watford Observer (book your holidays before anyone else grabs those weeks!)
Camden Council is to take its challenge against the High Speed 2 rail scheme to the Supreme Court, after its last challenge was thrown out by the Court of Appeal. 24Dash
The Olympic Park is missing out on an economic boost because Eurostar refuses to stop at the Stratford station purpose-built for international services, the London Mayor has claimed. Evening Standard (Restore the Javelin Shuttle using normal trains as part of London Overground?)
Miscellaneous
A new app is available to help mums travel on the London Underground with their buggies. Made for Mums
Johnston’s typeface, created for London’s tube 100 years ago and still in use, is an overlooked triumph of modernist design. Comment is Free
A Tale of a Fictitious London Underground Station – Told in Miniature Urban Ghosts
British Transport Police (BTP) and the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) held an operation last week to tackle unwanted sexual behaviour on the Capital’s public transport system. Press Release
The bottle tops of London Victoria Bespoke Taylor
A rare 1954 photograph of the Kings Cross cemetery station. Kings Cross Environment
Night riders: aboard the Paddington-Penzance sleeper train. Guardian
The RMT announced that it will be mobilising a co-ordinated campaign, up to and including the use of industrial action against cuts to the TfL budget. Press Release
Want to visit an abandoned London Underground station that few people have heard of? Quainton Road in Buckinghamshire was a former outpost of the network, which closed to passengers in 1963. Londonist
Photo
The image above is from: A look around the Jubilee Line train depot at Stratford
