A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
RMT says planned strikes on Piccadilly Line on Wednesday and Thursday have been suspended CityAM
Put local newspapers in tube stations, says Green mayoral hope Sian Berry Camden New Journal
How TfL is using the iPad to revolutionise the Tube Alphr
Crossrail
Transport chiefs say they will listen to campaigners fighting plans for a Crossrail 2 station in Balham, after hundreds of residents voiced their anger at a public meeting. South London Today
First rail milling train in UK to be used in Crossrail maintenance RTM
Final stages of Reading Crossrail upgrade to start after Network Rail awards £90million contracts Get Reading
Plans to extend Elizabeth Line – or Crossrail – from Abbey Wood in south-east London to Dartford, Ebbsfleet and Gravesend will be submitted to the Government this autumn. TransportXtra (£)
Mainline/Overground
Passengers on Southern railway are facing more than 24 hours of disruption due to a strike by conductors over their role and driver-only trains. BBC News
Eurostar undertakes detailed planning for London – Amsterdam service Railway Gazette
Network Rail has awarded contracts worth £90m to complete re-signalling and upgrade works on Great Western Main Line between London and Reading. BBC News
Train driver who died at Barking station named B&D Post
Rail firm extends off-peak times so passengers can cut costs by third Standard
Campaign for step-free access at Mill Hill Broadway moved forward Local Times
Rail overtakes bus and coach as preferred route to/from London Stansted Airport ITCM
A new £50 million platform is being built at Redhill station, to give extra space for passengers who are taking trains bound for London, Surrey Mirror
Miscellaneous
A symbol synonymous with the London Underground has made an unusual stop in Norfolk. Eastern Daily Press
A man with a ‘bladed weapon’ allegedly assaulted a woman at Bank tube station during Friday’s morning rush hour. LBC
Unbuilt London: Central London’s underground railway loop IanVisits
Anorak Corner (the annual update) [tube edition] Diamond Geezer
Improved transport links and the redevelopment of stations and hubs can act as a ‘catalyst for property developments which would otherwise be undeliverable’, a report by a law firm has concluded. Planning Resource
Meet the Brains Behind the Peckham Coal Line – South London’s Crowd-Funded Answer to NYC’s High Line Gizmodo
Massively detailed map of London’s railways IanVisits
A new group calling itself the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (CATS) has launched a campaign to replace every advert in a London tube station with pictures of cats. Newsweek
This Londoner is rolling out “Priority Seat” badges for those who are also less able to stand on the Tube London Loves Business
And finally, a delightful obituary to Phil Sayer, the voice behind railway tannoy announcements. Economist
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The image above is from July 2011 – The Beeches Light Railway – a private steam railway
Just what is needed, more free papers causing litter in and around tube stations.
Can’t read the law firm’s report on improved transport links and the redevelopment of stations – need to sign up, no thanks – but if the teeny, tiny, expensive monostrosities being flung up around Lewisham Station is anything to go by, we face a grim, soulless, characterless landscape.