A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
How the first Underground Railway might have run under the West End of London
London Underground
Labour unimpressed as Tories start Bakerloo Line extension petition 853
Part of a Tube station car park is up for sale to developers, provided they can meet an affordable housing target of 50 per cent. Local London
Elizabeth line / Crossrail
Crossrail has confirmed that upgrade works to surface stations on the eastern and western sections of the railway will be pushed into next year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. NCE
The funding agreement for Crossrail’s overspend will need to be resolved in the next week or two if it is to avoid winding down some of the completion works. ianVisits
Mainline / Overground
One of Britain’s most recognised train services disappeared more than six months ago – and hardly anyone noticed. Independent
This weekend marks Last weekend marked the end of an era, as part of the London Overground gets a new train from Monday. ianVisits
Alstom has won a three-year contract to upgrade the signalling equipment in the London Victoria area. Railway News
Miscellaneous
Why a blind teenager ‘had to feel his way around a London Tube station’ and Facetime his dad for help ITV
Elstree & Borehamwood’s Siggy Cragwell wins lifetime achievement Local Times
Eighty years ago next week, Balham suffered one of the worst bombing raids of the Blitz – and made a recovery which continues to inspire SW Londoner
Life has been somewhat bumpy recently, but one railway worker is doing his best to help South Londoners return to travel smoothly. Local Guardian
A review of a London Underground themed tea-towel My Tea Towels
In politics, facts are often an early casualty, and one of the claims being advanced a lot at the moment is that TfL’s current financial crisis predates the Covid lockdown. ianVisits
One of the men accused of a racially-aggravated public order offence on a Northern Line train denied he is racist, telling Guildford Crown Court he is just a “sociable guy”. Ham & High
Experts found no evidence of coronavirus on Tube, London transport chief reveals as he insists: The system is safe Standard
Married senior government lawyer, 55, who took ‘upskirt’ pictures of woman on the Tube faces being struck off DailyMail
Track changes: How redesigning local stations can spur regeneration The Planner
And finally: The reason why the BBC banned The Jam anti-racism song ‘Down in the Tube Station at Midnight’ Far Out
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The image above is from Oct 2012: How the first Underground Railway might have run under the West End of London
“Labour unimpressed as Tories start Bakerloo Line extension petition 853” seems to have mistaken Lewisham (which already has a DLR stop) with Thamesmede!
Shouldn’t both TfL and the Standard know the “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”. The aphorism even has a Wikipedia page!
One further piece of news is Selhurst Station finally got its lifts and became step free yesterday… See Network Rail press release below. –
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/selhurst-station-benefits-from-step-free-access-thanks-to-gbp-3-5m-investment