A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
Unbuilt London: Heathrow Airport’s High-Speed Monorail
London Underground
London Underground trains to Wembley Central ran ahead of the Euro 2020 final despite staff self-isolating BBC News
Rail depot equipment specialist, Mechan, is delivering one of its largest ever orders of lifting jacks to London Underground’s Acton depot. Business Up North
TfL has shown off the latest designs for its new fleet of Piccadilly line trains, including the new moquette that will adorn the seats. ianVisits
London Underground drivers to stage 24-hour walk outs over night Tube dispute LBC
TfL has announced plans to close part of the Northern line for several months as it completes a huge upgrade of Bank tube station. ianVisits
Elizabeth line / Crossrail
Emergency services swarmed the Harold Wood railway station after contractors at the new Elizabeth Line station thought they found a bomb Essex Live
A report by the National Audit Office is warning that while cost increases and delays exceed the available budget, there are still significant issues that could arise as the railway is brought into service. ianVisits
Problems for contractors getting access to stations putting Crossrail at risk, consultant warns Building (£)
Although the opening of Crossrail is the public deadline that keeps shifting, it is in fact only the 3rd stage of a 5-stage process, and how the final two stages will be carried out has been changed. ianVisits
Mainline / Overground
Network Rail completes track work to improve reliability between London and Shoeburyness Rail Advent
Rail fare reform is long overdue and must be tackled “ruthlessly”, says the former British Rail manager and Department for Transport (DfT) pricing specialist, Mark Smith – also known as The Man in Seat 61. Independent
Face masks: Train operator Greater Anglia to keep coverings on board BBC News
Miscellaneous
London flash floods cause travel chaos as train lines suspended Standard
A man has been charged with attempted murder after a passenger was stabbed ‘with a machete’ in a horrific attack on the London Underground. Metro
TfL fare rise bombshell could ‘hamper efforts to get Londoners back to the office’ Standard
Hanson open new aggregates rail depot in west London Aggnet
An initiative to re-use redundant London Underground trains on the main rail network suffered another setback this month when a fire broke out on one of the trains during crew training. Transport Xtra (£)
BBC’s Huw Edwards told to take off mask by ‘angry’ Tube passenger Standard
Woman filmed taking Covid test by swabbing her throat and nose on busy London train Mirror
A stolen vehicle was driven down railway tracks in front of stunned passengers to evade police in what a witness described as “like a scene from Grand Theft Auto”. BBC News
The stylish rail journey from London Victoria to Bournemouth via the 1930s Telegraph (£)
A new TV series is starting next week that will look around the hidden parts of the London Underground. ianVisits
Police officer assaulted while giving first aid to London Underground passenger LBC
Masks to remain compulsory on London tube, buses and trains The Guardian
Katie Price reveals Harvey has landed an eight-part BBC series about trains The Sun
And finally: An English chippie has opened in Washington DC, USA, decorated with tube roundels. Easter
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The image above is from July 2015: Unbuilt London: Heathrow Airport’s High-Speed Monorail
The word “while” needs to be removed from “while cost increases and delays exceed the available budget”.
Regards
It would be great, for just once, there was news on transport improvements around South East London…..like an Undergound service with 8 trains per hour rather than the 2 per hour. Lots of talk about extending the Bakerloo to Hayes, but no chance of that now. I do dream though.