A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
Disused passenger tunnels to be reopened at Knightsbridge tube station
London Underground
London Underground’s unremarkable shed of a tube station at Colindale is set to be demolished and rebuilt with a dramatic curving wooden landmark for the area. IanVisits
Commuters bustling into London’s Southwark tube station can now experience the rapture of Art of the Underground’s latest commission. Wallpaper
An occasional look at the works on the Northern line extension building the new London Underground line to Battersea Station. IanVisits
Elizabeth line / Crossrail
The delay to Crossrail’s opening and the project’s ballooning costs will be investigated by the spending watchdog. BBC News
Crossrail 2 ‘only goes some way’ to address ‘infrequent and unreliable’ London rail service RTM
Khan blamed for TfL’s budget issues as it struggles to fund Crossrail completion Building
Plans to name Crossrail after Winston Churchill were ditched because Boris Johnson preferred to pay tribute to the Queen, it was claimed Evening Standard
Delays to Crossrail will likely intensify TfL’s medium-term fiscal pressures through lower than expected passenger income and additional capital costs, Moody’s
Mainline / Overground
Fears about a “chemical spill” led to the evacuation of a train at Honor Oak Park travelling from Croydon into central London, Croydon Advertiser
Works to transform the streets and public areas in and around Abbey Wood Station continue to make good progress. Bexley Times
Outcry increases over plans to close all Hackney’s Overground ticket offices Hackney Citizen
London to Brighton passengers to face ‘severe disruption’ with planned line closures next year Croydon Advertiser
Miscellaneous
A lack of clear information is making it difficult for disabled people to travel independently, with 40% of the country’s 2,560 train stations inaccessible for some people, BBC News
An exhibition looks to share the story of architect, graphic designer and illustrator Max Gill, who throughout the 20th century, designed London Underground tube maps Design Week
The cheapest fares to ten stations approximately 50 miles from London Diamond Geezer
Following on from a special edition set of trainers last month, Adidas has launched an entire range of London Underground themed trainers. IanVisits
And finally, is this the world’s longest train queue? That’s what commuters are asking about the line into Fenchurch Street Station in London. Independent
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Image above is from Nov 2017: Disused passenger tunnels to be reopened at Knightsbridge tube station
In regard to the possibility of naming Crossrail after Winston Churchill, I always find it divisive to call anything after a person. I know in many countries this practice is widespread but may be it is because of the nature of the society here that prominent people are often regarded as divisive. Just as some would appreciate ‘the Churchill Line’ others would despise the naming. I think Crossrail works just fine and doesn’t engender any bad will.
Worth remembering that as Home Secretary Churchill used armed police against the Sidney Street riots at the beginning of the last century and was in fact hated by many working class people !
I preferred the “Paddling Pool” Line (Paddington -> Liverpool St).
I guess it’s more a Shending Wood Line if we must take endpoints.
Or Abbey Readfield Line.
I think that Crossrail 2 will get delayed and over budget. Just like Crossrail at the moment.
Plus I’m not happy about the 3.1% train fares that have gone up.
The London – Brighton route closures were originally supposed to be over autumn half term this year + spring half term ’19, but the first one was suspended following the nightmare of the timetable changes in May. Since then we’ve had lengthy runs of weekend closures to compensate. (IIRC, without either of the weekday closures as originally planned it’d take 80+ weekends to do the same work.)
Interesting to see that they’re now apparently extending that February closure despite having had so many extra weekend closures.
Yrs,
Trapped in Sussex