A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
The Central metro station in Newcastle has been twinned with Tower Hill Tube station to share best practice as tourism gateways in their respective areas. Rail Staff
A new footbridge, linking Chiswick Business Park with Chiswick Park railway station, has been green lit. Get West London
New tube map artwork shown off IanVisits
Tunnelling has begun for a new southbound Northern line tunnel as part of TfL’s £607M Bank station capacity upgrade. New Civil Engineer (£)
Crossrail / Elizabeth Line
Crossrail 2 could be derailed by the General Election as approval is left to next government CityAM
Look out, as a second TV series about the construction of the Elizabeth line (nee Crossrail) starts on BBC 2 next week. IanVisits
Mainline/Overground
Chiltern Railways axes all on-board catering Oxford Times
Rail chief claims TfL could have pumped more cash into new trains if it won franchise Local Times
A Labour government would invest more than £25 billion in creating a second rail link between Brighton and London. The Argus
DLR
TfL seeking suppliers for 43 new DLR trains IanVisits
Miscellaneous
Football manager, Graham Taylor is to have a train named after him. Watford Observer
A train driver has been awarded £3,000 compensation for working with a colleague who had Nazi tattoos. Daily Mail
Expedia said it has acquired a majority stake in SilverRail, a London based company focused on online booking for train trips. GeekWire
Digital crisis comms: How TfL’s social media team copes with Tube strikes Econsultancy
Vivarail has confirmed that the company’s first two completed D-Trains will be available for delivery early next year. Rail
Crawley commuters in West Sussex would have been in for a big surprise had they looked into their fellow train passenger’s gift bag, as it contained a baby pigeon. VetTimes
And finally, Spot the difference: Striking similarities between South Yorkshire shopping centre plans and London rail terminus The Star
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The image above is from Dec 2015: Bank tube station upgrade gets final approval