A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
Go back in time with these old tube maps
London Underground
Lifts across the London tube network were out of order for a total of 306 days last year despite routine maintenance checks every two weeks, AMP
Tube strike off: Planned walkout on the Bakerloo line cancelled after ‘significant progress’ in talks Evening Standard
A typical commute to work on the London Underground exposes commuters to the same amount of air pollution as a day on the roads, IanVisits
Elizabeth line / Crossrail
Steve Norris: We need to think again about Crossrail 2 OnLondon
Crossrail: Getting a Grip London Reconnections
‘No-one fully understood Crossrail complexity’, says CEO Construction Manager
Warnings that Crossrail would be delayed were deleted by TfL in notes prepared for mayor Sadiq Khan, according to the project’s former chairman. iNews
The full scale of Crossrail’s problems have been laid bare with stations now revealed to be at the centre of ‘‘three more years’’ of work needed to open the catastrophically delayed metro. NCE
The proposed £1.5bn extension of Crossrail to Ebbsfleet is “not on the agenda”, TfL commissioner Mike Brown has said. NCE (£)
Mainline / Overground
Ambitious Ealing Broadway station design looks set to be scrapped Ealing Today
One of London’s main railway terminuses was plunged into darkness late on Tuesday when the station lights failed. BBC News
Miscellaneous
Man who had suicidal thoughts runs the length of the entire London tube network to raise awareness Metro
A commuter has died following a ‘fall from height’ at Canary Wharf station this afternoon. East London Advertiser
Sadiq Khan has refused to rule out freezing fares if he wins a second term as London mayor in next year’s election. CityAM
An interview with Kate Marjoribanks, Engineering Director, Arriva Rail London Global Railway Review
A gay couple has allegedly been punched and had hot coffee thrown on them on the London Underground. Pink News
Two environmental protesters against HS2 have pleaded not guilty to aggravated trespass charges in relation to obstructing a digger on one of the construction sites. The Guardian
A photograph of a London Underground tube map made in a WW2 prisoner of war camp has emerged from a collection taken by a British inmate in the prison camp. IanVisits
And finally, The Hidden Women Behind London’s Beloved Modernist Transit Posters CityLab
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Image above is from Jan 2018: Go back in time with these old tube maps
That “Lifts out for 306 days” needs a bit of context: How many lifts are there across the tube? I suspect once you have that figure, the percentage available will be quite high.
Was thinking if the Jubilee Line was to extend from North Greenwich to London City Airport or Silvertown. That might of happened as the Jubilee Line extension took place in 1997.
Instead today as we know of. You have to change at Canning Town and use the DLR from Canning Town to London City Airport. If coming from Stanmore, Westminster and/or London Bridge. But from Stratford it’s just easy to use the DLR from Stratford to London City Airport.
And yes Crossrail (Elizabeth Aline) to Ebbsfleet International is unlikely going to happen.
There’s lots of ifs and buts, but if any candidate for the post of mayor tries to dangle continuing the fares freeze as a vote-for-me sweetener, then Heaven help us.
In the real world, running costs still exist and of course rise so with a freeze alone and no corresponding funding to cover it, the result is a diminution of service, maintenance and improvement.
It is obviously a double blow because when the inevitable rise in fares comes, it’ll have to be all the greater just to cover the inflation of the cost of maintenance let alone any deterioration which could have been rendered non-existant by postponed works.
“Vote for me! No pay now but shh! big pain later.”
One of the lifts at Watford Junction Station was out of order for nine months last year. For months wheelchair users were instructed to take a train North and then change at a station with working lifts to travel back South through Watford and onto Euston!