A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The image above is from August 2017: DLR tunnel to Bank station is being extended
London Underground
London needs driverless Tube like Paris, says Grant Shapps BBC News
The four classic destination lightboxes at Earl’s Court tube station, dating from 1905 have started working again after they were restored and connected to a new signalling system being rolled out on the railway. ianVisits
An employment tribunal has ruled that an advanced train maintainer working for a division of London Underground was subject to detrimental treatment by his employer after being suspended for raising continued health and safety concerns relating to protected disclosures. IOSH Magazine
A large new tunnel is being dug underneath Euston station, by HS2, but not for HS2 – it’s for London Underground. ianVisits
Mainline / Overground
A new Ilford station entrance is nearing completion but will not include any public toilets. Ilford Recorder
A train passenger has warned others after discovering an airline-style luggage allowance on budget UK rail firm Lumo – and those who go over could face extra charges The Mirror
Network Rail has a long standing plan to upgrade Plumstead station in southeast London to make it accessible but has had to file a number of applications following objections to earlier schemes. ianVisits
London Stansted Airport: Escaped Giant African tortoise brings trains to a halt as he blocks the tacks Herts Live
A brand new sleeper train will let passengers travel from London to Stockholm in less than 24 hours. EuroNews
Miscellaneous
A property fraud scheme which netted £13million of investors’ money by promising them properties along the Elizabeth Line has landed four men in jail. Berkshire Live
Political rivalry will keep Transport for London in eternal financial purgatory CityAM
Sir Peter Hendy: ‘Rail will go the same way as coal if unions get their way’ Telegraph (£)
Plans by Network Rail to install a digital advertising billboard on the railway bridge above Blackfriars Road have been turned down by Southwark Council after TfL raised road safety concerns. SE1
Children will love the novelty of the night train to Cornwall, just prepare for little sleep iNews
Loads of railway stations across London are getting a gardening makeover as Transport for London’s (TfL) annual staff gardening competition opens for entries. ianVisits
Passenger who skipped £10 train fare from Gerrards Cross to London Marylebone must pay £1,500 Bucks Free Press
People who carry out hate crimes on the London Underground rarely end up being charged or arrested, leaving thousands of victims without justice, VICE
After a lengthy wait, the London Transport Museum’s 1938 art-deco style tube train will be back on the tracks for a couple of days in September. ianVisits
A train fare dodger from Belvedere has been ordered to pay more than 100 times the price of the ticket he avoided paying for in court. News Shopper
And finally: All aboard the wild ride that is Francis Bourgeois Gentleman’s Journal
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The image above is from August 2017: DLR tunnel to Bank station is being extended
Is Shapps going to provide the funding for a driverless tube?
And is he going to be around for the years and years of disruption it would take to install and to take the blame for that.
I’d like to know what expertise the DoT has that TFL don’t have in this area other than special advisors thinking in terms of headlines rather than policy and actual implementation.
The unions should concentrate their attention on securing the resignation of Grant Shapps and ensuring his replacement by a competent person that will ensure a fair deal for London and transport in general, instead of pointlessly holding Londoners to ransom for the statements and actions of somebody that Londoners have no control over.
Yeah, let’s never stand up for our rights. Let’s have a race to the bottom. Well done for falling for divide and rule tactics, too.
Tortoise on line. I see that he had his hard hat on. Surely being a track walker he should also have had his high visibility jacket.