A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The image above is from Feb 2022: London Underground’s experimental porthole tube train
London Underground
A Tube driver was removed from his role after opening the train doors on the wrong side of the platform, a tribunal heard. Standard
Two sections of the London Underground have been upgraded to offer 5G mobile phone coverage as part of the ongoing rollout of mobile coverage in the tube. ianVisits
Tube Snapper: What has visiting all 272 London stations taught this disabled photographer? Yahoo News
Tube driver overran platform by 50m after falling asleep at controls on Metropolitan line Standard
Elizabeth line
Demand for workspaces near Elizabeth Line stations has experienced a remarkable spike since opening last spring, according to new data from WeWork. AllWork
Mainline / Overground
The Overground’s least used ticket office Diamond Geezer
Problem-hit SWR Arterio trains are being stored at Marchwood Military Port Daily Echo
London Overground turns unused rooms in stations into community centres ianVisits
Wildlife charities accuse HS2 of undervaluing nature Independent
A trial in which return tickets have been scrapped to make fares simpler will be extended as part of a shake-up of the country’s railways. BBC News
Southeastern has announced a number of changes to its timetables again, just two months after an initial change which sparked huge amounts of customer backlash. Local London
Why are UK train fares so irrational? The Man In Seat 61 explains AOL
DLR
The first of a new fleet of DLR trains has arrived in the UK, and there’s been a chance to see inside the train before it goes into passenger service. ianVisits
Miscellaneous
Grant Shapps “galvanised” rail workers into continuing strike action when he was transport secretary through “noisy political rhetoric”, the boss of Network Rail has suggested. The London Economic
Bob Bryce may have left school over 60 years ago, but it hasn’t stopped him from completing an apprenticeship at the age of 78. The ticket inspector and team leader on Govia Thameslink Railway is likely the country’s oldest apprentice. iNews (£)
An independent inquiry is set to examine the reasons delaying the Luton direct air-rail transit (DART) operating, while the project nears a £70m overspend. Luton Today
Bring back the railway restaurant car The Spectator
Man targeted teen in upskirting attack on Metropolitan line Watford Observer
Siemens has been fined £1.4 million after a worker was crushed during routine maintenance of traction motors from Heathrow Express trains. Reading Chronicle
The Architecture the Railways Built returns for its 4th series ianVisits
And finally: Pimlico Cat: The cat stuck in a Tube tunnel for two weeks BBC News
The image above is from Feb 2022: London Underground’s experimental porthole tube train
Restaurant cars: The spectator author clearly doesn’t know about the TfW “Gerald” train (Cardiff-Holyhead) which has a restaurant car option