A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The image above is from March 2020: Taking a look inside Crossrail’s Farringdon station
London Underground
Man in court over Croxley Station front door ‘criminal damage’ Watford Observer
According to the latest ridership from TFL and WeWork shared exclusively with City A.M, Thursday is now the most popular weekday to travel on the Tube, reaching some 3.46 million journeys on February 23rd. CityAM
Elizabeth line
More than 125 million journeys have been taken on the Elizabeth line in the 10 months since it opened under central London, it has been revealed. Standard
Elizabeth Line delivers Sunday Times ‘best place to live’ listing for Woolwich 853
Severe delays are continuing on the Elizabeth Line for a second day after a fire broke out by a railway line in Maidenhead. Standard
Mainline / Overground
Tens of thousands of commuters’ journeys home were affected when a pair of selfish passengers attempted to force open the doors of a train, cutting off power to tracks Mirror
Why more use of rail freight would be a win-win for London OnLondon
The broad tangle of orange lines on the tube map will be decluttered as long-standing plans to break the London Overground up into separately named lines are going ahead. ianVisits
Rishi Sunak insisted that HS2 will ultimately finish at Euston, amid questions about the fate of the multi-billion infrastructure project. ITV
c2c has launched a new train running to Southend – wrapped in support of a police force’s app. Echo News
South Western Railway launches UK’s first Intersex-Inclusive Pride Train GHR
The cost of building HS2’s terminus station at Euston has nearly doubled to £4.8 billion since it was originally planned, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO), with the constant changes to the design having wasted over a hundred million pounds. ianVisits
Leaving HS2 Euston site empty for too long will ‘scar London’, Mace boss says Building
St Albans City railway station has been named the worst commuter station near London. St Albans Review
A passage that runs underneath the railway next to Hackney Wick station that’s currently covered in graffiti is to be given over to an artist to be professionally decorated with a mural. ianVisits
The newly-appointed managing director of Avanti West Coast has claimed the under-fire train operating company has ‘turned a corner’ after months of delays, cancellations and passenger frustration. MEN
A ‘complete mess’: fury in north London over HS2’s ‘big hole in the ground’ The Guardian
Miscellaneous
London Underground: ‘Reunited with hero who saved me from death’ BBC News
A Slough man who punched a stranger to death with a horseshoe after an argument on board an Elizabeth line train has been found guilty of murder. Slough Express
Lesbian couple harassed by man on London Underground: ‘People laughed and did nothing’ Pink News
Man left with head injury after attack at west London Tube station Standard
The London Underground map is iconic … but if the Underground stops were all pubs in Huddersfield this is what it would look like. Huddersfield Hub
Train ticket dodger fined £700 for not buying £3.90 ticket Slough Observer
A former Metropolitan Police officer was found to have committed gross misconduct after repeatedly travelling on the train without a valid ticket. News Shopper
Sky-high rail fares: the UK’s most expensive train journeys revealed Independent
And finally: Want a new subway line built? Take a page from the Brits and name it after the guv’na Baltimore Fish Bowl
The image above is from March 2020: Taking a look inside Crossrail’s Farringdon station
Rail freight would be a lot easier in London if two, both less-than-a-mile lengths, with overhead at both ends, were actually electrified.
{Acton Wells to Acton Main Line & Junction Rd Jn to Carlton Rd Jn}
Absolutely even at NRs sky high rates.
How many passengers on HS2 actually want to end up in Euston ? Very few I should imagine. The vast majority will have to have an inconvenient connection to tube, bus or taxi. Building a hugely expensive terminus in central London seems like Steam Age thinking to me.
What?
By completing the line into Euston journey times to most Central London end-destinations will be reduced by further 5-10 mins from terminating at Old Oak Common.Is that worth the extra £4bn+ it’ll cost? I’m not sure it’s a priority. The capacity will be needed if HS2 ever runs 16+ trains an hour, but that’s decades off now. OOC will do into the 2040s at least.
A lot of people might want to travel on the Elizabeth line and connect with HS2. I would for one. Euston seems an obvious choice.
How so? OOC is the connection. CR2 is years away. Probably AFTER HS2 crawls into Manchester.