A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The image above is from May 2018: The year a DLR train visited Manchester
London Underground
Tube station lifts had to be closed more than 500 times last year because there were no “trained staff” available in case they broke down. Standard
TfL is warning passengers that it will be closing Kentish Town tube station for about a year as it will be replacing both escalators in the station. ianVisits
Elizabeth line
The Prince and Princess of Wales surprised travellers with a trip on London’s Elizabeth Line before ordering ciders at a Soho pub. ITV
Heathrow bosses have appealed to Sadiq Khan to slash fares for its workers on Elizabeth Line services to the airport. Standard
Mainline / Overground
HS2’s big hole: what should happen to flattened site now work has come to a halt? Camden New Journal
£500,000 fine for Amey Rail after worker received 25,000v shock IOSH Magazine
DLR
A new timetable for the DLR is coming into effect in a couple of weeks time, which will see more frequent services on all routes, especially in the evenings. ianVisits
Miscellaneous
Camden Town Tube station worker punched in face as he tried to stop fight Standard
Commuters heading home from London Waterloo last night were treated to an extraordinary sight as some 6,000 soldiers marched through the railway station. Daily Mail
Man sexually assaulted after ‘refusing to link arms’ with woman at London Underground station LBC
Proposals are invited for an “inspired design” of a timepiece to be used across the British rail network. Design Week
A Russian banker “smirked” after he was alleged caught spying on a young woman as she used the toilets at a central London Tube station, a court heard. Standard
Tube passengers ‘jump on tracks to help woman who fell off her mobility scooter’ and was hit by a train at King’s Cross St Pancras Daily Mail
A man needed eye surgery after being attacked at an Underground station in west London for asking which way a Tube was going. Standard
And finally: Crowndels on the tube Diamond Geezer
The image above is from May 2018: The year a DLR train visited Manchester
On the first story: the incline lift at Liverpool St (Lizzie line) seems permanently broken, or at least when I’m there. I wonder if that’s a staffing issue or a mechanical problem.
Re: Heathrow workers getting an Elizabeth Line discount.
Why? It’s not like the Purple Line has replaced a lower cost option (e.g. Piccadilly tube)
“Mr Holland-Kaye … said he had offered to go halves on the cost of subsidising ticket fares for airport workers but had not received a reply from TfL.”
TFL are probably still on the floor laughing!
Why should TFL subsidise Heathrow workers? There are other groups that would also have a good – if not better – argument for lower fares.
The Heathrow story is amazing…..is this the same company that actually owns the Heathrow Express. If they want to get their workers there faster they can give them free access to that, surely?
Was about the say the same. Absolutely bizarre argument from a man who literally runs a railway company that could do exactly what he’s asking TFL to do.
Heaven forfend the businessmen on that train have to mix with the lower orders.
The ONLY reason the Heathrow LizLine fares are so high is the crazy-high track access charges imposed by…. Heathrow. They even fought a bitter case with the ORR to make them even higher! The solution for their poor, exploited workers lies entirely in their own hands.
2018? That DLR visit to Manchester was much earlier than that..
The article is from 2018.
I recall from the AirportsCommission work that the most significant way Heathrow can reduce carbon emissions and meet targets whilst increasing flights is to affect modal shift from car to rail, particularly for significant numbers of airport staff. Subsidising fares on the Piccadilly and Elizabeth Lines and also for buses could make a significant impact if Heathrow were serious. Presumably this would also apply to the over priced Heathrow Express operated for Heathrow, although much of the worker catchment area is closer in to the airport of course.The rail route that would make significant impact is however extending the Elizabeth Line through Heathrow to Staines.