This is a weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The image is from a May 2023 article: Peckham Rye station restoration topped out with golden finials
London Underground
TfL says “lessons have been learned” after mass complaints about bus replacement services when several Northern line Tube stations were shut. Local Times
District line suffers partial closure after car crashes through barrier near tracks Standard
Clapham Common incident exposes gaps in London Underground staff training, RAIB finds ianVisits
Elizabeth line
Minding the gap: ‘It’s a scandal, it’s a death trap’ BBC News
Mainline / Overground
Former Crossrail boss tipped for HS2 chief executive’s role Building
Furious passengers have berated Chiltern Railways after the company told passengers not to travel at all today after reeling out four excuses for its diabolical Sunday services. Daily Mail
Aslef train drivers begin six-day overtime ban ahead of rolling one-day strikes Morning Star
Gatwick Express: The 40th anniversary of British Rail’s “supertrain” ianVisits
Ten interesting Channel Tunnel facts in its 30th birthday week as staff describe ‘miracles’ ITVX
The government is expected to confirm that HS2 will dig tunnels linking the high-speed railway to Euston station, although there’s still no confirmation that Euston station will be built. ianVisits
Great Western Railway (GWR) has named a train after Princess Anne in recognition of her support for more than 300 charities, organisations and military regiments. Oxford Mail
Landslip caused problems between Reading and London Paddington BBC News
Miscellaneous
Police have released CCTV images of a woman they would like to speak with after a handbag attack in a London tube station left multiple women with facial injuries Mirror
Britain’s opposition Labour Party has no plans to revive government plans to introduce a national rail ticket website and app if it wins the next General Election, online platform Trainline said Sharecast
Police are investigating after someone caused a six-foot poster stand to crush a person’s ankle at Waterloo underground station. Southwark News
Transport for London (TfL) has started allowing some of its tube stations to be used for private events. ianVisits
A man in his 60s needed stitches to his face after he was attacked on a Northern Line tube train. Hackney Gazette
Tube station sign maker, A.J Wells & Sons has been honoured with a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade Island Echo
Pop icon Gary Numan ‘terrified’ after ‘ghost’ encounter on London Underground Mirror
A man who was refunded over a £42 Watford to London return trip has warned other passengers to check their charges. Watford Observer
And finally: Watford Miniature Railway has bought six new coaches as part of a 10-year improvement campaign. Watford Observer
The image is from a May 2023 article: Peckham Rye station restoration topped out with golden finials
I tripped and fell getting on a Liz train at Ealing Broadway a couple of weeks ago, bashed my knee but nothing worse fortunately. Interesting to learn it’s not just me getting decrepit. First time I’ve ever fallen on or off a train in many aeons of travel. My immediate reaction was “it’s higher than I expected”. Our bodies get accustomed to train heights, and it does seem that Ealing Broadway is exceptional, so more than the standard “Mind the gap” is needed here. Something like “Mind the bloody enormous gap that’s bigger than you think” in a suitably stentorian voice, with matching signage, might not go amiss.
The article about the Channel Tunnel states there are three tunnels, one for Eurostar, one for Le Shuttle, and a service tunnel.
Is that REALLY the case? Seems an odd way to run a railway, to me.
I understood there was one tunnel TOWARDS France for all types of rail traffic, and one tunnel TOWARDS Britain, plus the service tunnel.
Does this article reflect the utterly woeful standards of intelligence that passes for journalism these days?
You need to address that to ITV!
There’s even more nonsense in the itvX article. Must have been a very liquid lunch that day…
“The section of the tunnel which goes below the sea is 25 metres long.” That’s the length of just one Eurostar coach !
“Each train is the size of seven football pitches.” Length is the usual comparison, but a Eurostar train is only 3.9 times the length of a full size pitch.
It’s 6.1 times the width, so perhaps that’s what they were trying to compare.