London’s weekly railway news
This is a weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
Sir Sadiq Khan has admitted it will “never be the case” that every tube station in London will have step-free access. Enfield Dispatch
A plot of land that will be needed when Camden Town tube station gets a second entrance may be off-limits for longer than originally expected. ianVisits
More trains will start to run on the Central line next week after more than a year of disruption. Newham Recorder
Commuters on the Tube have been left with life-changing injuries after London Underground admitted that there has been a huge rise in people falling in the tracks. Daily Mail
Services on the Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge have been restored after they were suspended last year due to a shortage of trains following damage to their wheels. ianVisits
Elizabeth line
A video has gone viral of a man wielding a look-alike assault rifle on the Elizabeth Line. Kilburn Times
Crossrail Numbers Rise Again London Reconnections
An Elizabeth line train passed over a junction at nearly twice the permitted speed last year, causing the train to shake enough to knock some passengers over, a report into the incident has found. ianVisits
Mainline / Overground
HS1 looking for team to design expansion of St Pancras’ international platforms Building
No cash to bring back Sunday trains between Lewisham and Woolwich The Greenwich Wire
Because of engineering works, there will be a rare chance to catch a London Overground train from London Bridge station on one Saturday in March. ianVisits
The alternative names once proposed for the London Overground Diamond Geezer
A person has died after being hit by a train at East Croydon station. Local London
Eurostar axes London queueing system that made travel ‘easier than ever’ Metro
Network Rail and South West Railways are planning to revamp the indoor waiting rooms at Surbiton station, improving the seating areas and providing automatic opening doors. ianVisits
A bat shelter costing more than £100m near HS2 has been described by the environment secretary as “batshit crazy”. The Guardian
Months of strike misery for Avanti West Coast passengers after latest negotiations fail Independent
Miscellaneous
This year marks Transport for London’s (TfL) 25th anniversary, and they’ve shown off a new silver roundel to mark their Silver Anniversary. ianVisits
You know what TfL’s We Can’t Be Arsed To Print That Any More department is getting rid of now? Diamond Geezer
‘Nimby Watch’ is back with a new author, and in this week’s edition we’re off to Camberwell in south-east London, where Sadiq Khan is trying to extend the Bakerloo line… CapX
How Covent Garden tube station nearly closed in 1935 ianVisits
Is the London Underground haunted? TfL reveals recent ‘ghost’ sighting on the Tube Standard
TfL in collaboration with creative agency of record VCCP and Wavemaker UK have unveiled a striking new integrated ad campaign to mark its 25th anniversary. VCCP London
Trainline’s new campaign, Bums on Board, highlights the power of the nation’s bums when it comes to making greener choices. Creative Review
Tickets going on sale for the largest gathering of historic locomotives in a generation ianVisits
Thousands of miniature trains pull up at Alexandra Palace this March, for the London Festival of Railway Modelling. Londonist
Unofficial adverts criticising Labour Party chancellor Rachel Reeves for accepting money from climate crisis-sceptic lobbyists appeared on several London Underground lines on Friday 24 January. The Canary
Blackstone is closing in on a deal to take full control of a £2bn portfolio of more than 5,000 UK railway arches, buying out its partner five years after a deal that symbolised the advance of US private equity into the UK economy. FT
And finally: London Underground comedy ‘Cockfosters’ transfers to Southwark Playhouse Theatre Weekly
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The image is from a Jan 2018 article: Go back in time with these old tube maps
Looks like the unions are doing a great job of promoting air travel in Britain – even via Spain. (ref Avanti West Coast ).
If we insist on ‘every tube station in London’ having step-free access, that could be achieved by closing all the other stations. Objectives need to be worded well, so they catch the true intention. It’s better to set a target for a number of step-free stations by land area or by resident population rather than as a percentage of all stations.