London’s weekly railway news #131

A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…

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London Underground

Holland Park Tube station will close for eight months in the New Year to replace ageing lifts installed three decades ago. Standard

London Underground upgrades track maintenance fleet IRJ

Crossrail

Noisy Crossrail works cause sleepless nights over Christmas break Maidenhead Advertiser

The case for bringing the Crossrail 2 scheme to Sunbury and Shepperton is “weak”, according to a report from Spelthorne Borough Council. Get Surrey

Councillors back calls for Crossrail 2 to include Harlow Town station HarlowStar

Major works for the Crossrail project between Slough and London Paddington have been completed. BBC News

A row has erupted over who should foot the bill for a stretch of line that connects Heathrow’s overground stations to Crossrail, Sunday Times

Photos from inside Crossrail’s Paddington Station IanVisits

Mainline/Overground

Tory MP says he will back call for Southern to lose franchise Inside Croydon

London Waterloo set to become first European transport terminal to reach 200 million annual passengers Independent

Thameslink fare increase blasted by rail users group Ham&High

UK Railways May Join the Tube in Going Contactless in 2016 Gizmodo

Work on railway lines running through the heart of Gospel Oak kept hundreds of residents awake as it shook the ground during the early hours of Christmas Day. Camden New Journal

Miscellaneous

The new tube map officially hits the racks tomorrow. It’s not pretty. Diamond Geezer

The image above is from May 2012: Steam Trains return to the Epping Ongar Railway