A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
A £180m modernisation of the Neasden depot has been completed to provide routine maintenance of S Stock trains used on the Metropolitan Line. Railway Gazette
Police hunt man after Tube worker is hospitalised in Tottenham Court Road assault. Evening Standard
Works begin to upgrade Greenford Tube station Ealing Gazette (Goodbye to London Underground’s last remaining wooden escalator)
Bakerloo line extension ‘not a priority’ for Boris, says minister. SE1
The online petition to stop Piccadilly Line trains at Turnham Green throughout the day has gathered 1,700 signatures. ChiswickW4
Accessibility improvements completed at 35 Tube stations. Wiredgov
Contractors and consortia have been invited to start pre-tendering to build the £600m Northern Line extension to Battersea power station. Building
Crossrail
Campaigners stepped up their fight to see lifts installed at Seven Kings train station after being “betrayed” by Crossrail officials. Illford Recorder
1 millionth tonne of earth removed from Crossrail’s west London tunnels. Press Releasde
Islington Council has granted planning permission for proposals for a seven-storey office to sit above the western ticket hall at Farringdon Crossrail Station. Out-Law
Surrey set to lobby for Crossrail 2 and new stations. Get Surrey
Crossrail has overcome many complex challenges and is now about to begin its trickiest phase as contractors prepare to go under the River Thames. NCE (copy/paste news headline into Google and click from there if page not readable)
Mainline/Overground
London will be blighted by “never-ending sprawl” on surrounding green belt land unless transport links are improved, including a new high-speed rail line, Nick Clegg has warned. Evening Standard
Promoting the HS2 rail link on the basis of speed has been wrong, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said. BBC News
The Government received a further blow to its HS2 rail project as a public spending watchdog said that the benefits were dwindling. Evening Standard
Southern Railway said the 16 hours of delays faced by passengers after a man was hit by a train at East Croydon station could not have been avoided. Local Guardian
Southeastern has made timetable changes to deal with the issue of leaves on the line. Company website
HS2: the commuter point of view. Shorter journey times and reasonable expectation of seats for everyone – so why aren’t all commuters convinced? The Guardian
Chiltern Railways have shown off their newly refurbished trains. Press Release
Miscellaneous
TfL has raised £300 million in fresh debt funding by selling bonds due for repayment in 2033. Reuters
Photos from inside an abandoned tube tunnel. IanVisits
Confusing headline of the week: “Changing part of central line could reduce hospital infections” Press Release
Network Rail admits health and safety breach which led to death of Harold Wood man Romford Recorder
More than 20 Labour MPs representing Londoners have signed a motion in the House of Commons condemning public transport fares in the capital as the ‘most expensive in the world’. London24
Photo
The image above is from: The tube train that travels through time and space
“Endless sprawl on green belt land” – how is that possible?
Doog yrev!!
Don’t most tube trains travel through time and space?