A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
London Underground
Two tube trains “narrowly avoided” a head-on collision when they were diverted along the same track between Finchley Central and Mill Hill, according to a railway workers’ union. This is Local London
A man who told fellow passengers on a Tube train he was carrying a bomb in his suitcase, has been sent to prison. Wharf
Claims for accidents on the London Underground have reached more than £2.5million in the last four years. The Telegraph
A kitten has been found on a London Underground train. Londonist (and every single other news website in existence)
Look out for a new set of Poems on the Underground on Tube trains over the next few weeks. Wired-Gov
Crossrail
Siemens withdraws from Crossrail rolling stock contest Global Rail News – Financial Times
Pressure groups are calling on Crossrail to reveal plans for its five new borough stations as they say time is running out for an effective consultation on the redevelopments. Ealing Gazette
Plans shown off for new station at Abbey Wood. Crossrail PR (I think it looks like a Manta Ray from above) while the Evening Standard thinks Abbey Wood is in Kent.
In pictures: a visit to Crossrail building sites in Stepney Green and Pudding Mill Lane. Newham Recorder
Crossrail project ‘now over 40% complete’ ciltuk
Mainline/Overground
Rail bosses on the Fenchurch Street-Southend line have been shortlisted in the inaugural European Rail Congress awards. East London Advertiser
A London Assembly member says a union’s threat to strike over plans to create driver only trains are ‘absurd’. London 24
The company which operates Finsbury Park Station is giving its trains a makeover as part of a £31 million investment. Haringay Independent
West Ham MP Lyn Brown has argued in Parliament that a new high speed train should be re-routed so it stops at Stratford. Newham Recorder
DLR
Bromley Council pushing Boris Johnson for £800m DLR extension. News Shopper
Miscellaneous
A pickpocket has been banned from all Zone 1 trains and stations after repeated offences. London 24
Hundreds of Tube and London Overground staff are to lose their jobs as transport chiefs seek to cut costs after their Government grant was slashed by 12.5 per cent. Evening Standard
The RMT Union says a protest will be held at Whitechapel station on Monday over the threat of a ticket office closure. LBC
Electricity Underground: the politics of a new technology in London and Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. IHR Projects
US Superheroes Phonenix Jones and Purple Reign get a taste of the Tube as they arrive in Britain to take part in the Huawei Superhero summit. Telegraph
TfL chief’s pay plea cut from report Evening Standard (with scary photo of the ennobled one)
A look at the proposed “super hub” for Crossrail, HS2 and local services at Old Oak Common. London Reconnections
Photo
The photo above is from: 70th anniversary of an aircraft factory hidden in a tube tunnel
