A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…
The surprising reason for London Underground’s new heritage signs
London Underground
Night Tube to be suspended until March 2021 City AM
TfL is to restart work on major infrastructure projects this month, including the £655M upgrade at Bank station and the Northern Line Extension. NCE
Elizabeth line / Crossrail
Crossrail ‘three and a half months behind schedule before coronavirus’ LBC News
Renewed calls for Crossrail extension to North Kent Kent Online
Crossrail trains cleared to use the Heathrow tunnel ianVisits
Crossrail’s Bond Street station to be ready for trial running of trains next month Building (£)
Crossrail’s leadership is still targeting a summer 2021 opening date for its central section, despite the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Construction News
Mainline / Overground
East Croydon station could be moving to a new location if plans for a major railway upgrade in the area are approved, and funding found. ianVisits
Network Rail ask artist to remove lettering on controversial Thameslink Bridge street art Ham & High
Miscellaneous
Robert Gordon Clark: Who is to blame for TfL needing a bailout? And what will happen next? OnLondon
The government has announced that it is making the wearing facemasks on public transport mandatory from Monday 15th June. ianVisits
EPR has been given the go-ahead for all-new plans to convert TfL’s former headquarters at 55 Broadway overlooking St James’s Park into a hotel Architects Journal (£)
Rail arches owner extends rental help package for small businesses Standard
Commuters from outside London may need to pay more for their fares to fund London transport upgrades, a report into how to pay for the capital’s upgrades has suggested. ianVisits
‘No evidence of spitting’, say police probing death of railway worker Belly Mujinga ITV
Nude sunbather mistaken for dead body near railway line in Essex BBC News
And finally: “I’ve Never Met A Train I Didn’t Like”: Vogue editor on her lifelong locomotive obsession Vogue
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Image above is from Feb 2019: The surprising reason for London Underground’s new heritage signs
I’m confused… why not run the night tubes? They will enable people to travel off-peak and avoid other forms of transport.
They’ve cancelled the Over 60s free peak travel card for this reason.
As explained in the linked article TFL don’t see any huge demand for the night tube (and also by implication night buses) so why spend the money on something few people will be using for quite some time to come when buses are available when they need to reduce expenditure?
Freedom passes no longer eligible for use before 9am to try and reduce demand so space is there for people going to work.
In most of the country concessionary fares don’t start until 9.00 / 9.30 AM and if you want to travel before then you need to pay!
The night Tube is expensive to run. For example the special rules regarding nightworkers. The financial return is therefore poor given the demand. The HMG bailout is to cover the cost of the core services, not unnecessary ad-ons.
As to the comment from Chris, the peak hour restriction does not apply in Scotland, where the only hours of non-use are 0001 to 0400.