• East West Rail: First train tests on multi-billion pound route (BBC)
• Paddington tube station design error is finally righted after a century! (London Rail)
• Exploring Paris Métro Line 11’s eastern extension (Fabric of Paris)
• Ouigo, the impact of this low-cost, 3rd class, high-speed rail concept (Mediarail)
• Japan’s $40BN Airport is Sinking: Video (B1M)
• Transit-oriented development built without the transit (Transport for New Homes)
• Mass Transit on Orbital Boulevards (Pedestrian Observations)
• Northumberland is back on track: a new railway line is opening up one of England’s wildest counties (The Guardian)
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Why is it that the BBC only ever reports on “multi-billion pound routes” when they are rail? Nothing else in transport gets reported that way. You have to go back to 2008 on the BBC News site for find the super-sewer described that way.
Just what is going on over the Beam Park development?
The DfT’s claim of “Probable insufficient demand” (Or equivalent) is plainly false, so what’s the real reason behind this fiasco?
Clear answers on a postcard, please!
The London Rail article makes some good points, but totally glosses over the fact that Caledonian Road was an outlier among early deep-level stations in having lifts reaching platform level. The vast majority of those stations required passengers to navigate a flight of steps between lift and platform. Not “accessible” by any standard.
And this was because generally the platforms were tightly squeezed directly under roads whilst lift shafts had to be in station buildings to one side.
As inconvenient as it is for disabled people, I think it’s fair to say that if today’s full accessibility standards had been in place in the 1900s these lines would never have been built at all, as the additional cost of providing full step free access would have made the whole concept of deep underground railways unviable – remember it was a crazy new idea at the time.
Greg T,
Sorry, no postcard but under the previous government the DfT stated there would be insufficient extra revenue at Beam Park because, in their opinion, most of the demand would be abstracted from a nearby station or stations.
If you believe the current government’s determination to increase housing stock is genuine, I suppose things could change.