London Reconnections

The Mysterious Case of the Gidea Park Shorts

On 21 March 2023 By Pedantic of Purley In Central line, Crossrail, Focus, Long reads, Railways

Just in case anyone thought this might be a whodunnit concerning a pair of minimal trousers, let it be known that its current use is to describe an apparently strange feature of the Crossrail timetable. …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 20 March 2023

On 20 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Crossrail, Electric Vehicles (EVs), Friday Reads, Maps, New York

• Elizabeth line is now the UK’s busiest railway (IanVisits) • The Beauty of Toilets: Southern Railway stations shine anew (BeautyOfTransport) • World’s longest cycle tunnel opens in Bergen Norway (Jalopnik) • New York has …

Friday Reads – 17 March 2023

On 17 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, Stations, Trams/Streetcars/LRT, Trolleybuses

• TfL going paper ticket free will leave Londoners behind (LondonTravelWatch) • The Short Story of London’s Trolleybuses: Video (JagoHazzard) • Reopening of abandoned Merseyside railway under consideration (AnonWidower) • Why Nancy is scrapping its …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 13 March 2023

On 13 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Cycles, Friday Reads, New York, Stations

• TfL data shows 20mph speed limits significantly reduce collisions & injuries (IntelligentTransport) • Underground perfection & imperfection, Tube Mapper’s Luke Agbaimoni: Video (RailNatter) • Vienna’s symphony of public transport: Video (UrbanCyclingInst) • The good, …

Friday Reads – 10 March 2023

On 10 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Arts, Bridges, Friday Reads, HS2, Roads

• Parts of HS2, & the Lower Thames Crossing delayed two years due to soaring costs (Guardian) • Le Métro in Île de France: a new year retrospective (FabricOfParis) • Using a railway carriage as …

Everything I learned from Scotrail’s automated station announcements

On 9 March 2023 By Jonn Elledge In Long reads, Stations

Just occasionally, something good happens on the internet. Jon Brady, a reporter at Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper, tweeted that he’d unearthed a two hour MP3 containing all ScotRail’s automated station announcements. A coder named Matt Eason split them into 2,440 individual …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 6 March 2023

On 6 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Cycles, Friday Reads, Maps, Sleeper Trains, Waterways

• Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London (Forbes) • Abandoned UK railway links coming back into their own (NewCivilEng) • Evolution of a NA streetcar city into a modern metropolis: Video (UrbanCyclingInst) • …

Meetup: Change of day and change of location

On 5 March 2023 By Pedantic of Purley In Long reads, Meetup

We are changing our pub venue and day of the week when we will meet. We will give more details nearer the time, but for the moment please note that from March onward we will …

Friday Reads – 3 March 2023

On 3 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Buses, Cycles, Friday Reads, Pedestrians

• Bank Tube station’s new Cannon Street entrance has opened (IanVisits) • Cyclists now outnumber motorists in City of London (Forbes) • Almost 1 in 10 local UK bus services were axed last year (Guardian) …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 27 February 2023

On 27 February 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Accessibility, Friday Reads, Pedestrians, Stations

• Review of TfL’s recent rail & Tube upgrades (IanVisits) • Disabled campaigners are to thank for accessibility on the Elizabeth Line (TransportForAll) • Cardiff Council announces vision for Cardiff Crossrail (SWalesMetro) • Designer selected …

Friday Reads – 24 February 2023

On 24 February 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Buses, Friday Reads, Maps, Stations, Trams/Streetcars/LRT

• Leicester railway station redevelopment & revamp renders released (BBC) • ‘15-minute city’: the mundane planning theory terrifying conspiracists (Guardian) • Cardiff tram-train route consultation underway (MetroReport) • Overnight train between London & Berlin to …

The Slow Death Of Heathrow Express

On 21 February 2023 By Pedantic of Purley In Crossrail, Heathrow, Long reads, Old Oak Common

When discussing Crossrail, commenters have often speculated on the ultimate demise of Heathrow Express – the private train operating company that runs a non-stop express service between Paddington and Heathrow. This speculation is generally predicated …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 20 February 2023

On 20 February 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Aerial, Friday Reads, Maps, New York

• Germany’s pre-WW2 Zeppelin spy flights: Video (CalibanRising) • Railways are instrumental in evacuations, this time in earthquake-hit Turkey (RailTech) • Behind the scenes at NYC Subway’s Power Control Center (IRideHarlemLine) • Process of mapping …

Friday Reads – 17 February 2023

On 17 February 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Arts, Friday Reads, Stations, Sustainability, Trams/Streetcars/LRT

• Fast charge battery trial to resume after GWR agrees to purchase Vivarail assets (RailUK) • Wales road building projects stopped after failing climate review (Guardian) • Ottawa’s LRT didn’t go wrong, it started wrong …

Pop Art tunnel Michelangelo – Dragados & the Art of Tunnel Scanning

On 15 February 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Infrastructure, Long reads, Technology, Tunnels

On July 20, 2022, the heat from an exploratory drill inside Montréal’s century old Mont-Royal railway tunnel, advance work for the city’s modern Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) automated Métro line, caused an explosion. It was …