London Reconnections

Friday Reads – 14 April 2023

On 14 April 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Arts, Friday Reads, Overground, Pollution, Stations

• Aviation industry awarded £18Bn in public finance since the Paris Agreement (DeSmog) • West London Orbital Overground line likely to get approval (IanVisits) • East Lancs Railway faces accusations in sacking of 10 year …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 10 April 2023

On 10 April 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Bridges, Cycles, Design, Friday Reads, Tunnels

• Blackfriars (road) Bridge repairs & history (BBC) • Southern Region Kent Electrification scheme 1958 film: Video (BennetBrookRy) • A spiral of motorway road signs at Somerset House (IanVisits) • New Yorkers are fed up …

Good Friday Reads – 7 April 2023

On 7 April 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Arts, Cycles, Friday Reads, Maps, New York

• ‘Women on the Footplate’ against unacceptable behaviour speech at Heritage Ry Conf 2021: Video (JoanneCrompton) • Wales launches 1st VivaRail Class 230 hybrid train into service (RailTechMag) • Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters …

The Flowering of Overground lines & colours – How Soon is Now?

On 4 April 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Design, Long reads, Maps, Overground, Rail devolution

In his 2021 London Mayoral Election Manifesto, Sadiq Khan proposed giving names (and potentially their own colours) to London Overground lines to give them a unique identity. “TfL’s London Overground network has grown considerably over …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 3 April 2023

On 3 April 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Bridges, Friday Reads, HS2, New York, Safety

• HS2 faces Euston tunnel dilemma after Euston station mothballed (NewCivilEng) • With EVs decreasing fuel duty, congestion & road user charges are the future (OnLondon) • Ingenious & life-enhancing tale of two new London …

Friday Reads – 31 March 2023

On 31 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Buses, Design, Friday Reads, HS2, Technology

• TfL fast orbital bus routes have been rejected before: Will Sadiq’s Superloop fare better? (OnLondon) • 10-platform HS2 Euston design pricier than original 11-platform design (NatlAuditOffice) • Kay Hughes is HS2’s guardian of the …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 27 March 2023

On 27 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, Maps, Pedestrians, Roads, Safety

• Flight passenger duty cut sparks surge in UK domestic flights (Independent) • It’s time to radically rethink London’s roads: starting w/ its Red Routes (OnLondon) • Likely impact of approved Highline project will have …

Friday Reads – 24 March 2023

On 24 March 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Congestion Charge, Friday Reads, Technology, TfL, Tunnels

• Attempts to restart the Western Rail Link to Heathrow (IanVisits) • 20 years after Congestion Charge began, let’s recognise TfL as a tech innovator (OnLondon) • Weirdest ride ever! Riding through London’s new, pre-effluent …

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) • …