A perennial and fairly meaningless question that is often asked is ‘what are the origins …
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Friday Reads – 16 February 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Poster Girls: London Transport’s support of female creatives (The Drum) • East meets west under London (Beauty of Transport) • Tube map of Tube maps (CartoGeek) …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 9 February 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Vision impaired & on the Tube? There’s an app for that (Tech’s Good) • LED road studs to guide drivers at complex junction (E&T) • Fifty …
Continue readingCrossrail: Cutting it Fine
On 11 December 2017, TfL announced that they were seeking ‘launch partners’ for the opening of the Elizabeth line. What is on offer is “a unique opportunity that will align with this historic moment for London”. …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 2 February 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Ocean liner speed and style exhibition to open (V&A) • Woolwich Crossrail station (1LondonBlog) • British railway viaducts (The Beauty of Transport) • Who abandoned this …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 26 January 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • New solutions to reduce transport emissions (IMechE) • Zeppelin distant early warning system (Andrew Grantham) • History of the bollard, from Napoleon to Carillion (CityMetric) • …
Continue readingTransforming Oxford Street Part 2: A Real Regeneration
There have been proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street for many years, but until now nothing has happened. This was partly because it was regarded as too difficult and partly because the City of Westminster (who …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 19 January 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • The forgotten West London Air Terminal (RB Kensington & Chelsea) • Legible London’s tenth anniversary (1LondonBlog) • Redesign of British train tickets (SadHedgehog) • Paris Métro …
Continue readingLeasing Lizzie: Finding the Funds for Deep Tube
On 3 January 2018, the London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee sat down with TfL to go through their current budget. Discussion largely focused on the various pressures on TfL’s finances – from the removal …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 12 January 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Kew Gardens’ private underground railway (IanVisits) • Is Britain’s rail franchising system fit for purpose? [paywall] (Financial Times) • Global underground/metro typography [many images] (Prototypr) • …
Continue readingFriday Reads – January 5, 2018
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • London Transport Museum charts the growth of the modern city (Blooloop) • Trains playlist (NME) • Metro maps schematic-geography morphing animations (Arch Daily) • Advert tiles …
Continue readingLondon’s Exiles: Andy Byford – From Broadway to Broadway
“There’s a great story to be told of British and London transport expertise, which is being sought out once again” Andy Byford, then-CEO of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), mused when we last saw him …
Continue reading2017 Quiz Answers
Here are the answers to the 2017 quiz. We were surprised by how well people did and the number of answers with almost all the questions correct. Question 1 We asked what was wrong with …
Continue readingThe Metropolitan Line Extension: Deadline Day
On 26 March 2015, outgoing London Mayor and current Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued Mayoral Decision MD1478. Based on a cost estimate only 50% likely to be correct, London agreed to fund a transport project, with no cost ceiling, that primarily benefitted a Conservative marginal seat outside of the capital. This is the story of the troubled Metropolitan Line Extension to Watford.
Continue readingFriday Reads – December 29, 2017
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • Schematic railway maps in advertising (Retours) • Elon Musk’s Tesla technutopia has a parking problem (StreetsBlog) • Heathrow Express adds blue platform gap lighting (Rail Advent) …
Continue readingFriday Reads – December 22, 2017
Welcome to Reconnections’ Friday Reads. This week’s lineup: • London waterways Tube-style map, with sounds (SoundSurvey) • Overhead footbridges of London (Londonist) • Land Registry reveals London secret tunnels (Who Owns England) • Successful cities …
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