London Reconnections

Exploring The Night Tube Part 1: Making the Case

Ask the average commuter how many peaks exist in a week on London transport and, after a bit of thought, they’ll probably tell you ten – five morning inbound and five afternoon return. In truth …

Diving Into The Fleet: Getting Conservative, 1980 – 1985

On 14 October 2016 By Long Branch Mike In Jubilee line, London Underground, Politics

When we last left the story of the Fleet line it had become the Jubilee. The GLC’s Conservative administration had been unsuccessful in their attempts to persuade the Labour Government to push forward with Jubilee …

On Our Line #5: Ben Kabak’s New York

On 11 October 2016 By John Bull In Podcast

London Reconnections heads to New York and brings you the first part of a mini-series on transport matters from across the Atlantic. To kick off the series we talk to Ben Kabak who gives us …

It’s Good To Talk

On 3 October 2016 By John Bull In History, London Underground

From telegraphs to telephones, cables to Connect, over its 150-year history the London Underground has remained at the forefront of communications technology. We look at the journey from a single telegram line to an integrated …

Govia go via Greenwich: GTR and the Thameslink Timetable

On 20 September 2016 By Pedantic of Purley In South Eastern, Southern, Thameslink

There are probably Southern commuters who would claim that nothing Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR – Southern’s parent company) said or did would surprise them. Many industry insiders would probably agree. When rumours spread rapidly about …

Don’t Fear the Beeper: Bus Hopper Tickets and the Future of Oyster

On 14 September 2016 By Nicole Badstuber In Buses, Oyster, TfL

“Today is a landmark day for transport in London,” London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said on 12 September 2016. “It wasn’t right that Londoners had to pay twice simply to change buses.” It is a deceptively …

Site News: Free LR Magazine Downloads for Crossrail Staff

On 8 September 2016 By John Bull In LR Magazine, Site news

Just a quick site notice to let any readers who work for Crossrail know that it’s not just TfL staff that can download LR now. Crossrail staff can now also get the digital version of …

In Pictures: The Buses of London

On 8 September 2016 By John Bull In Buses, History

It will likely come as a surprise to no-one that the residents of LR Towers are inveterate browsers of second-hand bookshops. Occasionally these dusty forays yield more than obscure texts. Such is the case here, …

On Our Line #4: Designing Crossrail’s Stations

On 31 August 2016 By John Bull In Crossrail, Podcast

In the latest episode of our On Our Line podcast series, Nicole discusses the architecture and design of Crossrail’s stations with architecture critic Hugh Pearman and Crossrail’s Head of Architecture Julian Robinson. Tune in to …

The New London Bridge Station: First Impressions

On 30 August 2016 By Pedantic of Purley In Construction projects, In Pictures, London Bridge, Railways, South Eastern, Southern

It will probably not have escaped most readers attention that the main portion of the new London Bridge station concourse opened on August Bank Holiday Monday. Impressions are invariably subjective and so London Reconnections breaks …

On Our Line Extra: The Night Tube

On 19 August 2016 By John Bull In London Underground, Podcast

To celebrate the start of the Night Tube service this evening, London Reconnections is pleased to bring you the first episode of On Our Line: Extra. On Our Line Extras are additional podcast episodes outside …

Empire of the Air: The Imperial Airship Service

On 18 August 2016 By Long Branch Mike In Aerial, Airports, History, Long reads

In 1926 artist Montague Black, famous for his work with the White Star Line, created a new piece of art for London Underground. According to the painting in 2026 the city would be dominated by …

Site News: Free LR Magazine Downloads for TfL Staff

On 9 August 2016 By John Bull In LR Magazine

Just a quick site notice to let any readers who work directly for TfL know that you can now get the digital version of LR Magazine sent directly to your inbox for free. This also …

London’s Lost Pneumatic Railways Talk – LURS 9 August 2016

On 6 August 2016 By Long Branch Mike In Pneumatic railways

Long Branch Mike will be presenting at the London Underground Railway Society (LURS) on Tuesday 9 August, 2016, at the Society’s monthly meeting, on the development and evolution of the Pneumatic Despatch Railway, the world’s second oldest …

High Speed Buffers (Part 4): Terminal Policies and Priorities

On 1 August 2016 By Jonathan Roberts In HS2, National Rail, Network Rail

In the latest part of our HS2 series, we look primarily at the options for London HS termini and/or through running. Some policy and funding issues are raised. Discussion about passenger volumes, and station and …