A perennial and fairly meaningless question that is often asked is ‘what are the origins …
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A Study in Sussex Part 1: An Overview and a Rather Curious Announcement
Sussex may not at first glance appear to be part of our self-imposed London-related-only remit but an awful lot of railway activity that goes on in Sussex does relate to London. We are thus going …
Continue readingMeetup News: Moving to Thursdays
Just a quick update for those of you who frequent (or occasionally attend) our London Reconnections Meetups. As indicated last month, we have changed venue for these now that our usual pub has changed hands. …
Continue readingIn Pictures: The Thames Tunnel
Last weekend presented a rare opportunity to actually get inside Marc Brunel’s Thames Tunnel. A temporary closure to facilitate works elsewhere on the East London Line allowed TfL to open it up to a limited …
Continue readingKing of the Underworld: Building The Thames Tunnel
On the 2nd of March 1825 the Thames Tunnel Company began construction of what they hoped would be the first tunnel beneath the Thames. On the banks of the river at Rotherhithe, bricklayers and labourers began their work as the curious watched on. The project had been garnering a certain amount of attention ever since it had been granted royal Assent the year before, and its goal was an ambitious one – the construction of a tunnel beneath the river large enough for both people and horse-drawn traffic to use. It was a goal that many thought was impossible.
Continue readingKing’s Cross and A City of Two Tales
In a look around King’s Cross we saw the remarkable transformation that is going on in this area. We are not the only ones to have observed this. Evan Davis, the BBC broadcaster, used the …
Continue readingREMINDER: Venue Change for Monthly Meet Up
The Rose & Crown, our usual pub, is closed for a refit. Sadly it will changed from an independently run pub with a landlady we know to one with management installed by the brewer (Shepherd …
Continue readingTracking London’s Growth Via Its Roads
Continuing what is rapidly becoming “road season” here on LR, we’d like to highlight a fascinating video that can currently be found on YouTube – the London Evolution Animation. Tracking London’s growth from pre-Roman times …
Continue readingIn Pictures: A look Around King’s Cross
At London Reconnections we often look at railway schemes and station enhancements but, perhaps inevitably, tend to view these solely from a railway perspective. So let us take a look at the area around King’s …
Continue readingTolling for Growth – London’s New Highways Studies
Just as we fail to report on buses as much as we should, we tend to not report on London’s roads – in part because there is normally little that attracts our attention. It must …
Continue readingAsphalt and Battery: The future of the London Bus (part 2)
In the comments following part 1 of The Future of the London Bus we saw how controversial just about every single aspect of a London bus can be. Size, style, configuration, means of procurement and …
Continue readingRoute Mastery :The Future of the London Bus (Part 1)
We are ashamed to admit that there is a distinct bias on London Reconnections towards trains. Despite the fact that it is used for 50% more passenger journeys than the Underground, the venerable London bus …
Continue readingOrange Blossoms: Romford – Upminster and New Trains for the Overground
Back in September 2013, following on from the announcement that TfL would take over the West Anglia Franchise, we announced that TfL had also agreed to take on the Romford – Upminster Line as part …
Continue readingSuburban Commandos: Transport and London 2050
Londoners with a particular interest in politics and planning may have noticed a new phrase appear in the lexicon of both in recent months – London 2050. In this article we take a closer look at precisely what that phrase means, and how thinking is shaping up so far. For when it comes to transport infrastructure 2050 is far closer than one might think.
Continue readingLondon Bridge: The First Sign of Things to Come
Its been almost exactly a year since we last gave an update on the Thameslink work at London Bridge. Since then a lot of work has gone on. Some of this is visible at the …
Continue readingCrossrail: Reading the Future
At yesterday’s TfL Board Meeting “Crossrail Enhancements” were discussed, in a non-public session, and agreed. These enhancements were the extension of Crossrail to Reading, which will be officially announced today. That Crossrail will be extended …
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