London Reconnections

Where the Roads Run Red: The Future of London’s Buses (Part 1)

On 2 December 2013 By The Walthamstow Writer In Boris Johnson, Buses, TfL

Earlier this year the London Assembly Transport Committee decided to investigate both the current state of and future prospects for London’s bus network. Their investigation process involved two public meetings at City Hall, an online …

Big Changes Gonna Come (Part 2): A New Approach to Ticket Sales

On 25 November 2013 By John Bull In Bakerloo Line, Boris Johnson, Central line, Circle line, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee line, London Underground, Metropolitan line, Northern line, Piccadilly line, Politics, Victoria line, Waterloo & City

In Part 1 of “Big Changes” we took a look at London Underground’s proposed plan for running nocturnal Tube services. Here in Part 2 we now turn to the other major change to the Underground …

Big Changes Gonna Come (Part 1): The Night Tube

On 25 November 2013 By John Bull In Boris Johnson, Central line, Circle line, District line, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee line, London Underground, Metropolitan line, Northern line, Piccadilly line

Last Thursday at Piccadilly Circus, in front of a small crowd of journalists and television cameras, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Mike Brown, MD of London Underground, pulled the covers off of a new …

Bank Station Part 4: Getting Radical

On 16 November 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Construction projects, London Underground, Northern line

In part 3 of our look at the plans for Bank station we described the continuing growth that is taking place there and the revised plans to handle this growth, including a work site at …

Bank Station Part 3: A Dance of Dragados

On 8 November 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Construction projects, London Underground, Northern line

As regular readers will know there was a consultation exhibition about the Bank Station Capacity Upgrade recently. Long term readers will also recall that there had been at least one previous consultation which took place …

The new Walbrook entrance at Bank

On 28 October 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Construction projects, London Underground, Waterloo & City

Recently there was an exhibition about the updated proposals to greatly enhance Bank station capacity, a scheme that should be completed in 2021 if all goes according to plan. As a result of those proposals, …

Paddington: Bearer of Many Names

On 17 October 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Circle line, Hammersmith & City, London Underground

In part 2 of Uncircling the Circle we rather skipped over the issue of changing trains at Paddington. This issue was picked up by some readers who pointed out that, once Paddington (Hammersmith & City) …

Reopening London’s Mail Rail

On 15 October 2013 By John Bull In History, Mail Rail

The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA) has submitted plans to Islington Council proposing to reopen a section of the Mail Rail beneath Mount Pleasant sorting office, this time for public use.

Freight Incident Causes Major Disruption to North London Line

On 15 October 2013 By John Bull In Overground, TfL

At 0300 this morning, a freight train running from Lawley Street to Felixstowe derailed just west of Camden Road station on the North London Line. Although the full extent and cause of the accident remains to be seen, the damage appears significant, although no injuries were sustained.

Uncircling the Circle: Part 2

On 7 October 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Circle line, London Underground

In part one of Uncircling the Circle we described how London Underground and its predecessors had tried, unsuccessfully, to eliminate the Circle Line as a continuous circle from the underground system. We also looked at …

Uncircling The Circle: part 1

On 3 October 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Circle line, History, London Underground

In part 2 of The Past, Present and Future of Metropolitan Line Services we finished with details of frequencies for the Metropolitan Line once the Sub-Surface Lines upgrade was complete. With plans for a overview …

Second Second Tuesday meeting

On 2 October 2013 By Pedantic of Purley In Events

Just the briefest of reminders that we will have our next pub meeting on Tuesday 8th October from 6 o’clock onwards. Same details as last time. Click “Continue reading” for link to details of the …

East Coast Mainline Routes & Branches Part 2: The Hertford Loop and the Northern City Line

On 29 September 2013 By Arkady In National Rail, Network Rail

This article grew in the telling. As with so many other places on the London rail network, it is hard to give a comprehensive overview of plans for one improvement on the East Coast Mainline …

In Pictures: Canary Wharf Crossrail Station

On 27 September 2013 By John Bull In Crossrail, In Pictures

Of all the new stations on the Crossrail Route it is Canary Wharf that has arguably progressed the fastest. Here work on on the four floor structure itself is effectively complete and fit-out underway, with …

Old Oak Common: Part 3 – Looking Over the Fence

On 25 September 2013 By Lemmo In Crossrail, Electrification, First Great Western, Freight, HS2, Old Oak Common, Overground, TfL, WLL

Think of Old Oak Common (OOC) as the Canary Wharf of west London. That’s the Vision: bold and challenging. But will a ‘super hub’ emerge? While the grand plan for OOC may depend on decisions further up the metaphorical line, to a certain extent OOC leapfrogs the institutional black hole of rail strategy and drives deeper changes in strategic planning for London as a whole.