July 4th 2017 saw the surprise announcement that the Elizabeth line would serve Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Heathrow Media Centre, the public relations department of Heathrow Airport Ltd, let the world know of this Crossrail …
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How Can You Mend A Broken Railway? Thameslink and the Gibb Report
Last summer the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, commissioned a report from an experienced and well-respected railwayman, Chris Gibb. The goal was a framework to enable much-needed improvements to railway services across the …
Continue readingBakerloo Déjà Vu: Buying New Trains for the DLR
With tight curves and other unique features. Buying trains for the DLR means buying bespoke. We look at TfL’s current plans to renew the rolling stock and the timescales involved.
Continue readingKent Route Study (Part 3): Victoria Metro Services
As part of our series on the recent Kent Route Study, we look at what it refers to as the ‘Victoria Metro Services.’ It is nearly impossible to do so, however, without also looking at …
Continue readingThe Kent Route Study (Part 2): Crossrail to Gravesend
Much has been written about Crossrail in recent years. One topic that has largely slipped through the net, however, is the revival of the originally planned route from Abbey Wood to Ebbsfleet. This was to …
Continue readingThe Kent Route Study (Part 1): London Bridge Metro Services
On 14 March 2017 Network Rail finally published its draft Kent Area Route Study Report. On the same day, quite deliberately, the DfT published its consultation document for the requirements of the next South East …
Continue readingOne of the Family: Crossrail’s Transition to Being a Tube
In June 2015 we reported that Crossrail was well on the path to becoming a functioning railway in the making rather than a construction project nearing completion. The man whose job it is to create …
Continue readingThe Lonely Life of Birkbeck: South London’s Bellwether Station
Last August one London station saw trains stop there on just two days in the entire month. Indeed in the end for 34 consecutive days no trains called at the station. We take a look …
Continue reading2016 Christmas Quiz – The Winners
Finally, we have got around to analysing the answers to the 2016 Christmas Quiz. The way the questions were marked was basically one mark per question – except for the Denis Thatcher question (Q15) and …
Continue reading2016 Quiz: The Answers
As always it seems amazing how much effort some people put into the answers. What has also come across is our inability to assess the difficulty of questions. One or two that we thought would …
Continue readingThe 2016 London Reconnections Christmas Quiz
It’s that time of year again. 2016 has been quite a busy year transport-wise with plenty of opportunities for questions. In case some are new to the Christmas quiz here is a bit of background: …
Continue readingGovia go via Greenwich: GTR and the Thameslink Timetable
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 …
Continue readingThe New London Bridge Station: First Impressions
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 …
Continue readingMeltdown Monday: How Southern’s Problems Run Deeper Than Disputes
For those living and working in London and the South East it has become almost impossible to be unaffected, either directly or indirectly, by the trouble-hit GTR franchise. Understandably there is anger and frustration at …
Continue readingA Study In Sussex part 13: Norwood Junction
Seemingly illogically, now is the time to look at Norwood Junction and its future importance in enabling an upgrade to the Brighton Main Line. Initially this station was not intended to form part of this …
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