• Zipcar’s rivals consider London expansion after it reveals UK exit (The Guardian) • Northumberland Line – lessons learned from transforming connectivity: Video (IMechE) • Leeds-Bradford £2.5bn tram plan delayed after government review (BBC) • …
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Monday’s Friday Reads – 19 August 2024
• Riding the rails: a visual guide to the latest stretch of the Sydney Metro (The Guardian) • Thousands to be refunded after rail fare evasion convictions declared void (LBC) • New developer funding found …
Continue readingMonday’s Friday Reads – 8 January 2023
• London Tube strikes called off as more pay talks planned (BBC News) • Weight limit for Albert Bridge to stop it suffering same fate as Hammersmith Bridge (Standard) • More details about plans to …
Continue readingHS2 – A High Speed Beeching
We have noticed a plethora of different analyses and realisations of the impacts of the recently-announced HS2 Phase 2 cancellation. Initially, there was a new article about it almost every day. Lately, it has slowed …
Continue readingThe Political Myth of the Driverless Tube Train
Both meaningless and meaningful, the phrase ‘driverless trains’ is a recurring one in London politics. In this piece, we explore the reality behind the phrase and what it means in a London context.
Continue readingTfL: THE IMPOSSIBLE FINANCES OF FIGHTING A PANDEMIC
Asked by the government to provide a frequent a timetable during the Coronavirus outbreak to allow social distancing, TfL have risen to the challenge. But losing £150m a week has pushed the organisation to the …
Continue readingMind the Gender Gap: The Hidden Data Gap in Transport
Transport data and decision-making don’t just under-represent women. In many cases they trivialise or ignore their needs completely.
Continue readingThe Politics of Thameslink’s Troubles
The London Reconnections team have been following closely, day by day and (with a few stalwarts) hour by hour, the actual service levels being offered on Thameslink lines during the first week of the new …
Continue readingDiving into the Fleet Part 5: The Canary Wharf Years
Competition between the City and Canary Wharf, Conservative party politics and the rise and fall of one of the world’s largest property developers all helped define the Jubilee line as we know it today. Jonathan …
Continue readingDiving into the Fleet (Part 4): The Eighties
The eighties were a time of great change in the social and political fabric of Britain. Overshadowed by rail privatisation in the nineties, what’s often not appreciated is how much transport planning in London changed …
Continue readingDiving Into The Fleet: Getting Conservative, 1980 – 1985
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 …
Continue readingDiving Into The Fleet: Jubilee Line Derailed, 1974-1979
The waters of the Fleet (Line) became considerably murkier in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. To recap, Fleet Line Stage 1 costs to Charing Cross had risen from an estimate of £35m in 1971 …
Continue readingThe Politics of Emptiness
On 5 May, Londoners will choose their new mayor. In doing so, they will grant a single individual the third biggest direct personal mandate of any politician in the whole of Europe (only France and …
Continue readingThe Politics of Doing Not Being
To regular readers of London Reconnections the name Caroline Pidgeon will be a familiar one. A veteran of London politics and one of the leading voices on transport issues within the capital for over eight …
Continue readingThe Queen vs DfT: Questioning the East Anglia Franchise
On the 10th December 2015 in Court Two at the Royal Courts of Justice a new case commenced. Its presence in Court Two may reflect more on the number of legal professionals present rather than …
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