Modern trains are expected to handle crush loads at times, rough use and vandalism, yet have pleasing interiors and comfortable seating that will last in good condition for 15-20 years or more. In addition, the …
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Guangzhou’s Massive new Railway Station: A Stadium-sized Cathedral to Train Travel
Guangzhou, perhaps more familiar by its anglicised name of Canton, is a port megacity in Southern China. It sits alongside Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and several other cities in the Asian economic powerhouse that is Pearl …
Continue readingLonger trains for Crossrail?
Any mention of overcrowding on the Elizabeth line tends to elicit either the suggestion that TfL should run more trains or that they lengthen the trains which are currently nine carriages long. If the latter, …
Continue readingThe governing realities for Labour in power, & what it means for planning and transport
“I wanna be the leader, I wanna be the leader.Can I be the leader? Can I? I can?Promise? Promise?Yippee I’m the leader, I’m the leader.OK what shall we do?” Roger McGough Any Colour You Like …
Continue readingBonus Trains for Crossrail – More Details
We were surprised when on 14th June 2024 it was announced that agreement had been reach by TfL, the DfT and the train maker Alstom to provide 10 new trains for Crossrail. We were not …
Continue readingNorth American Cities Join the Fare Zone Club: Finally Integrating Intermodal Fares
For most of the history of public transport, integrated tickets and fare zones were largely unheard of. Passengers would generally pay the ticket clerk or conductor a distance-based fare for each leg of their journey, …
Continue readingThe Unknown Hammersmith & City Construction Calamity
Everyone knows the history of the Metropolitan Railway as the world’s first underground line on 10th January 1863 between Bishops Road and Farringdon – but that was not even how the line was going to …
Continue readingBonus Trains for Crossrail?
In an unexpected piece of potentially good news for London, it was reported last month that 10 new trains could be built for Crossrail. We look at the substance of the reports, catch up with …
Continue readingMuch ado, or not to do, about Level Boarding on Network Rails: Part 2
We just looked at TfL’s efforts to expand step-free access on its network. Level access is definitively patchy on TfL’s network, and the same goes for the Network Rail. Whilst the London Underground is famous …
Continue readingWherefore art thou Nightstar? Thou hast been a Ghost Train – The Nightstar Renaissance
What may this mean.That thou, dead corse, again, in complete steel,Revisit’st thus the glimpses of the moon. Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4 To Sleeper Train, Perchance to Dream of Europe In the late 1980s a …
Continue readingLR Update April 2024
There has been a lot going on behind the scenes at LR Towers in the last few months. We have a new Friday / Monday Reads Editor, Daniel, who carries on the tradition. And we …
Continue readingMuch Ado about Level Boarding: TfL & UK Urban Rail (Part 1)
In February 2024, TfL announced its Equity in Motion plan to create a fair and inclusive transport network, with over 80 measures to make London transport more accessible. The plan sets out how the transport …
Continue readingThe Big Split: Overground Line Names
As the Overground has grown, calls have increased to provide its sub-lines with clearer identities of their own. Behind the scenes, TfL have been working to do just that. Those new identities have now been …
Continue readingCovenants, Easements & Wayleaves: Mind the Gap of London Infrastructure Knowledge (Part 3)
This series has revealed a hitherto unknown complex and often murky relationship between London’s underground railways and its environment. Unsurprisingly in the twenty-first century, with so much of London having been tunneled, excavated, bombed, developed, …
Continue readingDay Travelcards – Their History, Importance, & Salvation (Ticketing Part 2)
Digital is the mainstream now in fare payment, but it does little for those like on no or small fixed incomes, recent immigrants, those without bank or Oyster cards, people uncomfortable or unable to use …
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