1) Two Piccadilly line stations are partially closing next year
Barons Court: Monday 19 January until mid-June 2026
Eastbound trains will not stop. Mitigation 1: Walk to West Kensington instead (only 500m, so not terrible). Mitigation 2: Catch a westbound train to Hammersmith and change back there.
(and after that, about five months when westbound trains won't stop)
Southgate: Monday 5 January until mid-March 2026
No entry to the station (exit only). Mitigation 1: For Cockfosters, take bus 298 or 299 (only seven single deckers an hour, could a be a wait) Mitigation 2: For Oakwood, take bus 121 (six double deckers an hour, could be a wait) Mitigation 3: For Arnos Grove, take bus 298 or 382 (the more frequent 382 takes twice as long)
(basically three grim months in N14)
Also:
• Cutty Sark station is closed until spring 2026.
• No down escalator at Maida Vale from 7 January until mid-March 2026.
• No Piccadilly line trains beyond Rayners Lane fron 24 December to 4 January.
• No service on the Bank branch of the Northern line after 10pm from 12 January until late May (Mon-Thu only).
2) DLR extention to Thamesmead gets public thumbs up
The results of the DLR Thamesmead extension consultation have been published.
» 76% said they thought the route via Beckton to Thamesmead was the right route (I'm amazed it's that many).
» Less than 15% of respondents had issues with the either of the proposed station locations.
» 30% of respondents wanted to extend the DLR further (there's no funding, said TfL).
» 53 respondents wanted more New Routemasters on London bus routes (because they are sad obsessed weirdos).
» Only 4 respondents expressed concern about the removal of safeguarding for the Thames Gateway Bridge (so that's dead then).
3) Rare Overground hybrid in new rail timetable
A unique Suffragette/Mildmay hybrid service now operates late on Sunday evenings.
The 2324 from Barking Riverside runs to Upper Holloway, then skips Gospel Oak, then serves all stations from Hampstead Heath to Willesden Junction.
The last westbound Suffragette line train thus morphs into the last westbound Mildmay line train.
If you have a rail-related YouTube channel and are running out of ideas, there's one for you.
