If you want a weekly summary of rail-related transport news, Ian Visits and London Reconnections have you covered every Friday. I'm here again with a round-up of London's briefer transport dregs, bringing you the general gist without the need to click elsewhere.
π¦Έπ»ββοΈ From tomorrow northbound buses on Superloop route SL2 will no longer serve Ilford Sainsbury's, just Ilford station. Southbound buses will continue to stop twice.
π¦Έπ»ββοΈ The consultation into Superloop route SL14 (Stratford to Chingford Hatch) has concluded. TfL have confirmed it will launch as planned but with tweaks to stops at Blackhorse Road station and the Crooked Billet roundabout. The start date is 'during 2027', i.e. not soon. Route D8 will also be diverted to Stratford City rather than Stratford bus station to make room, even though hardly anyone liked that idea.
π· Tube fares rise on Sunday. Rail fares, bus fares, Travelcards and daily caps don't. Tube fares within zone 1 rise 20p (and will have risen 29% since 2021). Percentagewise this year's worst increases are for tube journeys outside zone 1, all rising by 20p, as the Mayor continues to silently screw the suburbs. Five years ago these always cost Β£1.50, now they'll cost anything from Β£2.20 to Β£2.60, which is a crippling increase of 73% for z2-6 journeys.
β οΈ Advertising will be returning to the departure boards at Euston station on Monday, "outer sections" only. Officially it's a two week trial but obviously it'll end up being permanent.
πΊ Guinness paid Β£255,000 to sponsor Tottenham Court Road and Covent Garden stations earlier this month. According to the contract the activation was originally supposed to be 1st-7th December so must have been delayed.
π½ The ticket office at Morden station has been reopened as accessible toilets, which is excellent. There are no confirmed plans to add toilets at any further tube stations, which is less so.
π Free travel on routes SL4, 108 and 129 was due to expire on 7th April. It's now to be extended for an extra seven weeks, i.e. until Sunday 26th May. The fact that London council elections take place in the middle of this period is probably not coincidental.
π On Sunday 17 vintage buses will be running on route T15 (Trafalgar Square - Tower of London), roughly every 10 minutes between 9.30am and 6pm. It's a free ride, but donations are being collected for the Cars for Ukraine Appeal.
π« London Southend Airport now allows up to two litres of liquid in your hand luggage following the introduction of C3 scanners. On the downside they're introducing an Β£8 drop-off charge on Sunday.
π« On Sunday 8th March contactless payments are being extended to 20 more Greater Anglia stations INCLUDING STANSTED AIRPORT. Maybe they can unplaster the red signs at Tottenham Hale now.
π¨ An updated Art Map will be available at all zone 1 stations from Sunday. The booklet is free and includes 6 more works than the 2016 original. A series of pop-up artist and curator talks has already sold out.
πΆ Final approval has been given for the permanent pedestrianisation of Oxford Street between IKEA and Selfridges. It'll begin this September. Bus twiddles will be confirmed later.
π All 54 new DLR trains have now been built. However none have operated in public service since an overshoot at Canning Town on 3rd November. Initial findings indicate "a combination of factures contributed to the issue". TfL say they are "working closely with all partners to reintroduce the new trains as soon as possible while ensuring safety remains our absolute priority".
π Further delays in introducing the new Piccadilly line stock mean it now won't be in public service before Christmas. But it will be out on the line over the weekend of 7th/8th March while everything except Acton Town to Heathrow is closed.
π Geoff Marshall has published a 23 minute documentary looking behind the scenes at Victoria Coach station.
π Northumberland Park station in Northumberland opened on Sunday so there are now two stations called Northumberland Park, not just one in London. The final station on the Northumberland line, Bedlington, is due to open on 29th March.
π‘ The cablecar will be closed from Tuesday 3rd March to Thursday 12th March for maintenance shenanigans. This is an annual event so everybody's already heard the "inconveniencing nobody" joke.
π§ On 9th March temporary traffic signals will be introduced around the big crossroads near Mile End station due to Thames Water work. They continue until July 2027, so expect hellish jams and delayed buses for months.
β Charing Cross and Waterloo East railway stations will be closed for 22 days from Sunday 26th July to Sunday 16th August 2026.
π On Saturday 22nd August there will be no service on the Circle, District and Hammersmith and City lines before 10.30am. The Metropolitan line will have no service all weekend.
