If you want a weekly summary of rail-related transport news, Ian Visits and London Reconnections have you covered every Friday. I'm here a day late with a round-up of briefer transport dregs, bringing you the general gist without the need to click elsewhere.
π Tom Edwards got to ride a new Piccadilly line train for BBC London and his six minute report is on YouTube. The latest window for introducing the first train into passenger service is "December to next summer", so potentially another year of waiting and hassle. TfL boss Andy Lord does a fine job in the video of not quite specifying what the intractable problem is.
π If you were planning to use the Piccadilly line at the weekend over the next six months, it'll likely be part-closed to allow for testing of the very late new trains. This is always the way, a year of two of pain before the introduction of something good, but these are next-level closures. And this is just those announced so far... (if you can't get from zone 1 to Heathrow, I've underlined it) Closures:6/7 June, 13 June, 20/21 June, 27/28 June, 11/12 July, 18/19 July, 30/31 July, 1/2/3 August, 18/19/20 August, 25/26/27 August, 18/19 September, 26/27 September, 17/18 October, 31 October/1 November, 21/22 November
π« Places are still available for the Sunrise Challenge 5K at Biggin Hill Airport on Saturday 20th June. For Β£20 you get to run a unique route round the runways and get a medal at the end. All proceeds go to charity. Perversely the run starts at 6.30am despite sunrise being at 4.43am.
π TfL have been introducing new signalling on the District, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines since 2019 and next weekend they finally bring two more sections into operation. That's SMA10 (Barons Court to Stamford Brook) and SM12 (Fulham Broadway to East Putney). It means the only un-automated sections will be the western tips of the District line and beyond Preston Road on the Metropolitan line. It also means next Saturday there'll be no service on the entire District, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines before 10.30am, nor on the Metropolitan line south of Harrow-on-the-Hill, so be warned.
π Keep your eyes peeled for a special leaflet celebrating the 40th anniversary of Poems on the Underground. It features forty of the best-loved poems to have appeared on the Underground, was launched on Monday and is supposedly available at selected London Underground stations. They barely print anything these days so good luck finding one.
π From today the frequency on route 104 has been reduced from every 10 minutes to every 12. This is in response to the introduction of 20mph speed limits across Newham.
π Free travel on routes SL4, 108 and 129 ended last week after fourteen months of Mayoral giveaway. Now we'll see how popular the buses through the Silvertown Tunnel really are.
π According to TfL's new Bus Safety Standard, just published, bus journeys are going to get naggingly noisier. That's because it's planned to reintroduce the βding dingβ bell sound from old Routemaster buses to give customers an audible cue that a bus is about to move off. This is "to encourage customers to brace themselves for the busβs movement, such as by holding onto the handrail." But thankfully not yet. Further testing (including wider-scale trials) will be undertaken before this intrusive ding-dinging becomes a requirement on new vehicles.
π² Cycle Islington are celebrating their 50th anniversary on Sunday 21st June with two family-friendly loops followed by birthday cake in Highbury Fields.
π Barons Court's eastbound platform has reopened after five months of canopy repair. The station will remain fully open during the tennis event season (specifically the Queen's Club Championships) before the westbound platform closes on 6th July for most of the rest of the year.
π A (dull) new consultation has just launched in preparation for extending the DLR to Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead. This one ties down precisely where the stations will go and where the worksites will need to be, also where tunnel ventilation shafts will go. The consultation precedes the submission of a Transport and Works Act Order application to the Secretary of State for Transport.
π‘ There's always a new gimmick at the cablecar, and the latest is Sip & Soar with Greenwich Gin. For your Β£49.95 round trip you get two G&Ts (one on arrival, one mid-dangle), also "a guided introduction to the history of gin" and "an exploration of Greenwich Gin botanicals". But don't do that, even if you really like gin. Instead go to the actual distillery at the Old Royal Naval College and spend just Β£26 on their Gin Tasting & Masterclass which offers a similar experience but without the view, also you get four gins not two. Every day is bleed a tourist day at the Dangleway.
π 10 new Elizabeth line trains have been commissioned to help meet growing demand. The first of these has just left the production line and is being checked on the test track. This confirms that TfL's press office can conjure up a press release out of almost nothing and it'll still be regurgitated in the media.
π If you like free rides in a chuggy convoy of heritage buses, next Saturday (13th June) sees the London Bus Museum's Route 213 Heritage Day. That means classic vehicles between Kingston and Sutton turning up roughly every five minutes from 10am to 6pm. An additional service will operate every half hour on route 293 to Epsom. Just imagine who you might be squashed onto a top deck beside. Full details here.
πΆ According to the mayor's Walking and Wheeling Action Plan, just published, there are plans to introduce one more strategic walking route in the capital by 2029. It'll be "a new river walking route linking existing paths, parks and neighbourhoods", so likely one of the six Greenways first proposed in 2021. Rivery possibilities include the Forgotten Rivers walk (mostly Silk Stream and Fleet), the Southern Rivers walk (likely Surrey Canal, Quaggy and Shuttle) or some weird Counters Creek north/south hybrid. If it's as badly promoted as the new Green Link Walk was, I fear it'll fall similarly flat in a sad wasted manner.
πΆ The Inner London Ramblers have just published their 2025-26 Capital Ring, London Loop, Green Chain Walk & Green Link Walk Report, confirming a lot of fine work has been going on behind the scenes.
