Whilst most of the attention on Thursday was focused on City Hall, out West a major milestone was reached on Crossrail – tunnelling started at Royal Oak. The first of the Crossrail TBMs, “Phyllis” began the drive towards Paddington on Friday, with the second “Ada” due to be moved into place once Phyllis has cleared the portal. We’ll take a more detailed look at what’s happening here and elsewhere on Crossrail during the coming week, but in the meantime some … Continued

Through the Blitz and beyond, the part the Underground played in World War Two was a complex one. Nowhere was this more true than the role it played in sheltering the civilian populace from aerial attack. The part platforms at places like Aldwych played, and the tragedy at Bethnal Green are now relatively well known. What is perhaps less well known, however, is the role played by the Deep Level Shelters – the remains of which can still be seen at street level.

We’ve looked at various elements of London’s transport infrastructure from the air before – now it’s Crossrail’s turn. With the exception of the Connaught Tunnel approach, the photos below broadly divide into tunnelling portals and stations. The photos highlight the variety of sites Crosssrail features – some long, some compact. The station shots, particularly those focused on the stations in the central section, also highlight how tight space is within the Capital. This is something we’ve covered before, notably when … Continued

With Kings Cross drawing the eye to the north, it is easy to forget that work is still underway at Blackfriars. We last covered Blackfriars in detail at the beginning of last year when we looked at the bridge work carried out during the Christmas Blockade. Since then, much has happened – including the reopening of the Underground station. The new entrance Platform level at Blackfriars My colleague Mwmbwls will be looking in detail at Blackfriars at a later date, … Continued

St Pancras welcomes its first TGV – No. 951 ‘La Poste’, a postal/freight unit. The visit was both a test ad a PR exercise, carried out by freight consortium EuroCarex to demonstrate the viability of freight services through the tunnel and onto HS1 itself.

Opened by the London, Chatham & Dover Railway in 1865, the branch line to Crystal Palace High Level station was built to serve the Crystal Palace. The destruction of Paxton’s glass wonder saw a serious decline in traffic and the branch line finally closed in 1954, but some elements still remain if you know where to look.