Map courtesy of Network Rail In 2009, we described how Network Rail planned to debottleneck the ECML at Hitchin by building a flyover from the Down Slow to the Down Cambridge at Cambridge Junction. This, together with the chord at Saint Pancras and works at Finsbury Park and Hornsey are integral to the projection of Thameslink services to Cambridge. The main over-bridge structure was completed by June 2012 and the revised North Junction at Christmas. The project is on schedule … Continued

What happens when the parcel stops ticking? As our legislators’ thoughts turned towards tinsel, we saw again the traditional parliamentary game known as “When the music (parliamentary questions) stop – let’s stop passing the ticking parcel of hot potatoes.” As every spin-doctor knows, this is either best done the day before the House breaks up, or better still the day after. A blizzard of written, and therefore unquestioned, ministerial statements flutter down from Whitehall. Answers to long stalled awkward questions … Continued

Some readers have spotted that we have not reported on the developing situation at Farringdon for a while. It’s nice to know you noticed and care and we are sorry to have kept you waiting. The general approach we were/are taking with Thameslink is almost on the basis of an “annual review,” and Spring is always a good time to review new works (the “then” and “now” scenario provides a handy hook upon which an article can be based). We’ll be starting that review this year with London Bridge, but in the meantime here are a couple of teasers with regards to Farringdon.

It starts most days about five in the morning, as planes begin their final approach to Heathrow. Almost immediately, a queue forms. “Red eye” flights arrive from North America that have taken off just before the continent’s airports closed for the night, together with flights from the Middle East that are avoiding hot and heavy expensive fuel burning take offs by taking advantage of lower overnight temperatures. Flights from India, the Far East, Australasia and South Africa add to the … Continued

“And one should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, nor more dubious of success, nor more dangerous to administer than to introduce a new order of things; for he who introduces it has all those who profit from the old order as his enemies, and he has only lukewarm allies in all those who might profit from the new.” – Niccolò Machiavelli At the TfL Board Meeting on 2nd November, a short report appeared as … Continued

The word “driverless” does not feature in the Operational Strategy Discussion Paper once. Given the amount of times this word has appeared in the press recently, the above statement may seem rather surprising. What it demonstrates, however, is that just as with the topic of ticket office closures, the Paper’s proposals with regards to Train Operators and operation are more complex than one might think. Automation for the People Sources indicate that the Paper lays out a brief overview of … Continued