London Reconnections

Reconnections’ Miscellany: Lord Dawlish speaks! – August 2023

On 24 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In DfT, Long reads, Miscellany, TfL

London and South East Region Line Nicknames Transport for London’s Lineage Organisation Brand Reports to Date Metropolitan, Great Northern, and Metropolitan East London Railways Metropolitan Railway shareholders 1863-1933 Underground Electric Railways Company of London (UERL)[financed …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 21 August 2023

On 21 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Accessibility, Cycles, Design, Friday Reads, Technology

• UK rail industry has grown used to failing everyday on accessibility, MPs hear (DisabilityNews) • The weird, colourful postmodern Berlin U-Bahn station architecture (ExBerliner) • The world’s first covered bike path could be made …

Friday Reads – 18 August 2023

On 18 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Buses, Freight, Friday Reads, Parking, Technology

• The future stations of HS2 (RailEngineer) • Brits use more water to wash their cars than UK’s major cities combined (MobilityMatters) • German government provides €12.5bn more for rail investment (IntlRailJ) • Chicago’s complex …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 14 August 2023

On 14 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Aerial, Design, Friday Reads, HS2, Trolleybuses

• Euston HS2 TBMs to be buried under Old Oak Common until gov’t green light (NewCivilEng) • Fabulous Pathé BOAC Sunderland flying boat passenger flight: Video (AirlineRatings) • Willy Spiller’s book Hell on Wheels on …

Friday Reads – 11 August 2023

On 11 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Buses, Design, DLR, Friday Reads

• Where have all of England’s buses gone? Their neglect is a national failure (Guardian) • 10 day closure of northeast DLR leg starts next Sat 19 August (IanVisits) • Warrensville to Westferry: Lessons in …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 7 August 2023

On 7 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Design, Friday Reads, Maps, Trams/Streetcars/LRT

• Rows over ‘anti-motorist’ ULEZ & LTNs lose perspective: They save lives (Guardian) • What Underground Venetian Masts station roundels have to do with the Illuminati: Video (JagoHazzard) • Moving two A4 Pacific Mallard siblings …

Friday Reads – 4 August 2023

On 4 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, HS2, Nudges, Parking, Pollution

• DfT mulls stripping HS2 Euston terminus to 7 platforms (NewCivilEng) • Great Train Robbery 2 sequel flops badly (RailwayTechnology) • Combatting the sound of the Underground in London (RailTech) • Paris to charge SUV …

How Montréal’s REM learnt from the Paris RER – Automatic for the People

On 3 August 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Crossrail, Design, Infrastructure, Long reads, Stations

Move over RER, Montréal’s new fully automated Réseau express métropolitain (REM)’s first segment has opened. Once fully completed, the REM line will link directly across Montréal Island north, south, and west. Essentially, a Regional Express …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 31 July 2023

On 31 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Accessibility, Airports, Friday Reads, Heathrow, Maps

• How low cost airline subsidies are hampering the great modal shift (RailwayTechnology) • History of Heathrow Express, from WW2 plans, to the future (IARO) • Ireland’s Strategic Rail Review makes 30 proposals to greatly …

Friday Reads – 28 July 2023

On 28 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, Maps, Nudges, Roads, Trams/Streetcars/LRT

• £14m in fines levied on TfL & TOL for Croydon Tram crash (RailwayTechnology) • UK announces £680m for Turkish high speed electric railway, but no UK benefit (LondonEconomic) • Northern expanding using classical music …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 24 July 2023

On 24 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, Maps, Pollution, Safety, Stations

• Manchester, Yorkshire, & Liverpool Mayors initiate legal process against ticket office closures (RailAdvent) • Full Tube Map of human anatomy [safe for work] (VisualCapitalist) • The American car death cult [close registration request] (AmericanProspect) …

Friday Reads – 21 July 2023

On 21 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Accessibility, Buses, Friday Reads, History, Pedestrians

• London buses are slowing down, slowing down, slowing down (OnLondon) • Gloucester Road: Forgotten spaces, historic features, & art installation: Video (HiddenLondonHangouts) • Fare Dodger Bingo: Which excuses have you heard? (RailUK) • Freight …

Monday’s Friday Reads – 17 July 2023

On 17 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Friday Reads, History

• Views under Waterloo Station on its 175th Anniversary (IanVisits) • Britain’s Railways All Change: oral history collection of the privatisation process (NatlRailwayMuseum) • The Carmont 2020 Railway disaster, Part One: Podcast (SignalsToDanger) • Montpellier …

Friday Reads – 14 July 2023

On 14 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Accessibility, Arts, Design, Friday Reads, Overground

• Unusual London Overground trips possible this weekend (IanVisits) • TfL announces 10 Underground stations to be upgraded to step-free access (IntelligentTransport) • Sister Rosetta Tharpe 1964 South Manchester Blues & Gospel Train show: Video …

Floors – The Next Dimension in Safety and Wayfinding

On 13 July 2023 By Long Branch Mike In Design, Long reads, Nudges, Stations

Station and platform floors have traditionally been unadorned, and only recently has their potential as a blank canvas for relaying information to passengers been utilised. The floor is the stage on which the drama of …