Our next pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 14th July 2026 at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m. Maybe a beer will go down well in the hot weather. We generally try to meet in one of the two rooms at

* Deaths linked to London air pollution fall 40% | Guardian * Clapham Junction's Battersea eats & backstreets | Hungry Passenger * Manchester's successful transport incrementalism | Mobility Matters * Perfect, quirky rural bus/rail link, but is it used? | BusAndTrainUser * How Madrid's Metro is insanely well designed: Video | Hoog * Hanoi’s ambitious 5-line metro launch | Future Southeast

* Bedford crash initial findings suggest signal was passed at danger | Rail Business UK * The hidden labour when travelling accessibly | Accessible Link * Bad passenger info has consequences: we trust it | Now let's be clear * Unopened railway viaduct could be High Line: Video | Wobbly Runner Exploring * Norway greenlights world’s first full-scale

Cartoon caption: "Remember, it's illegal to use your phone while driving. Instead, use the giant iPad built into the car." - The New Yorker

Dotted around the streets of London is a collection of stylish inter-war railway stations. These are not, however, the Art Deco Underground stations commissioned by Frank Pick between the two world wars, which seem to get all the attention. This second set, in contrast, is often overlooked. The stations are

* TfL launches DLR Thamesmead extension consultation | South London * Railway gets new powers to ban repeat offenders | RailUK * The wartime railway that defended England: Video | Walking Britain's Lost Railways * Songs about Home Counties trains: Video | Saint Etienne * Paris' RER Revolution, with Japan's help | Infrastory * The roads & driving costs transportation experts don't

Dotted around the streets of London is a collection of stylish inter-war railway stations. These are not, however, the Art Deco Underground stations commissioned by Frank Pick between the two world wars, which seem to get all the attention. This second set, in contrast, is often overlooked. The stations are

Our next pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 9th June 2026 at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m. We generally try to meet in one of the two rooms at the back and have a sheet of paper with 'London Reconnections'

* TfL plans more bus safety standards to stop deaths | BBC * West Midlands Metro tram construction to Merry Hill shopping centre: Video | Transport Matters * Exploring TfL’s Biggest Archive… in a salt mine: Video | TfL & VaguelyMundane * How Porto somehow built a modern Metro: Video | Flying Moose * Reverse culture shock on German

* New Mid Cornwall Metro services deliver 25% rise in rail journeys | RailUK * How Athens built a metro on a deadline: Video | Flying Moose * Only 0.5% of 90,000 oil slicks reported over 5 years | The Guardian * WW1 battlefields narrow gauge locomotive relocates to Lincolnshire railway | BBC * 3 ways to

* Huge HS2 4000 tonne Curzon 2 bridge moved: Video | Transport Matters * TfL Poems on the Underground new series marks 40 years | RailUK * The psychology of waiting in a road incident | James Gleave * Megaprojects seen as unsuccessful, as the successes become invisible | Infrastory * The Disastrous History of Brussels Metro Line 3:

* Piccadilly Line upgrades prep for Intro of new trains | Railway-News * London’s Short-Lived Hoverbus: Video | Jago Hazzard * The Wolverhampton Problem | James Gleave * Mark Ovenden interviews Yonah Freeman of TheTransportPolitic: Podcast | CATCH-cast * Massive new split-flap board bound for New York's JFK Airport | Airport Architecture * Fixing the World’s Most Congested City

* Disused Charing Cross tube tunnels used for major NATO war exercise | ianVisits * Thameslink could cut numerous services on the Greenwich line this summer | Murkey Depths * Rare TfL design failure: Walthamstow Central first train indicator replacement | Now let's be clear * California High-Speed Rail – An Autopsy: Video | Wendover Productions * Mark Ovendon interviews

* Network Rail deal to run depots, offices, & stations on wind power | Rail UK * What the European railway sector lacks to become truly dynamic | Mediarail * Cities thrive with women in charge: It’s all about sharing public space | The Guardian * A twist on new Thames crossings | Michael Dnes * A thousand Chinese

* Tracey Emin in TfL campaign on hidden disabilities, priority seating | ianVisits * The way train door buttons work has changed, confusingly | Now let's be clear * Finland opens one of the world’s longest car-free bridges | E+T * What Can Transport Planners Learn From Cinema? | Transport Leader * London Riders: shows all Tube

* Cambridge South opening date confirmed, & station environs review | Cambridge Eye * Britain’s worst performing rail operators are all privately-owned | E+T * I Drove my Childhood Train: Video | Nick Badley * Agreement signed supporting future direct London - Switzerland rail services | Global Railway Review * Next Gen Wayfinding on transit vehicles & in stations

Our next pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 12th May 2026 at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m. We generally try to meet in one of the two rooms at the back and have a sheet of paper with 'London Reconnections'

The Tyne and Wear Metro has recently been introducing brand new trains, had approved an extension to Leamside and Washington, along side new interchange options with the recently opened heavy rail Northumberland Line – which we had recently looked at. These are all great upgrades to the local rail networks, as

* ‘People can see it – but can’t use it’: mystery of completed East-West Rail line that has no passenger trains | The Guardian * HS2's could be overloaded from Day 1... unless the train spec changes | James O'Malley * Portishead railway reopening contracts signed after ‘decades' | Rail Business UK * The Abandoned Thameslink Moorgate

The Tyne and Wear Metro has recently been introducing brand new trains, had approved an extension to Leamside and Washington, along side new interchange options with the recently opened heavy rail Northumberland Line – which we had recently looked at. These are all great upgrades to the local rail networks, as

* Deep beneath London, HS2 crews finish hand-dug tunnel connections | Ian Visits * Scotland Reopened 30 Miles of Dead Railway - Forecast Was Off by 700%: Video | Vanished Engineering * The Lost Station of East Brixton: Video | Jago Hazzard * England's Only Tram Train & How it Should be Expanded: Video | SubwayExpress * The £100M Bat

* Sacked from DfTO: The Chris Gibb interview: Video | Green Signals * London's Lost Railways - Chessington Branch: Video | Geoff Marshall * HS2’s Northolt Tunnel Cross passages complete | Tunnelling Journal * Railway Wonders book on UK's greatest disused railway tunnels & viaducts | Rail Engineer * TrainTuber Panel discusses their work & impact: Video | High Speed Rail

* Marston Vale Line - East West Rail Upgrade 2026 Update: Video (Rail Focus) * Peaks & Dales Line Feasibility Study Identifies £2-8bn Economic Potential (Rail Tech Mag) * The 'Hill of Hysteria': why changing our environment is hard (Wandsworth Bridge Road Assoc'n) * Thoughts on New Bus Stop Shelter Trial at Romford Station (CLondoner92)

* Seven shades of green: the DLR’s quietly complicated network (ianVisits) * A revisionist Surrey Iron Railway? (London Rail) * Renewable Energy Deal to Power NSW Trains & Buses for Less (Railway News) * How Copenhagen built a metro for (basically) free: Video (Flying Moose) * Exit 8 review: Escher-esque subway station disquieting psychological film

Sometimes a simple question can lead into a tangle of historical research when it is discovered that there appears to be no documented explanation for something. This is especially the case when the question seems to be so simple that one cannot understand why it has not been asked before.

* East West Rail reset plan to speed up construction (Construction Enquirer) * Anorak corner (tube edition) (Diamond Geezer) * Three new tram stops start (BusAndTrainUser) * Limbostructure (Michael Dnes) * The work behind ETCS testing on the Welwyn Garden City to Hitchin stretch: Video (Great Northern) * Framing Game: We Call Affordable Mobility “Too Costly”

* The government needs an infrastructure plan, w/ new Crossrails (Baldwin) * Flight cancellations loom as Strait of Hormuz closure triggers jet fuel crisis (E+T) * What if the DC Metro used Pictograms, & other pictogram ideas: Video (Trains Are Awesome) * The Night Ferry (Part 1) (Reading on Trains) * Why Japan has such

We're doing a little spring cleaning today, and sharing some older but worthy links which had been gathering cobwebs in the Friday Reads spreadsheet. * Heavy SUVs & electric cars smash through guardrails (Slate) * How to Travel to Heathrow's 6 Stations for Free: Video (Geoff Marshall) * The Future Growth of Los Angeles

* Shrewsbury Station's missing platforms & added extra level: Video (Transport Matters) * The Real Reason US High-Speed Rail Failed (The B1M) * For wheelchair users, every train journey is a video game level (Accessible Link) * Self-driving cars blocking buses: Waymo puts transit systems on hold (Fast Company) * Adding Up What Urban Highways Really

* GWR to trial new overnight Gatwick services this summer (Rail UK) * Northumberland Line complete as Bedlington opens: Video (SarahWithTheTrains) * A Mainline Station Heritage Artefacts Collection (Daniel Wright) * EU, Germany to accelerate rail investment due to Iran War (Ped'n Observations) * Milano Centrale is a true cathedral of railways (My Train of

* East London’s Beam Park C2C railway station finally approved (Ian Visits) * West Ashfield: Video (Transport for London) * Two Australian states offer free public transport (BBC News) * Belgrade’s first metro line will be delivered by Alstom (Urban Transport) * A new opportunity for congestion pricing, before AVs flood our cities

* South Kensington tube station upgrade finally getting started (ianVisits) * Two Black Country stations open on Shrewsbury to Birmingham line: Video (Transport Matters) * Ten months of major engineering work delivered at Glasgow Central during emergency closure (Network Rail) * Transport Secretary tasks HS2 with reducing construction time and cost (Rail UK) * The

* Could London approve its own transport projects without Whitehall delays? (ianVisits) * LNR reaffirms support for neurodiverse passengers w/ assistance & free travel packs (Rail UK) * The problem of men on the railways (London Rail) * Accessibility problems are a 'nationwide transport failure' affecting economy (The Engineer) * Northern Line POV – Kennington to Edgware:

Great Northern Inners to the rescue

* Inside the giant machine digging HS2’s railway tunnels to Euston station (Ian Visits) * Cutty Sark DLR station reopening next week say Transport for London (Murky Depths) * London Mayor launches new plan to cut road deaths (Zag Daily) * Three New Stations in Birmingham: Video (Geoff Marshall) * Some ScotRail services resume

Great Northern Inners to the rescue

* TfL using VR to encourage customers to be active bystanders (Rail UK) * London Transport Museum adding new exhibitions galleries (Ian Visits) * Glasgow rail station for sale for £1: Video (Clive's travel & trains) * New TGV-M Avelia Horizon trains too large for some Italian rail lines (Jon Worth) * Edmonton’s ghost LRT

* First minister pledges help with costs of ‘horrific’ fire next to Glasgow Central station (The Guardian) * Rail legacy issues and the Deaf (London Rail) * NYC to update empty newsstands to create 'tea huts' for Deliveristas (Streetsblog) * Czechia to Germany in 24 Seconds: The World’s Shortest International Railway: Video (What

Our next pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 10th March 2026 at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m. We generally try to meet in one of the two rooms at the back and have a sheet of paper with 'London Reconnections'

* Extending the DLR to Thamesmead: But Why? (Jago Hazard) * The Bus That Drives Itself - Cambridge Autonomous Bus (Geoff Marshall) * We don't have to suffer bad infrastructure design (Standard) * Iron Rhine strategic railway chugs back to life to counter Russia (Politico) * Architecture, design, & art secrets of the DC Metro Silver

* London’s Oxford Street pedestrianisation given official go-ahead (The Guardian) * Everything you need to know about Liverpool Street's rebuild plans: Video (Network News) * TfL trials new bus shelter designs across London (CILT) * Why Did Maglevs Never Succeed?: Video (What On Earth Is This?) * Plans for ‘Mini Switzerland’ rural coordinated public

* Mini Switzerland’ UK demonstrator to transform rural public transport (Hope Valley Climate Action) * Massive expansion of Disabled Railcard Discount eligibility (Scottish ADHD Coalition) * Manchester's Bee Network rail devolution blueprint (Centre for Cities) * What I learned visiting over 100 railway stations (Campaign for Better Transport) * Missing railway horses mystery: Video (Transport

* Greater Anglia to expand contactless payment zone from March including Stansted Airport (Murky Depths) * They're splitting the Northern line... maybe: Video (Jago Hazard) * Behind the Scenes at Victoria Coach Station: Video (Geoff Marshall) * Inside abandoned Curzon Street station: Video (Gareth Dennis) * Milano inaugurated the extension of Metrotram Line 7 in

* Northern line upgrade could bring new train depot to former horse hospital (ianVisits) * The first train at Northumberland Park: Video (JenOnTheMove) * High-speed services resume following Adamuz derailment (Int'l Rail Journal) * Another necessary reframe for the transit narrative (Urbanism Speakeasy with Andy Boenau) * Maglev and Birmingham International Station: Video (Transport Matters)

* The New Adlestrop Railway Atlas * The Hidden History of Birkenhead Central: Video (Merseywail) * LA Aims to Beat Freeway Traffic With $25 Billion Subway Project (Bloomberg) * What’s the Point of Pointing in Japan, Anyway?: Video (Atlas Obscura) * Boston to plant green roofs on bus stops (GoodGoodGood) * Toronto's 30 km network

We have rarely done reviews of books. Fairly recently an opportunity presented itself to review a book on the subject of how Tube lines in London were constructed. The book in question is ‘Building The London Tubes’ by Antony Badsey-Ellis and it was published in October 2025 by Capital Transport.

* A New Era of American Passenger Trains – Amtrak Airo: Video (Trains Are Awesome) * London's 800 year old Bridges Fund (Full Steam Ahead) * Peckham Rye station to get £5m makeover while waiting for step-free rebuild (ianVists) * A genuine treat for £1.60? Try the shortest railway line in Britain (The Guardian)

* Heidi Alexander Sets Out Vision for Rewired, Passenger First Railway (Rail News) * RNIB urges accessibility overhaul as Great British Railways is developed (IanVisits) * It's a bold life for London Tube-TfL Guinness collab (London Rail) * 30 years of Birmingham's Jewellery Line: Video (Transport Matters) * ‘The intimate and the epic’: the best

Our second pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 10th February 2026 at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m. We generally try to meet in one of the two rooms at the back and have a sheet of paper with 'London Reconnections'

* I inhaled traffic fumes to find out where air pollution goes in my body (BBC) * Paddington could host TfL’s first sensory-friendly “quiet space” for travellers (Ian Visits) * North America's Best Transit Cities – A Countdown: Video (Ray Delahanty | CityNerd) * Germany reopens the Hermann-Hesse railway line: Video (Singapuu) * The Second Lives