End of an era for the original Thameslink Class 319 trains

The Class 319 trains were withdrawn after serving nearly 30 years on the Thameslink railway.

From Brighton and Hove News

The oldest trains in the Thameslink fleet are being retired today (Sunday 27 August) with the final passenger journey leaving Brighton for Bedford at 6.14pm.

Network Rail completes Waterloo upgrade and London Bus Tender awards

Network Rail held engineering works over the August bank holiday which saw the completion of the Waterloo upgrade works. This has enabled South Western Railway to have longer trains serving London Waterloo station.

From Network Rail

Network Rail has now fully reopened Waterloo station after completing one of the largest and most complex upgrades in the station’s history.

However, due to safety critical work to test the signalling taking slightly longer than planned early this morning, we are expecting disruption to the morning rush hour. Network Rail apologises to passengers for any delays to their journey and asks them to check before they travel this morning.

Finally! - An update on the SRM Volvo B5LHC

Here is a short news update:

The Volvo B5LHC with New Routemaster (SRM) bodywork was demonstrated at the Buses Festival which was held on 20^th August in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

Here’s the description of the Wrightbus SRM Volvo B5LHC taken from the Buses Festival website.

This is an interesting vehicle in that it is a prototype built to be used in trials to test the concept of on-road charging.

A response to the London Assembly’s report on reinstating bendy buses

First of all, this is not a political blog and this article is a response to the London Assembly’s report on the bendy buses.

From London Gov

With over two billion passenger journeys a year, bus usage is around double that of the London Underground. But bus passenger numbers are in decline.

Between 2014/15 and 2016/17, the number of passenger journeys made on buses fell by six per cent.[1]

New safety technology for London Buses

Here’s a short London Bus news update for everyone.

TfL have announced that they are increasing safety standards by trialling new safety technology for London Buses.

From TfL press release

Transport for London has announced plans to test new safety technology on London buses. Automatic braking and audible warning systems will be trialled alongside measures including new mirrors to improve the driver's vision.

My review of the new Crossrail Class 345

This is a follow up to my previous article.

At last! I got to ride on the new Bombardier Aventra Class 345 for the upcoming Elizabeth Line which is known as Crossrail.

I caught this train by chance at Romford Station because it was running four minutes late.

As I entered the train, it felt like boarding a London Overground train because they have longitudinal seating while most of the middle carriages have transverse seating, similar to the S8 stock train which is used on the London Underground Metropolitan Line.

Double deck Bio-Gas buses for Bristol and Sunderland

First Group will be launching a double deck bio-gas bus for their route 1 service in Bristol. The bus will also feature a glazed staircase – a design based on the New Routemaster bus.

From First Group

Starting Monday 21 August, Bristolians will be able to catch a new kind of bus – A double-decker bus that’s powered by bio methane, a renewable gas created from food scraps like left-over pizza pieces and other household food waste, so a completely sustainable and renewable fuel source.

Go Ahead Group wins Dublin Bus contract but loses West Midlands Rail franchise

Go Ahead has won a contract from Ireland’s National Transport Authority (NTA) to operate 24 bus routes in Dublin but they lost the West Midlands rail franchise.

From National Transport Authority Ireland

Go-Ahead has been selected as the preferred bidder for the contract relating to the operation of 24 Public Service Obligation (PSO) bus routes in the Dublin metropolitan area. NTA has written to Go-Ahead to inform the company of the decision. Go-Ahead is expected to begin operating some of these routes by the end of November 2018 and all routes by February 2019.

Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Graham said:

London Overground extension to Barking Riverside goes ahead!

TfL has reported that the proposal to extend the London Overground from Barking to Barking Riverside gets the thumbs up from the government.

From TfL press release

08 August 2017

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) have welcomed the news that the Government has given the green light for a vital new extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside.

Five new railway stations for England and Wales

The UK Government has announced investment of over £16 million to build five new railway stations in England and Wales.

From Department for Transport

TfL responds to RAIB on Croydon Tram derailment

Since the Croydon tram derailment which happened on the morning of 9^th November 2016, TfL has added more safety measures for their trams serving the South of Greater London.

We begin with the RAIB’s article on the tram derailment in Croydon...

Consultation report for the Bakerloo Line Extension and London Bus tender awards

First of all, the full report for the Bakerloo Line consultation is out. This is a brief follow up to my previous article.

From TfL consultations

Results Updated 31 Jul 2017

We recently consulted on proposals to extend the Bakerloo line beyond Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, serving Old Kent Road and New Cross Gate. Thank you to those who took part.