London Underground and TfL

TfL awards contract for new DLR fleet to replace 30-year-old trains

12.06.19: TfL has awarded a contract for 43 new trains to replace the oldest rolling stock on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), with the first scheduled to enter passenger service from 2023. CAF has been chosen to design, manufacture and supply the...

Out with the old: London Underground's track renewal works

04.06.19: Alistair McLaughlin, programme delivery manager for Balfour Beatty, and John Lambert, head of track programme for Transport for London (TfL), explore the intricacies of London Underground track renewal works as part of the new Integrated Track T...

Network Rail awards final west London station upgrade contracts for Crossrail

08.05.19: Network Rail has awarded the final contracts for upgrades to stations in west London as part of the delayed flagship Crossrail project. The upgraded stations will benefit from improved passenger flow, new ticket halls and enhanced accessibi...

Bond Street a year behind other Crossrail stations due to tunnelling problems

07.05.19: Crossrail’s Bond Street station is a year behind schedule compared to the rest of the project’s stations because of extensive tunnelling delays, Mark Wild has revealed. Speaking to the London Assembly, Crossrail’s chief ex...

Crossrail clung to ‘unrealistic’ timeline as contract renegotiations cost an extra £2.5bn, NAO reports

03.05.19: Crossrail “clung to an unrealistic view” throughout its delivery and has damaged public value, but is now “past the point of no return” and must focus on meeting its new target, a report from the National Audit Office (NA...

London Underground workers to strike over ‘safety-critical cuts’

02.05.19: London Underground maintenance and engineering workers are preparing for three-days of strike action in a row over cuts to train preparation and inspection schedules. The RMT said over a thousand of its members will walk out from 17 May to...

London Overground workers prepare for further strike action over ‘insulting’ pay freeze

01.05.19: London Overground workers are to stage another walkout over a pay freeze which “effectively means a slide into poverty pay,” the RMT has announced. Members of the union will walk out for 24 hours on 16 May, their second set of i...

Crossrail to open by March 2021 as bosses confirm new timetable

26.04.19: The Elizabeth Line will open by March 2021 at the latest as a new six-month delivery window for the Crossrail’s crisis-hit central section is revealed by the project’s bosses. The announcement confirms that Crossrail, already he...

TfL commissioner urged to quit after downplaying Crossrail ‘tragedy’

24.04.19: Transport for London’s (TfL) chief commissioner has been told to consider resigning after he “watered down” key messages between Crossrail and TfL over the project’s extensive delays and £3bn overspend, according to...

‘Huge challenges ahead’ as Crossrail bosses say new rolling stock coming in December

11.04.19: A possible opening date for Crossrail could be announced by the end of month and Class 345 Elizabeth Line trains to be introduced in December but there are “huge challenges ahead,” Crossrail bosses have warned. Crossrail chief e...

MPs ‘not convinced’ two-year delay and £3bn overspend will be enough as committee slams Crossrail’s ‘disastrous’ governance

04.04.19: MPs have said they are “increasingly alarmed at the continual shortcomings” of Crossrail and the DfT as its nearly £3bn overspend and substantial delays still “may not be enough.” The Public Accounts Committee...

London mayor calls for government to devolve rail infrastructure powers and funding to TfL

28.03.19: London mayor Sadiq Khan has called for the government to transfer control of rail infrastructure management to TfL and manage its devolved suburban services. Khan said the move would pave the way for a metro-style service in south and south...

Changing the London skyline with HS2

26.03.19: Lisa Hogben, HS2 programme delivery manager for area south enabling works, explains how the arrival of HS2’s first tower cranes shows change is coming to London Euston. On Monday 14 January, HS2’s first cranes appeared on the ca...

TfL agrees £1bn sale and leaseback of new Crossrail trains to rail consortium

26.03.19: TfL has completed a £1bn deal to sell and lease back new Crossrail-bound Class 345 trains, releasing the capital to reinvest into London’s transport network. The trains will be sold to the 345 Rail Leasing Consortium under a 20...

Crossrail delays to cost businesses £600m as TfL reports half a billion pound deficit

20.03.19: The delayed opening and financial chaos around Crossrail are to cost businesses and developers up to £600m, as TfL announces a budget deficit of £500m – nearly half that of original estimates. A levy on business rates is t...