London Reconnections

March Pub Meeting - Tuesday 10th 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'

Our next pub meeting in 2026 is tomorrow (Tuesday 10th March 2026) at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 pm:

Monday's Friday Reads for 9 March * 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

Monday's Friday Reads for 9 March:

Friday Reads for 6 March * 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

Friday Reads for 6 March:

Monday's Friday Reads for 2 March * 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

Monday's Friday Reads for 2 March:

Friday Reads for 27 February * 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

Friday Reads for 27 February:

Monday's Friday Reads for 23 February * 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)

Monday's Friday Reads for 23 February:

Friday Reads for 20 February * 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

Friday Reads for 20 February:

Book Review: Building The London Tubes 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.

Book Review: Building The London Tubes.

Monday's Friday Reads for 16 February * 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)

Monday's Friday Reads for 16 February:

Friday Reads for 13 February * 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

Friday Reads for 13 February:

February Pub Meeting Tuesday 10th 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'

Our second pub meeting in 2026 is tonight! (Tuesday 10th February 2026) at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m.

Monday's Friday Reads for 9 February * 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

Monday's Friday Reads for 9 February:

February Pub Meeting Tuesday 10th Our first 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

Our second pub meeting in 2026 is this Tuesday (10th February 2026) at The Crosse Keys pub located at 9 Gracechurch Street at 7.00 p.m.

How glamour, romance, & aesthetics are essential for an airship revival The Pragmatism of Luxury

In case you missed it: How glamour, romance, & aesthetics are essential for an airship revival:

Friday Reads for 6 February * Route for third Edinburgh tram line unveiled (BBC) * Why Glasgow’s Metro plan might actually work!: Video (CityMoose) * German train conductor dies after assault by fare dodger (RailTech) * India (Finally) Finished its Impossible Bridge: Video (The B1M) * The Hill of Hysteria: Why changing our street environment is so hard (Bridged2050)

Friday Reads for 6 February:

How glamour, romance, & aesthetics are essential for an airship revival The Pragmatism of Luxury

How glamour, romance, & aesthetics are essential for an airship revival:

Monday's Friday Reads for 2 February * Protest held against decision to fill in Queensbury Tunnel (BBC) * The Class 230 battery trial (Diamond Geezer) * Commuter train operated remotely thanks to Alstom / DB partnership (Rail Advent) * The Messy Science of Escalator Etiquette: Video (Half As Interesting) * Britain's nuclear powered ocean liner plans (Oceanliners Blog) * Elevated high line urban

Monday's Friday Reads for 2 February:

Friday Reads for 30 January * 1st HS2 Tunnel Boring Machine begins 4.5 mile Euston drive: Video (The Engineer) * Liverpool Street station redevelopment plans revealed: Video (Global Railway Review) * ‘Chiltern Explorer’ trains enter service (Rail Advent) * TfL eyes major upgrade so Tube can accept National Rail barcode tickets (Ian Visits) * CATCH-cast 37: Daniel Wright (Beauty

Friday Reads for 30 January:

Friday Reads for 26 January We're putting out a few older links today which had been gathering dust in the Friday Reads spreadsheet, but which are still worth sharing.

Monday's Friday Reads for 26 January:

REM Part Deux – Montréal’s new automated metro expands Montréal’s Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is becoming known for its automated metro operation, and its extensive reuse of existing railway and highway infrastructure. We look at how the opening of the next branch of this system completes part of the city’s original Métro network plans from 60 years

In case you missed it: REM Part Deux – Montréal’s new automated metro expands:

Friday Reads for 23 January * Transit Project Openings in 2026: A Global Review (Transport Politic) * Spain’s rail network under scrutiny after second deadly crash in three days (The Guardian) * The Paris Suburban Cable Car Is Now Open (And Predictably, I Love It): Video (The Tim Traveller) * Why do cycle lanes get so much stick

Friday Reads for 23 January:

REM Part Deux – Montréal’s new automated metro expands Montréal’s Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is becoming known for its automated metro operation, and its extensive reuse of existing railway and highway infrastructure. We look at how the opening of the next branch of this system completes part of the city’s original Métro network plans from 60 years

REM Part Deux – Montréal’s new automated metro expands:

Monday's Friday Reads for 19 January * Northern Powerhouse Rail Plans Revealed : Video (Network News) * London's New-ish Train is Here - Southeastern Class 376: Video (Network Nathan) * When the troubles of the world descend on the railways (VibeWire) * Baumol’s Cost Disease may lead to Wave of Transit ‘Fiscal Cliffs’ (Planetizen) * Mumbai Metro Aqua Line 3 extension

Monday's Friday Reads for 19 January:

Friday Reads for 16 January * The UK railway that dare not speak its name (Michael Dnes) * The Caledonian Sleeper Now Stops at Birmingham: Video (Geoff Marshall) * Why 2026 will be amazing for cycling in London: Video (London cycle routes) * How London finally cracked mobile phone coverage on the Underground (IanVisits) * A realistic SimCity simulation would

Friday Reads for 16 January:

January Pub Meetup - Tuesday 13th Our first pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 13th January 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'

A reminder, the next London Reconnections pub meeting is tonight!

Monday's Friday Reads for 12 January * New UK mainline railway stations opening in 2026 & beyond: Video (Geoff Marshall) * The Stupid Railway/Tramway of Commercial Road: Video (Jago Hazzard) * Surprising station stats: Video (Transport Matters) * Car brain is making cities unhealthy & dangerous. EVs won't fix it (CityLab) * The disabled, airport wheelchairs, & the myth of “Jetway Jesus” (The

Monday's Friday Reads for 12 January:

January Pub Meetup - Tuesday 13th Our first pub meeting in 2026 is on Tuesday 13th January 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'

A reminder, the next London Reconnections pub meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday 13th January!

Friday Reads for 9 January * The Bakerl0.0 (London Rail) * We Still Don’t Know if Robotaxis Are Safer Than Human Drivers (CityLab) * Tube trains could navigate the Underground using the weird rules of Quantum Physics (Ian Visits) * How Maps Kickstart a Civil Movement to Improve Transit in Indonesia: Video (Transit Mapping Symposium) * The 2026

Friday Reads for 9 January:

Monday's Friday Reads for 5 January * Bus service decline is making life harder for poorer Londoners (Dave Hill On London) * End of diesel fumes coming to St Pancras as new trains arrive (The Guardian) * What are NYC Subway conductors pointing at? (Untapped New York) * How to smash through the Iron Curtain with a steam train: Video

Monday's Friday Reads for 5 January:

Friday Reads for 2 January 2026 * Channel tunnel power outage disrupts thousands of journeys (The Guardian) * One place with seven stations: Acton (BusAndTrainUser) * UK-first trial proves real-time train location technology can improve safety at rural level crossings (Rail Industry Connect) * Transit Expansion in N. America: Look Ahead to 2026, & 2025 Roundup (Transport Politic) * The history behind

Friday Reads for 2 January: