Evening Standard: "Timebomb ticking in Thames Estuary could put Boris Island plans in jeopardy"

Link to Evening Standard

"A wreck in the Thames Estuary laden with 7,000 tons of explosives may have to be moved or 'neutralised' if the Boris Island airport goes ahead, the Standard can reveal today.

"Transport minister Mike Penning is ordering a fresh look at how to ensure SS Richard Montgomery does not pose a danger to the massive scheme for four runways, which could be built on the edge of the Isle of Grain."

BBC: "HS2 rail alternatives no solution, MPs say"

Link to web site

"Alternatives to the High Speed Two (HS2) rail link would not solve the capacity problems on Britain's railways, MPs say.

"A report by the Parliamentary Inquiry into Britain's rail capacity says only the high-speed rail network can create the extra capacity needed.

"The MPs found that alternatives, such as incremental upgrades to the existing network, would not be sufficient.

"Opponents of HS2 say the report looked at a 'limited' set of alternatives."

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Link to report (PDF)

Daily Telegraph: "David Cameron won't have time for High Speed Rail"

Link to web site

"A notable absence in the Queen’s Speech today was the Government’s plans for High Speed Rail (HS2) – legislation hated by Right-wing campaign groups.

"... Steve Baker, a Tory member of the Transport Select Committee and opponent to HS2, said he always thought it would be introduced next year:

"Given that Labour supports the idea too, I don't think it matters if the detail isn't finished by the next election. It'll still pass whoever is in power."

Evening Standard: "Boris Johnson calls on Government to build a new airport for London"

Link to Evening Standard

"Boris Johnson today called on the Government to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary and told David Cameron: 'This is a moment for greatness.'

"The Mayor appealed for 'bravery' and 'dynamism' from Downing Street ahead of a Government announcement on its aviation strategy.

"Mr Johnson said his favoured solution of a new hub airport in the Thames Estuary - dubbed Boris Island - would boost jobs and growth in London, the key aim for his second term."

"Crossrail’s first tunnel boring machine breaks ground at Royal Oak"

"Crossrail’s first giant tunnel boring machine (TBM), Phyllis, has broken ground at Royal Oak to construct the first section of tunnel between Royal Oak and Farringdon.

"Keith Sibley, Crossrail Area Director West said: 

"Tunnelling for Crossrail has now commenced. Phyllis is now beginning to slowly disappear below ground, and will steadily ramp up to the planned average tunnelling rate of around 100 metres a week."

"Following the official unveiling of 1,000 tonne Phyllis, Crossrail’s first tunnel boring machine travelled 400 metres to Royal Oak Portal, including under Hampden Street footbridge which was jacked up to allow the 7.1 metre diameter machine underneath."

The Guardian: "On track for Britian? Italy's Ferrari of the railways gets off to a flying start"

Link to web site

"Could this sleek, red railway equivalent of a Ferrari one day cut a blurry dash through the Chilterns? If Britain has struggled to sell the idea of high-speed rail to a sceptical public, the government might like to turn to Italy for inspiration.

"From Saturday, the traveller from Rome to Naples can cover the 225km (140 miles) in little over an hour, paying as little as €20 (£16.33) for the pleasure."

Network Rail: "The Case for New Lines" (2009)

"The Forgotten Great Western and Great Central Mainline from London" (through Old Oak Common)

Wednesday 2 May: The Rail Engineer: "Making London’s railways fit for the challenge of major growth"

Link to The Rail Engineer

"... The next decade will see upgrading of radial routes, and the creation of major new cross-London capacity in the form of Crossrail and Thameslink, as well as the continued development of orbital routes and interchanges."

The Londonist: "A Modest Proposal To Improve Crossrail"

Link to The Londonist
(to satisfy the Daily Mail Science Correspondent)

The Londonist: "Will Someone Please Explain What’s Wrong With The Hammersmith Flyover?"

Link to The Londonist

"Ever since work began on the Cromwell Road Extension in the 1940s, a complicated set of junctions at Hammersmith Broadway prevented the scheme from linking up with the Great Western Road. In 1962 the Hammersmith Flyover opened to much acclaim, providing this missing link. It is this structure whose current state of ill-health is bringing West London to a grinding halt. The source of its woes are the corroding steel reinforcement cables, but they are most certainly not to blame.

"The Hammersmith Flyover is an ingenious design. It was necessary to provide an elevated carriageway 61 feet wide in a space that was only 28 feet wide, using a construction site suspended above a busy arterial traffic route that was to remain operational."

F&H Chronicle: Overnight closure as work to re-open A4 Flyover reaches 'critical' point'"

Link to Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle

"WORK to re-open the stricken A4 Flyover has reached a 'critical' point with the stretch set to be closed overnight to allow key strengthening work to be completed.

"... Work to strengthen the five weakest spans of the 16 span structure will be completed in June 2012, well ahead of the London 2012 Games."

Evening Standard: "High-speed rail link 'would struggle to break even'"

Link to Evening Standard

"Transport Secretary Justine Greening was today urged to order an independent review of the high speed rail link to the North after new figures suggested the scheme would struggle to break even.

"... A Department for Transport spokesman said the benefit-cost ratio was only one part of the decision-making process, arguing that the benefits 'reach well beyond transport economics'."

West London trolley-buses (and Thomas the Tank Engine)

Evening Standard: "Canary Wharf Crossrail station reaches milestone"

Link to Evening Standard

"Construction of the £15 billion Crossrail project's underground platform at Canary Wharf station has been finished five months early."

LONDON MAYOR 2012: Transport Manifestos

Link to PDF file

"My plan for transport in London is simple"

1. Cut fares and keep them down.

2. Make it easier for everyone to get around while cutting pollution, with better public transport, less congestion, and safer streets for pedestrians and cyclists.

3. Plan now for the transport system that London will need tomorrow.

Link to PDF file

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"My 9 point plan for a Greater London"

... ...

8. Reducing Tube delays 30% by 2015. Building Crossrail and orbital rail to link our suburbs. Extending the Bike Hire scheme.

9. Securing a better deal for London from No 10.

IanVisits: Photos from inside the Crossrail Station at Canary Wharf

Link to IanVisits web site

"It may not look it from the outside, but an important part of Crossrail’s Canary Wharf station has already been completed – and five months ahead of schedule.

"In fact it doesn’t really look completed when you have a look at it – but what the builders have done is finish the structural construction in order to hand it over to Crossrail engineers to start fitting it out. Over the next few months they will be laying tracks on the base of the station so that when the tunnel boring machines arrive next year, they can drive through the station and out the other end."

The Guardian: "Hammersmith and Fulham council estates facing demolition have become political battleground"

Link to The Guardian

"Two estates in the west London borough are lined up for the wrecking ball: the larger West Kensington and the smaller Gibbs Green next door. Built in the 1960s and 70s and containing 760 houses and flats, they are earmarked by the council for sale to the property firm Capco for £100m. Their demolition would clear much of the way for the redevelopment of 31 hectares of some of the most expensive real estate in Britain. The Earl's Court project would also see the levelling of the two exhibition centres that share the area's name.

"From the rubble would rise what Hammersmith and Fulham and its adjoining Tory borough Kensington and Chelsea term a 'new urban quarter', based on Sir Terry Farrell's masterplan for 'four villages and high street' – a high-rise, high-density, high-value neighbourhood quite different from the one it would replace."

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Evening Standard:

"London's population to rise by 14%"

"Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the overall population of the capital will rise by 14.2 per cent to more than nine million by 2020 — more than one million more than currently live here.

"Net migration accounts for only 2.5 per cent of the predicted increase, because, although large numbers of migrants arrive in the capital each year, many then move."

"HS2-NW is a campaign based in the North West which aims to promote the benefits of HS2"

Link to 'HS2 Northwest' web site

"Despite the first phase of HS2 only being built to the West Midlands, the North West will benefit massively from the construction of this new line. A connection from HS2 to the West Coast Main Line (WCML) close to Lichfield will allow for 'classic compatible' trains to operate on the conventional network North of the West Midlands."

Sunday Telegraph: "Radical planning powers are to be unveiled by ministers"

Link to Sunday Telegraph

"The planning framework will be published on Tuesday by ministers who want a new age of 'pro-growth' planning.

"High-Speed-Two chief engineer Prof McNaughton, who holds posts at Imperial College, London, and Nottingham University, raised the prospect of a major expansion to Birmingham Airport, which could be rebranded 'London Birmingham' because the travel time to the capital using the high-speed link would be shorter than the time taken to travel from London to Stansted.

"Prof McNaughton also said the HS2 would create a 'second Docklands' in a densely populated area of west London."