New trains on London's Bakerloo line could arrive much sooner than expected
At 53 years old, Bakerloo line trains have needed to retire for some time now. In 2024, Sadiq Khan said that they were 20 years past their use by date and deputy mayor for transport Seb Dance said that it was 'quite astonishing' they were even still working.
London Centric reported that last week TfL boss Andy Lord said that the ordering of new Bakerloo line trains could start in the coming months, thanks to a new £2.2bn new capital renewals program by the central government. Those trains would be walk-through and air-conditioned with CCTV, like the new Piccadilly line trains that are currently being built (but which were recently delayed).
However, Lord caveated that the trains still wouldn't come into service until the latter end of the decade. That's because there is a 'significant amount of infrastructure upgrade' needed on the line before the new trains can start running.
That's about all the updates we have for now. Unfortunately there's still no solid date in the diary for when the Bakerloo line will finally offer 21st century tube travel. The news comes soon after a report revealed that the majority of Londoners support proposals for a Bakerloo line extension, which can only happen once the current outdated trains are replaced. You can read more about what that extension would look like here.
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BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
London Fire Brigade saves six trapped people a day
London Fire Brigade (LFB) has revealed it is currently rescuing around six people a day on average, and said most rescues are not from fires. It said it was mainly called to rescue people from behind locked doors, but said in the last 18 months it had also saved a person trapped in a cat flap as well as a number of window cleaners trapped in their cradle at height. LFB urged the public to never worry about calling 999 if trapped. "Sadly, our control officers sometimes receive calls where someone has been too embarrassed to call us and their situation has deteriorated for hours, or even days, before they have sought help," said Group Commander Shaun Coltress. "Whatever the emergency, we will provide advice and assistance without judgement."He added: "Most of our rescues are completed in less than an hour, so it's much better to ask for help than to wait and risk further harm to yourself or others." Rescuing Londoners The brigade's new data revealed that London's firefighters rescued 3,627 people since January 2024 – an average of more than six people a day, including:1,754 people who had collapsed behind a locked door463 people from lifts389 people from special service incidents (such as a child's hand trapped in playground equipment) 318 people from fires275 people from other incident categories229 people who were locked in73 people from road traffic collisions68 people from water and mud incidents58 people from chemical incidents Some of LFB's recent rescues have made headlines on their own. In April 2024, firefighters rescued a man trapped in a trench at a construction site in a few months later, firefighters rescued children and adults at a swimming pool in Wembley, following a chlorine June of this year, one woman from Clapham sought the help of LFB when she was locked out of her brigade said the new data showed the range of scenarios they are equipped to deal with. Group Commander Coltress said: "When people think about rescues, they often imagine a firefighter carrying someone out of a burning building. But, as London's rescue service, we are trained to carry out rescues in a variety of different ways."Our fire engines carry dozens of pieces of equipment, and firefighters are trained to adapt their skills to unique scenarios."
Spectator
3 days ago
- Spectator
The scourge of London's chicken shops
It was recently announced that the sign from the original Morley's chicken shop is to go on display in the new London Museum in honour of the chain's 40th anniversary. Morley's, which has more than 100 branches, almost all in south London, has become something of an institution. Even Mayor Sadiq Khan has declared himself a Morley's man. The idea that Morley's is museum-worthy London heritage seems a stretch, though. Fried chicken is meant to be the prized food of Kentucky or Korea, not Kennington or Kingsbury. But I paid a visit to my nearest Morley's to see what the fuss was about. I opted for the famed spicy wings and referred – as is obligatory – to the server as 'Bossman'. Past the counter I could see men at the fryers, their faces shining and not with happiness. There was a vague smell of BO – though unclear whether emanating from one of the chefs (is that the right word?) or my lunch. But, in truth, Morley's isn't the worst of these places. 'Mmm… It Tastes Better' reads their tagline. And if they mean better than Chicken Cottage, they may have a point. The ketchup even comes in proper round little tubs and not those fiddly sachets providing sauce enough for precisely three fries. (The sharp-edged rectangular plastic tubs are all but banished from the modern-day chicken shop, presumably in case they could be used as a murder weapon.) When hungry or hungover, if you can look past the unidentifiable black stringy bits, Morley's serves a purpose. But there's no getting around the fact that what these chicken shops serve up is lowest common denominator food. If the Big Mac is the American century in edible form, the chicken wing somehow represents globalisation's greasy underbelly. There is still something a tiny bit optimistic about McDonald's – the Happy Meal, the clown smile, the golden arches promising a bite of the capitalist dream. There is nothing redeeming about the chicken slop. Ronald wouldn't be so much as turning in his grave as bent over his tombstone in his happy yellow jumpsuit, retching. And leaving taste aside, the bigger problem is the blight on the high street. Chicken shops are everywhere – there are, extraordinarily, 8,000 in London alone (including 29 on a single stretch of road in Streatham). That compares with 10,500 fish and chip shops across the entire UK, down from a peak of more than 35,000 in the 1930s. The problem with chicken shops is the garish signage, the smell of oil last changed at some point in the 2010s. There's the crime (in 2019, the Youth Select Committee heard evidence that 'chicken shop gangs' were recruiting children to their drug operations with the offer of free chicken), the crowds, the loafing, loutishness and litter. Above all, the litter. More than any of the big-name fast-food chains, chicken shops seem to disgorge boxes, buckets and bones on every street that they plague. Keep Britain Tidy does good stuff ('Don't be a tosser' was a favourite). But the charity's campaign to combat the blight of cigarette butts feels stuck in the wrong decade. We need rather a national effort against chicken skeletons. I once followed bones all the way down Blackstock Road from chicken shop to Tube station, like Hansel and Gretel. The trail ended, fittingly, with three undevoured wings strewn across the floor. After all, it's hard to keep it all in the bucket when jumping the ticket barriers. Fried chicken has become recently rather chic. Gen Z tune into Chicken Shop Date on YouTube and London has gentrified with upmarket joints – Popeyes, Butchies, Lucky's. At another, Thunderbird Fried Chicken, at Embankment, I paid £17.74 for eight wings with fries and a milkshake. Not that those prices make it free-range, mind – though at least it's halal so you know the battery bird has suffered. Writing in the Times, Charlotte Ivers recently hailed the chicken wing as a 'quintessentially British success story' and 'one of the victors of multiculturalism', as she salivated over the offering at Wingmans on Kilburn High Road. 'What a blessing,' she sighed. I'm sorry but this is tosh. This is not some sort of authentic ethnic dish like Caribbean jerk chicken (and very nice that is too). No culture would be proud of the junk that comes out of these shops or want its cuisine to be judged on this basis. This is Theresa May's 'citizen of nowhere' encased in batter. But we have allowed ourselves to be browbeaten into accepting the fiction that these places are serving up some sort of ethnic delicacy, a nostalgic right for diaspora groups. A quote from Vice magazine is emblazoned across the wall at Morley's: 'Seeing a Morley's lets me know that I'm home.' How have we let it happen that fried chicken, something with no connection to the UK, or for that matter with the ancestral homes of our diaspora groups, is now synonymous with London? This is a difficult area. I have no desire to control what people eat though force of law. But it is no surprise that with some 40 chicken shops for every secondary school in Tower Hamlets, the borough has the sixth-highest rate of child obesity in the UK. Won't someone think of the children. Of course these places will continue to exist. But the chicken shops' merciless spread like some sort of cooking oil slick is something we should resist. Fewer of them would be a public good. Please, Bossman.
Glasgow Times
4 days ago
- Glasgow Times
London Underground and Overground closures: July 25
The changes will see some stations closed or partly closed for TfL to carry out essential work. So you don't get caught out by the changes, we've broken down a list of all the work on the London Underground, Overground and Elizabeth Line this weekend. To get the most up-to-date stats for the Underground, you can use the TfL app or website. What's your go-to Tube line, and why is it your favourite? 👇 — TfL (@TfL) June 3, 2025 London Tube and Overground closures this weekend Friday, July 25 Tram: Wednesday 23 until Sunday 27 July, no service between Wandle Park and East Croydon. Cutty Sark station: The station is closed until spring 2026 while they replace all four escalators at the station. Roding Valley station: From Tuesday, May 6 until the end of July 2025, westbound trains (towards Woodford) will not stop at the station, and the footbridge will be closed. Saturday, July 26 DLR: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July, no service between Bank / Tower Gateway and Canning Town / Canary Wharf, or between Stratford and Canary Wharf. Mildmay: Saturday 26 July, the 2104 and 2234 Clapham Junction to Stratford, and 2319 Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction trains will not operate. Suffragette: Saturday 26 July, the 2330 last train from Gospel Oak to Barking Riverside will terminate at Barking, platform 1, at 0003. Tram: Wednesday 23 until Sunday 27 July, no service between Wandle Park and East Croydon. Waterloo & City line: Service operates between 0600 and 0030, Monday to Friday only. There is no service on Saturdays, Sundays and on bank/public holidays. Cutty Sark station: The station is closed until spring 2026, while all four escalators at the station are being replaced. Roding Valley station: From Tuesday, May 6 until the end of July 2025, the westbound trains (towards Woodford) will not stop at the station, and the footbridge will be closed. @tfl Historic maps, signs, and vehicles? We have them all 🤩 Join us at the London Transport Museum Depot open days from 6 – 8 June and 18 – 21 September! Book now on London Transport Museum's website 🔗 ♬ original sound - Transport for London Sunday, July 27 DLR: Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July, no service between Bank / Tower Gateway and Canning Town / Canary Wharf, or between Stratford and Canary Wharf. We track your journeys and cap them, so you never spend more than you need to 👏 For more info on how TfL's daily cap benefits you, visit: — TfL (@TfL) May 29, 2025 Mildmay: Sunday 27 July, until 2215, a reduced timetable will run between Richmond and Stratford. Trains will run every 10 minutes. Sunday 27 July, from 2215, a reduced timetable will run between Richmond and Camden Road. Trains will run every 20 minutes. Sunday 27 July, no service between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction. Suffragette: Sunday 27 July, no service between Barking and Barking Riverside. Tram: Wednesday 23 until Sunday 27 July, no service between Wandle Park and East Croydon. Recommended Reading Waterloo & City line: Service operates between 0600 and 0030, Monday to Friday only. There is no service on Saturdays, Sundays and on bank/public holidays. Windrush: Sunday 27 July, from 2215, no service between Highbury & Islington and Dalston Junction. Cutty Sark station: The station is closed until spring 2026, while they replace all four escalators at the station. Roding Valley station: From Tuesday, May 6 until the end of July 2025, westbound trains (towards Woodford) will not stop at the station, and the footbridge will be closed.
