Latest news with #PiccadillyLine
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
New air-conditioned Piccadilly line trains tested in central London
New air-conditioned Piccadilly line trains have been successfully tested in tunnels through central London after the launch of the fleet was postponed by up to a year. Technical issues identified in prototypes delayed the launch as new trains had to be modified and re-tested to ensure they ran sufficiently. The new trains had a test run between Northfield and Hyde Park corner during a closure of the Piccadilly Line last weekend. New Piccadilly line trains will replace older trains introduced in 1973 and will be the first of the Tube's deep-level lines to have walk-through carriages and air conditioning. Londoners have been calling on Transport for London (TfL) to install or improve air conditioning on Tubes, after temperatures reached up to 33C on trains during the heatwave in July. The Tube lines which reach the hottest temperatures include the Victoria, Central, Bakerloo and Northern lines. The Standard previously interviewed commuters on the Tube on the hottest day of the year in July. Salvatore Cafaelli, 60, who commutes on the Victoria line, said: 'I have no choice, I have to take the Tube for work, but definitely it's too hot. It's like I am in a sauna. 'I think for the money commuters are paying, (TfL) should be improving the system,' he said – and called for air conditioning to be provided on all Tube lines. The new Piccadilly train test run comes after The Standard revealed the arrival of the first 94 new trains which were due to be introduced into public service during 2025 had been delayed by up to a year – the new trains are now expected from July to December of 2026. The initial delay was caused by unexpected difficulties in introducing the first new train onto challenging 'real life' conditions on London Underground infrastructure, compared with the test track, on which the train is understood to have performed well. The introduction of a new fleet of trains is part of a £2.9bn investment programme to upgrade the line. Once the 94 new trains replace the existing 86 trains, TfL plan to increase the number of trains travelling through central London from 24 to 27 trains an every hour – equating to one every 135 seconds – at peak times. The new trains are designed and manufactured by Siemens – the majority of the fleet is being assembled at the Siemens factory in Goole, Yorkshire. At a London Assembly meeting, Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner previously admitted the introduction of the new trains was proving 'challenging' and 'extremely complicated' to fix. Mr Lord said: 'The first train was slightly late [arriving] in London last summer. Since it arrived, a number of issues have been discovered as part of testing that we have been undertaking in the depot. 'That has meant that Siemens have had to do some further design work.' Stuart Harvey, TfL's chief capital officer, who is in charge of the introduction of the new trains, previously told The Standard: 'It will obviously be disappointing for customers that they will have to wait a bit longer for the new trains, and I regret that. 'But I would like to assure Londoners and visitors to our city that we are working extremely closely with Siemens to ensure that the new trains can be introduced as soon as possible in the second half of next year.'
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Yahoo
Piccadilly line dubbed 'Purgatory line' after passengers suffer 70 service suspensions in a month
The Piccadilly line has been dubbed the 'Purgatory line' after a spate of frustrating delays and suspensions. The key Underground line - which is used for one in 10 of all Tube journeys - has been suspended in full or in part on 70 occasions between June 7 and July 7, Transport for London has disclosed. TfL has not published detailed information on Tube delays and reliability since before the pandemic, despite the London Underground accounting for more than half of all rail journeys made in the UK on a daily basis. But TfL's 'network' figures show that, in the most recent period from June 22 to July 19, only 90.1 per cent of scheduled kilometres on the Piccadilly line were completed during the week – less than other 'sub-surface' lines such as the Victoria, Northern, Jubilee and Central lines. One north London commuter, who alerted The Standard to the 'practically unusable' state of the line during rush hour, said: "The Piccadilly line is broken. 'It has been unreliable for so long now with countless signal failures and long gaps in the service, not to mention the seemingly endless weekend closures. 'TfL's failures must be hitting the fragile economy as many thousands of us hard-working commuters are late for work and miss appointments. It should be renamed the Purgatory Line.' Between last November and January this year, there were long waits between Piccadilly line trains due to many suffering wheel damage caused by excessive leaf fall in west London. The TfL data, released in answer to a freedom of information request, reveals that many of the recent interruptions in service on the Piccadilly line were only for a matter of minutes. However, the line was suspended for 30 minutes or more on 17 occasions – including seven periods of an hour or more. The three longest suspensions – of three hours 33 minutes, four hours six minutes and five hours 53 minutes – all happened on July 4 when there was a blaze in a railway arch at South Harrow, beyond the control of TfL. Reasons for other part-suspensions included signal failures at Hillingdon, Hyde Park Corner, Ruislip, Ickenham, Southgate, Barons Court and Northfields. TfL also had to contend with a casualty on the tracks, a trespasser, faulty trains, fire alerts at Hatton Cross, South Kensington and Ealing Common, and planned evacuations at Heathrow. Only the Northern and Central line trains cover more distance on a daily basis than those on the Piccadilly line, showing how vital it is as a means of keeping the capital connected, including to the West End and Heathrow airport. But its trains are 50 years old and a long-awaited £3bn fleet of 94 new trains – which will become the first air conditioned 'deep level' Tube trains in London - has been delayed by up to a year. The first new train is not expected to enter service until the 'second half of 2026', The Standard revealed last month. Earlier this month, TfL commissioner Andy Lord denied that the new trains – which have different geometry to the existing 1973 fleet - had been delayed because they didn't fit in the Tube tunnels. London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, in a recent written answer to the London Assembly, said the testing of the first of the new trains had been delayed 'due to some challenges associated with the design, build and commissioning' but was due to begin 'on the railway from August 2025'. Sir Sadiq added: 'While the Piccadilly line remains in service for most of this work, there will be some disruption due to work which needs to be carried out as part of planned weekend closures, but a lot of the testing will be carried out overnight to minimise disruption to customers.' There will be no Night Tube between King's Cross and Heathrow overnight on Friday August 1 and no service on the line on Saturday August 2 between King's Cross, Osterley and Uxbridge, including on the Night Tube. Further part closures are planned over the weekend of August 16-17, September 13-14, 20-21, and 26-28 and on various other weekends in October, November and December. Sir Sadiq has also revealed plans for the new Piccadilly line trains to stop at Turnham Green – something that only happens early in the morning and late at night. He said: 'It is proposed for trains to call at Turnham Green after the line has been re-signalled and the fleet further expanded under phase 2 of TfL's Piccadilly Line Upgrade. 'This would enable higher frequencies, faster journey times and would unlock the capacity needed for trains to stop at Turnham Green without impacting service levels elsewhere. However, this is not currently a funded project.'
The Irish Sun
05-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
Floor was slick with blood, screams echoed in tunnel, I felt every human emotion, says 7/7 survivor on 20th anniversary
ON the morning of July 7, 2005, journalist Peter Zimonjic and his wife Donna set off from their West London flat to catch a train into the city. It was a seemingly ordinary day, much like any other – but it would turn out to change Peter's life for ever. 8 Peter Zimonjic says the 7/7 bombings have taught him to feel in his bones how our time on Earth is fleeting Credit: Photograph by Blair Gable 8 Commuter Alexander Chadwick took this picture of passengers being evacuated from the bombed Piccadilly Line train in a tunnel near Kings Cross station Credit: AP:Associated Press 8 A shot from a passenger's video on board a train next to the one targeted by bombers at Edgware Road Credit: Ferrari Press Agency For he was about to witness the worst terror incident since the That morning, just before 9am, three al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists detonated devices on Tube trains in central London. An hour later, a fourth device was set off on a No30 bus near Euston station. The 7/7 bombings killed 52 people and injured over 770. READ MORE ON 7/7 BOMBINGS Peter and Donna had caught a train at their local station in Hanwell, near Ealing. But when they had to change trains, Donna chose to take a different route from Peter's, as she was heavily pregnant and thought she would be unlikely to find a seat on the busy Circle Line. So Peter got on without her – and was caught up in one of the deadly explosions that has haunted him ever since. Tomorrow there will be a service of commemoration at St Paul's Cathedral for those who were killed or injured on the city's transport network. Most read in The Sun But for Peter, 52, it will be too heartbreaking to return. Here, he explains why. 7/7 survivor Dan Biddle and his rescuer Adrian interview MY wife, Donna, was eight months pregnant with our first child on the morning of July 7, 2005. She had slept poorly, which meant so did I. At Paddington I kissed her goodbye, watched her train disappear into the tunnel, and marched to the Circle Line. I stood in the crowded carriage as the train accelerated towards Edgware Road. Around the same time a bomber got on at that station. As his train passed mine in the tunnel, he detonated his bomb. There was a sudden loud smashing noise which reminded me of the metal on metal of one car hitting another in a high-speed accident. I thought two trains had clipped one another as they passed in the tunnel. The thought of it being a bomb was an alien one. When the emergency lighting returned in the carriage, smoke was beginning to sting our senses. 'Clothes shredded' A family nearby comforted their terrified children. A man to my left grasped at the sealed doors to escape. Panic spread. From the carriage behind, a person asked for help. When a man in front of me moved towards the calling voice, I followed. The coach on the parallel track lay in darkness, but through the sliding doors we could see a leg and an arm wiggling into our train. The limbs belonged to a man trying to force his way through a hopelessly narrow crack in the doors — his clothes shredded, his skin dripping with blood, his face frantic. 8 First responder Paul Dadge helps injured passenger Davinia Turrell at Edgware Road tube station Credit: AP:Associated Press 8 The bombed Edgware Road Circle Line train where six victims died Credit: Gavin Rodgers The man I'd followed into that carriage, who I would later learn was named Tim Coulson, worked with me in a vain attempt to release the door. We smashed the window and jumped across the track into the darkened carriage of the neighbouring train. I climbed through the window frame and slid on a floor that was slick with blood. Bodies, some moving, some frozen, lay strewn about the dim carriage. Screams echoed through the tunnel, all pleading for help. Some were close, some seemed very far away. All were filled with a deep terror. It was a sound I'd not heard before or since. Stepping back and looking down the carriage, I could see a man in a suit trying to revive a woman lying prone on the carriage floor, her clothes almost blown off, with chest compressions. The outcome of that effort had been decided long before he got there. My heart raced, my breathing shortened, my head swelled — I didn't know what to do next. I was experiencing every human emotion at once — I was overwhelmed, incapable, impaired. 8 I felt a hand on my leg, and when I looked down I saw a man lying on his back. He pointed below his waist where I could see he only had one leg. The stump that remained had been tied off with the remnants of a white collared shirt. I took off my suit jacket, folded it and put it under his head. I took off my shirt and ripped it into bandages, strengthening the tourniquet. For more than an hour I lurched through the carriage looking for people I could help, feeling that whatever I did was not enough. When we finally walked through the tunnel into daylight, I phoned Donna. I did not know if she was the victim of another bomb on another train. For 20 years I've lived my life trying to only think of the terror of that day on its anniversary Peter Zimonjic When I heard her voice I broke down for the first time. She had thought it was some kind of fault or disruption. When I told her it was a I wrote an account of my experiences that ran in the Sunday papers immediately following the attacks. A man named Andrew Ferguson who recognised my description of him, of his efforts to help save people that day, reached out to me and we went for a pint. It was like meeting a lost brother. Help people connect For the Tube staff and the emergency service workers, the bombings happened at their place of business, alongside colleagues. But the passengers were all strangers, alien to one another. I set out to fix that and created to help people connect and fill in the blanks of the day. Many became the subject of my book: Into The Darkness: An Account Of When I moved back to Canada two years later, Tim and his wife Judy came to stay with us and over the years we kept in touch. When I flew back for the tenth anniversary of the attack, they sat right behind us in St Paul's Cathedral. We embraced and smiled, so happy to see one another alive and well again. 8 Peter with his wife Donna and their kids Anja and Jakob Credit: supplied 8 Peter's friend Tim Coulson, who died last year Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd For 20 years I've lived my life trying to only think of the terror of that day on its anniversary. The grandest resistance to that horror and death, I have always felt, is to live and to find joy, to love my wife and daughter Anja, now 20, born two weeks after the bombs, and my son Jakob, now 18. As this anniversary approached, I decided not to come back to London to mark the occasion. I wanted to, but I couldn't. Earlier this year the world lost Tim. I wouldn't be able to sit in St Paul's and feel that empty space behind me. The Marked by the horror of the day, I was fortunate not to have faced the terrible injuries some survivors have had to bear, or the unfathomable loss of loved ones that others still live without. Most fortunate was that I was able to walk out of that tunnel and into the arms of my wife, that I was able to witness the birth of my children, that I was able to grasp the sunlight and pull myself out of that tunnel to live and love and survive. I GOT ABUSE DUE TO MY MUSLIM FAITH WHEN the first Tube bomber set off his device on the eastbound Circle Line train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate, Muslim passenger Mustafa Kurtuldu was sitting in the next carriage. After the blast he had an agonising 45-minute wait for emergency services to lead him to safety – and then went on to receive abuse because of his religion. Mustafa, now a designer, said: 'My bag was searched after we were rescued from the Tube, and when I was outside it was searched again after an officer asked my name. 'I sat next to a Spanish guy while I was being transported to hospital on a bus, but I felt as though he was treated differently to me and was given more sympathy. I was only 24 years old and had the burden of being an 'unelected official' for the Muslim community. 'I had the anxiety of explaining that I wasn't the 'bad guy'. 'In the weeks following the bombings I was attacked at knifepoint, and was made to condemn the attacks as a Muslim. 'If someone is a victim of any other kind of crime, they wouldn't be asked to condemn it. 'It's so irrational. You are held to a higher level of accountability. 'It still happens. I was on a flight back from Canada and was pulled to the side with other Asian men. 'When the flight attendant saw I was in business class, she apologised, so I asked if terrorists don't travel business class. It's ridiculous.' And 20 years on, Mustafa is still suffering. He added: 'I used to go to the memorial in Hyde Park and break down. 'I had such survivor's guilt. It has seriously affected me. 'Over time, you learn to pretend that it doesn't impact you. I tried to talk to others about it but people don't understand.'
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
You can have the chance to ride on vintage 1930s London tube carriages
Vintage 1930s train carriages will be running on parts of the Piccadilly Line next weekend. Between Friday (July 11) and Sunday (July 13), various parts of the Piccadilly Line will be operated by 1930s art-deco stock tube train carriages run by the London Transport Museum. Parts of the Piccadilly Line will be operated by 1930s art-deco stock tube train carriages this weekend. (Image: London Transport Museum) First built in 1938, these trains were the first kind of tubes that utilised electrical equipment underneath the floor, and served major parts of the London Underground network for over 50 years. First built in 1938, these trains were the first kind of tubes that utilised electrical equipment underneath the floor. (Image: London Transport Museum) Londoners will have the rare chance to ride aboard one of these heritage trains throughout various times over the weekend, with tickets starting from £25 for adults and £15 for children, with carers and under 3s admitted for free. Lasting between 45 and 90 minutes depending on the route, these rides will allow you to take a nostalgic trip on the London Underground with either Gold or Silver (front) or Bronze (middle) carriages available to book, with seating allocated on a first come first served basis. These rides will allow you to take a nostalgic trip on the London Underground. (Image: London Transport Museum) The trains will run between Northfields and the Heathrow Loop, as well as between Uxbridge and Acton Town, and between Ealing Broadway and Cockfosters. Here are all the times you can ride on them: This will be a return journey between Northfields and the Heathrow Loop lasting 50 minutes. On Friday there will be return journeys between Northfields and the Heathrow Loop. (Image: London Transport Museum) Times: Journey 1: 10:10am Journey 2: 11:45am Journey 3: 2:05pm Journey 4: 3:35pm Prices: Gold (front carriage only) - Adult £30, child £20, concession £29 Bronze (not including front car) - Adult £25, child £15, concession £24 This will be a return journey between Acton Town and Uxbridge lasting 90 minutes. Saturday will offer return journeys between Acton Town and Uxbridge. (Image: London Transport Museum)Times: Journey 1: 10:45am Journey 2: 12:40pm Journey 3: 2:40pm Prices: Silver (front and back carriage only) - Adult £27.50, child £17.50, concession £26.50 Bronze (not including front and back car) - Adult £25, child £15, concession £24 These are single journeys, which will either run starting from Ealing Broadway or Cockfosters Underground station, lasting 70 minutes. On Sunday, single journeys will run between Ealing Broadway and Cockfosters. (Image: London Transport Museum) Times: Ealing Broadway to Cockfosters - 10:35pm or 2:35pm Cockfosters to Ealing Broadway - 12:30pm or 4:30pm Prices: Gold (front carriage only) - Adult £30, child £20, concession £29 Bronze (not including front car) - Adult £25, child £15, concession £24
The Independent
04-07-2025
- The Independent
Fire sparks commuter chaos as Tube services halted
A major fire under railway arches in South Harrow, London, caused severe disruption to Tube services on Friday morning. The blaze, which started around 1 am, required 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines from London Fire Brigade to bring under control by 4 am. Parts of the Piccadilly line between South Harrow and Uxbridge remain closed, with severe delays on the westbound line between Acton Town and South Harrow. No injuries were reported, but gas cylinders are believed to have exploded, and the fire severely damaged vehicle workshops and commercial properties. London Underground tickets are being accepted on local bus services, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
