As part of a multi-billion pound investment programme, the cross-city Thameslink line is to get a brand new fleet of trains. Southern Railway, who will be operating the new stock when it comes into service next spring, will deploy 44 carriages to run northwards to Bedford instead of terminating in Blackfriars as they presently do. Good news for commuters who do the daily yo-yo up and down Thameslink's fifty-odd station route. However, we were......

As a parochial and unglamorous antidote to the Hollywood Oscars that took place last weekend, London Underground was crowned Public Transport Operator of the Year at what LUL are desperately trying to sex up as the "transport Oscars" but are actually more prosaically known as the London Transport Awards. The MD of LUL explained they had scooped the gong for: delivering a record volume of service, carrying more passengers than ever before, while at......

This week saw Londonist Get Scientific when we previewed We Are Scientists playing Soho Revue Bar this Tuesday, get excited about Eurovision and get cosy with Portico Quartet. A busy week all in all! Looking ahead to this week however, we have Eels playing Royal Festival Hall on Monday night. They've invited the Queen too, so it could be an amusing evening. Austin, Tx stars Spoon play a sold out show at Scala and rising......

Following the Oscars this weekend there are free film screenings all over town this week. Edify thyself and make new friends running across 5 different genres of movie for no expenditure whatsoever. Monday: The Duke Mitchell Film Club is holding heist night at the Cross Kings Bar on York Way with a long lost Italian heist movie "Seven Golden Men". The film starts at 8pm but there's also a "trailer trash" collection of vintage......

As Camden is recognised as a musos’ haven, Ken pledges cash for the rebuild. Silly bitch niece is banged up for life for killing her poor 100 year old aunt. Over her inheritance. Doherty is putting it around (his guitar, of course), with gigs here and there. Kings College is developing some good news for diabetes sufferers. London Fashion Week carries on in spite of Londonist apathy: apparently Conran’s a hit. Piccie courtesy of......

It's finally been announced that Clerkenwell club Turnmills will be closing down in March after the landlord confirmed plans to redevlop the site. The club's lease on the venue is nearly up and a mutual agreement has led to the venue wanting to end on a high. This deals a bit of a blow to London's danceland who also recently suffered the closure of The Key, The Cross and Canvas as part of the......

Londonist asks if Croydon is turning into the new Kings Cross, as yet another brothel is raided and shut down. Ealing authorities reckon real actors from The Bill will give a new anti-kiddie-crime documentary enough clout for it to be effective. It is part of a programme to be unrolled in West London schools. Lee Jasper’s deputy is forced to resign over illicit luxury beano to Nigeria. And for being daft enough to lie......

Three weeks into the New Year, probably one week until payday and telly's rubbish (except for new CSI), the weather's grey and the detox is wearing thin. Don't give in to those January blues! Here's what can get you out of the house for not a lot of wonga this week. Monday: This is the most depressing day of the year. We've said it before but we're going to say it again because we......

Waterfront London, which opened today, looks at waterside development in London; recently completed, underway or in the pipeline. It considers how our waterfronts are transforming and being embraced as essential public spaces whereas, not long ago, we buried rivers, turned them into sewers or filled in and built on them. The enlightened approach, celebrated here, is to embrace the waterways and exploit their potential as transport routes, leisure facilities and biodiverse environments. The key......

Right, so you're either saving up to blow the last of the December salary on one helluva NYE out or you're just stony broke after Christmas/sales shopping. Either way, unless you're happy to simply hibernate for the week here are some ideas for New Year jollity on a budget. New Year's Eve: Follow our top tips and gird your loins for the massive fireworks display along the Thames, focusing on the London Eye and......

Talia has already covered the more common places to go dancing tomorrow night, but for a more alternative music New Years Eve, then wander over to Kings Cross’ Monto Water Rats to catch Brighton rockers Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster play a special New Years gig with support from Gingerbread Men, The Foxes and a few others. Alternatively, there are still a few tickets available for Super Fury Animals at Royal Festival Hall. The fun starts......

Our friends at the South East London Folklore Society (SELFS) will be hailing and celebrating Yule tonight with a good old fashioned game of pin the tail on the Yule Cat. There will also be beer, chips, storytelling, songs and games. If you're a fan of urban legends, One Eye Grey, Jack the Ripper walks, gory London histories, oddities, nooks and crannies, the occult, paganism, Morris dancing, dragons, witchcraft and the like, you need......

Josh Rouse might not be a well-known name, but he fills the Shepherd’s Bush Empire with ease tonight. In fact everything seems to come naturally to him, from the relaxed shuffle onstage to his casually turned-out country-pop gems. Opening the bill is Sweden’s Jens Lekman, playing a solo set except for a girl who joins to play bongos and occasional piano. Lekman’s bittersweet tales of small-town romance sparkle with lo-fi pop hooks mixed with......

If you're free on Thursday night (13th Dec), then Mercury nominees The Young Knives are playing a pretty cool headlining gig at Canvas, Kings Cross. The Rage Out In Winter is an all evening event (7.30pm - 2am) aiming itself an a more discerning gig goer, hoping to provide cool bands in luxurious settings. They've even got proper caterers on the case to provide food to gig goers which we think is a great......

To be honest the rain and coldness is kind of making us not want to go to gigs at the moment, preferring instead to wrap ourselves up warmly at home. But if we did, this is what we'd be bouncing at. Monday: The biggie tomorrow is of course Led Zep at the O2, but you've more chance of meeting Santa than getting tickets for that. So instead, forget the dinosaurs and try something new......

Dusting off the snow from last year, every day this month the Londonist team will be pointing you in the direction of a Christmas present that (with a bit of luck) you won't already have on your list. Climb up onto our collective lap and we'll see what we can move from our sack to your stockings.. Even seasoned Londoners like learning more about their home city. We're proof - we put our own......

Here’s what we learned this weekend, whilst you were drawing up your Christmas card lists (or crossing people off them): It’s been a bad weekend for London’s performers, with even the ROH being dissed, and one band getting the worst review this Londonista has ever seen. But it has been a great couple of days for pussy cats, with three of them being rescued from a derelict flat, and another being turned into a......

Further to our earlier post and readers' comments we've been in touch with Art on the Underground to clarify about the poster giveaway next week. Each day a different poster will be available from 8am at the 5 Underground stations: Kings Cross, Victoria, Waterloo, Paddington and Liverpool Street. The schedule is as follows: Monday - Mark Titchner Tuesday- James Ireland Wednesday - Klega Thursday - Layla Curtis Friday - Katie Dove Happy grabbing! Image......

To celebrate the rebranding of the Platform for Art initiative as Art on the Underground, TfL are giving away specially commissioned posters at 5 Zone 1 tube stations all next week (bound to be a bunfight on Monday though, be prepared). Among the artists is Turner Prize nominated Mark Titchner and poster designs include a fictitious A-Z map and some snow capped mountains. 25,000 of each design have been produced and will be stacked......

It's definitely time to start scrimping on things so you've plenty of dosh for those Christmas outings and present buying blitzes. London on the Cheap returns after a hiatus (we were temporarily flush, we made the most of it...) to help you get the most of the city on the scrag ends in your pocket. Monday: Get in the right frame of mind for Christmas shopping. Fortnum and Mason has just emerged from its......

Hailed by Steve Lamacq and produced by Trevor Horn, London band Captain released their debut album in 2006 to critical acclaim. But somehow their brand of slightly dark twee pop (and we say that in the nicest way) didn't quite hit the charts as well as they may have liked. Now they're back for a 2nd go with a forthcoming second album in 2008 and they've been reminding people of their existance with a......

Tonight start the week by going to see massive Swedish popstar Marit Bergman at Hoxton Bar & Grill. She's playing a one off UK gig in an attempt to get signed in the UK. (£6, here. Former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman teams up with fledgling band The Wave Pictures at The Luminaire (£8, here). Plus the awesome Cold War Kids play Shepherd's Bush Empire. On Tuesday, German dance kids Digitalism are at the Scala......

If you missed out on Halloween fancy dress or just want an excuse to get decked out in Victorian garb, then White Mischief offers the perfect opportunity. White Mischief is a night of cabaret, vaudeville, and live music that encourages audience participation and dressing up. The event will be taking over Scala in Kings Cross this Saturday from 8pm until the wee hours. This show's theme is 'From The Earth To The Moon' and......

With the opening of St Pancras and its high-speed line to the continent, the approval of Crossrail, and glimpses of the futuristic bullet trains that will soon call London home, there are plenty of encouraging signs that Britain's rail network is in good health. They don't come much more inspiring than the former railway man who has set up his own rail service. Grand Central Rail was established in 2000 by former British Rail......

Some of our favourite Scandinavian bands are coming to the UK in the next couple of weeks and we thought you better know about them. First, the most mainstream, Robyn will play her first live dates since everyone woke up and realised she was actually amazing, at The Scala on Thursday. The gig is unsurprisingly sold out but there are tickets currently knocking about for face value on Scarlet Mist. The weekend is filled......

Just in time for Halloween, global dark art peddlers, Strychnin Gallery, opened its East London doors Friday night with the “Kings and Queens and Childhood Dreams” exhibition. The show, which still runs for at least a few more weeks, features the works of dozens of artists from throughout the world. Much of the exhibition’s subject matter has a creepy and somewhat sinister edge. By “childhood dreams,” we assume they mean nightmares, creatures under the......

If you happened to stroll into Room 420 of the Trafalgar Hotel during the recent Bridge Art Fair, then your eyes were treated to some excellent art exhibited by the ‘low brow to high brow’ cool kids from Strychnin Gallery. With locations in New York and Berlin, it was probably only a matter of time before Strychnin set up more a permanent camp here. Luckily for us, that time is now. Strychnin is opening......

Even with the spectre of hazardous drinking looming over us, pubs are still our favourite places to be, so we were delighted to be invited along to the Fancyapint.com London pub awards 2007. Fancyapint has awards in 2 categories. The reviewers' awards are based on their dedicated team's experiences over the year and a bewilderingly scientific system of tick boxes. The visitor awards are based on a not wholly scientific but ingenious manipulation of......

Kick off the week tomorrow with Stephen Fretwell at Cadogen Hall (£15). The singer songwriter is touring his 3rd album "Man On The Roof" and by all accounts it's pretty good. Or if you like your things with a bit more soul (or rubbish pop depending on your point of view) then the 'legend' that is Craig David begins the first of four dates at Ronnie Scott's (£25). The Mercury nominated one man dream-machine......

For anyone who wants to imagine they are abroad in sunnier climates while London turns damply autumnal, the flavours of Spain are coming to London for a week in Taste Spain. Being quite a sophisticated city in terms of culinary acuity, Londoners know there is more to the cuisine than paella and sangria, so the programme of events and things on offer are of very high quality. We're impressed. And hungry. What's happening? Well.........