Is officially the most crowded train in London. Well, the most crowded train in London that's been measured by the Department for Transport. Well done, that man, for counting heads at Surbiton when all those poor, rammed together, suburban commuters just wanted to get the hell to work. The 8 carriage train had 318 more people than seats. That's precision statistics, there. But we'd like to challenge the 8.02 South West Trains service with London......

Like a schoolboy clutching a scrap of dog-chewed homework after he's already flunked the course, the London Overground, which despite a change of name and snazzy new livery has failed to improve much, will for the remainder of 2008 have a convenient excuse for its habitual awfulness. Parts of the network are being suspended to allow engineering works and track upgrades to be performed. The closures will run as follows: Gospel Oak to Willesden......

Fed up of inner city weekends, packed tube trains and tourist filled streets? The London Transport Museum is offering you a flavour of gentler, more graceful travelling times with a "Heritage Day Out in Metro-Land". On Sunday 14 September, 2 historic trains will be shuttling the suburban journey between Harrow and Amersham. A 1938 art deco tube train will be returning to passenger service again for this special day out and the even older,......

Expect a sigh of frustration to issue from Walthamstow, Brixton and all points inbetween when commuters hear the rumour that the Victoria Line's 10pm weekday curfew - set to end this November - may continue into 2009. BBC London have turned out a fascinating report on the line's £900m refurb - they've been poking around with the engineers installing signals and track ahead of the new rolling stock set to be gradually introduced next year,......

"Junior Kickstart" was one of our favourite BBC shows with an awesome bumpy theme tune and kids on Honda 50ccs squealing through muddy courses and over unfeasibly challenging obstacles. Twenty years later, in a sad twist of fate, off-road motorbikes are to be employed by the police to crack down on bored kids with nothing better to do than throw stones at trains, drink cider in railway sidings and generally cause problems on the......

Crossrail as a concept seems to have been around for yonks yet this week, stuff actually starts happening around the crucial and much needed redevelopment of Tottenham Court Road station with bus diversions kicking in on Friday to make way for works to begin. A free exhibition at New London Architecture brings the ambitious plans to life with a computer generated 'fly through' of the transformed station, incorporating not only essential expansion of capacity......

Crossrail was a major project for the previous administration, so while Boris is a keen supporter (he reckons it is a "cracking deal for the capital"), we are keeping a keener eye on whether he pursues this quite as zealously as Ken. This is because the costs are huge, and so the need to keep up pressure for central government investment is vital to whether (and how) it's built. The strength of Boris's support......

Shepherd's Bush + transport woes: discuss. With a brand-new Overground station delayed by short platforms, it now turns out the controversial closure of the Central line station was in fact quite unnecessary. Local MP Andy Slaughter has discovered that the decision to close was made by LU, despite Metronet saying it could remain open during work. Meanwhile, passengers were fobbed off with a porky about it being "impossible to replace one escalator while the other......

We know the various London freesheets aren't exactly worthy of much attention on the commute home. But if you're going to peruse your work on the journey, it's wise to do as the announcer says and "take all personal belongings with you" when alighting - particularly if your work relates to, say, confidential and highly sensitive material. That's exactly what a clutzy civil servant from the Cabinet Office didn't do, when he left a......

Looking back over the last few days, we've seen: over-running work on the West Coast Mainline; some East London line scaffolding collapse and cut off Liverpool St; and and drink-related chaos on the tube So it's good to see some positive transport news, at least for the people of Mitcham. Today, at a few minutes past four in the afternoon, proud residents near Mitcham Eastfields station saw their first train arrive. Ever. No, this......

London to Scotland in under three hours? Well you could go Ryanair and enjoy the bum-rush for seats at Stansted, the teeth-gritting discomfort, and the faint but palpable sense of guilt at your carbon footprint. Or you could jump in Jeremy Clarkson's motor and see if he can repeat his 186mph Limehouse Link dash up the M6. However, the future may herald another way. According to "secret" talks between the UK and Scottish governments,......

Oyster cards will soon be accepted on all mainline trains, or at least they will if Boris gets his way. This first steps were taken yesterday when the mayor signed an agreement with First Great Western, who will implement Oyster on all of their London trains as of September. It will certainly be more convenient, but the real bonus comes in the fact that the reduce rates offered on buses and the Tube will......

For those piqued by peak fares and confused by the lugubrious lexicon of British rail tickets, some good news: the entire system is to get a thorough shake-up, with a simplified structure introduced to make it easier for passengers to snag the best fare for their journey. From May, rail travellers will be presented with just three choices: advance, offpeak, and anytime. Gone are the Byzantine days of Apex fares, business first Great Western......

What with all the whinging we've done about the comical opening of T5, and the state of British infrastructure in general, it seems we've forgotten about the smooth, stress-free move that Eurostar made from Waterloo to St. Pancras last November. Fortunately, travellers to the continent have been quick to take advantage: the operator has recorded a 21% passenger rise in the first three months of 2008. The world's largest inter-capital rail service could welcome......

Heathrow panic over rucksack man, running onto runway. He removed his shoes first though as per airport protocol. Woman charged over drug mule children with illegal leg loads. Environmentally aware, double-barrelled teen to ski to North Pole. The Royals are checking out their sugar suppliers in Silvertown And, newer, shinier, longer DLR trains are GO (thanks IanVisits!). Image courtesy of rodfdoyle via the Londonist flickr group.......

Carving your beloved's name on the trunk of a tree, or doodling it on the school desk, is so 20th century. For the modern urban dweller, the only way to really impress your betrothed is to spread your love in three-foot high letters on the side of a train. That was Raymond Agbegahs's plan. The graffiti vandal has spent the past decade spraying messages for his girlfriend on train carriages and railway stations in......

Pollution pulverised—well, not exactly, but Ken announces hefty £25 C-Charge for heaviest polluting vehicles. Fresh criticism of the “angular mass”—no, not the razor-sharp hip bones on London Fashion Week models. Rather, English Heritage have some sharp words for Doon Street Tower plan. We’re absurdly wealthy. Well, we’re not. But some people in this city apparently are. “Someone else” blamed for the £90,000 worth of Fortnum and Mason merchandise gone missing during a saleswoman’s work......

Beware the pornographic perils of Bluetooth Chelsea Barracks sold for incredible £959 million - expect imminent Sloane explosion as 2000 luxury apartments move in Afghanistan soldiers' exhibition up for award at National Army Museum Home time warning - trains between London and Milton Keynes are suspended Happy birthday Thames Barrier, 25 today! Image courtesy of Simon Crubellier via the Londonist flickr group.......

If you're the forward-thinking type who likes to read Londonist on your BlackBerry or iPhone while heading to or from work, yet resent having the myriad delights of John Q Stranger's armpit swabbed over your face on yet another overcrowded carriage, some good news: the government has promised an extra 100,000 seats across the country's rail networks. Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly confirmed that a 10% increase in rolling stock is planned, with around 600......

Well, the first day back at work for many of us, and we've all probably not been the most productive ever. So in spite of our shambolic return to regular posting, here's a quick recap of all the stories we would have covered if we didn't just want to crawl back into bed. A week too late for a white Xmas, snow is expected to fall in London tomorrow! That would be all types......

TfL have been in touch to clarify things, saying: The work planned by Transport for London at Liverpool Street Station, to demolish a bridge, was completed ahead of schedule last Saturday (29 December). Unfortunately, Liverpool Street Station remains closed because Network Rail, which is outside Transport for London's control, has not finished their engineering work on time. We advise passengers to check with National Rail enquiries for the latest information. So now you know who......

The BBC are reporting that Liverpool Street station may be open this afternoon for mainline services, although it looks like local trains won't be running until Thursday morning. As we posted earlier, the station missed it's scheduled re-opening this morning. A "shortage of specialist engineers" is the culprit, apparently, presumably busy sleeping off their New Years hangovers instead of pulling down a railway bridge. Passengers are being advised to seek alternative transportation, so if anybody......

Above-inflation fare rises and teeming queues at the ticket machine as people flock to renew their passes; January 2nd is traditionally not the best day for the rail industry. TfL may be harking about a single fare freeze (whilst downplaying the Travelcard fare increase), but for Londoners today the news in general is less good: two of the capitals busiest transport hubs are closed. Liverpool Street station, shut since December 23rd while engineers were......

Londonist went on a sojourn to Manchester recently, and loved the place. Home of iconic bands, incessant rain, pretty canals, and some of Britain's most interesting modern architecture outside London, Manchester has a lot to offer. If only there were a way to get there that didn't involve spending half your life savings on an overpriced, inflexible rail ticket. Never let it be said that Virgin Trains can't spot an opening in the market.......

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......