‘Britain is poised on the brink of a rail revolution,’ said Network Rail Chief Executive Ian Coucher as he outlined plans over the next five years to ease the biggest train travel headaches; overcrowding and late running trains.
Blackfriars is only one of the stations to receive a shiny new makeover, Paddington, London Bridge and Kings Cross will also benefit from an overhaul while longer platforms and trains are the order of the day to improve chronic overcrowding. Old tracks and signalling will be replaced, hopefully leading to less of the wrong kind of signal.
For east-west travel, the Crossrail project will see extra funding and link Canary Wharf to Heathrow while north-south Thameslink will get an extra 13,500 seats on the route, surely a blessed relief to the stiletto wearers among us.
More reliable train services and less delays is excellent news for Londoners who rely so much on public transport, especially in light of the hole in Tube funding.
Maybe with all that lovely new space, that quintessentially British pastime of trainspotting will be back on track.
