1.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
2.
Thameslink and Great Northern
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Thameslink and Great Northern services were merged into one franchise in 2006 due to the Thameslink Programme. In 2012, it was announced that services of First Capital Connect, Southern, the Invitation to Tender was to have been issued in October 2012, with the successful bidder announced in Spring 2013 and TSGN originally due to start in September 2013. However, due to the collapse of the InterCity West Coast re-franchising process, in September 2013 a revised invitation to tender was issued. Govia Thameslink Railway was awarded the franchise on 23 May 2014, on 14 September 2014, Thameslink and Great Northern took over from First Capital Connect, serving 122 stations and operating a fleet of 226 trains. In December 2014, full control was taken of the Sevenoaks Thameslink service, on 21 January 2016 Transport for London announced that it intends to take over the London suburban parts of the franchise in 2021, to form a new suburban metro service. 1, ^ The Northern City Line between Moorgate and Drayton Park is also electrified at 750V DC using third rail, in 2011 the consortium Cross London Trains Ltd. This was a controversial decision as the competing bidder Bombardier Transportation had a train factory in the UK. Both the procurement process and final close of contract were significantly delayed, the trains are known as Class 700s and the £1.6 billion contract to manufacture and provide service depots for the trains was finalised in mid 2013. A fleet of 115 8- and 12-car trains are expected to service between 2016 and 2018. Associated rolling stock depots are being built at Hornsey and Three Bridges, because of the delay in procuring the Class 700 trains,29 Class 387 trains were ordered for the Thameslink route, facilitating the release of existing Class 319 trains to newly electrified routes. Delivery was completed in 2014 and the trains entered service later that year, the order includes provision for an extra 140 vehicles. It was originally planned that once the Class 700s begin entering service, however a change of plans saw GWR order an entirely new fleet of Class 387s with the ex-Thameslink examples expected to be cascaded to the Great Northern routes upon delivery of the Class 700s. This will allow Great Northern to operate fast services at up to 110 mph, something which the old fleet was incapable of. › London Moorgate, in December 2015 it was announced that Siemens would be providing these new trains as a follow-on to the Class 700 order. Former units operated by Thameslink and Great Northern include, This franchise is different from other franchises let since privatisation in 1996, now the operator, in this case Govia, gives all revenue to the government, rather than paying set premiums. The Department for Transport will pay Govia, totalling around £8. 9bn over the period of seven years. With this Govia expects to make a 3% profit, and the risks on costs will be Govias, Govia plans to invest £50m in all 239 stations it will manage. It plans to, Enhance all 239 stations including improving access, replace electronic information screens and working with authorities on the redevelopment of St Albans. Increase staffing hours at many stations, with the 100 busiest stations staffed from first to last train, extension of the key smartcard which Southern has been introducing
3.
Network Rail
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Network Rail is the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the rail network in England, Scotland and Wales. Network Rail is an arms length public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders, since 1 September 2014, Network Rail has been classified as a public sector body. Britains railway system was built by companies, but it was nationalised by the Transport Act 1947. Infrastructure and passenger and freight services were separated at that time, between 1994 and 2002 the infrastructure was owned and operated by Railtrack. The Hatfield train crash on 17 October 2000 was a moment in the collapse of Railtrack. The costs of modernising the West Coast Main Line were also spiralling, the purchase was completed on 3 October 2002. The SRA was abolished in November 2006, the company moved its headquarters to Kings Place,90 York Way, from 40 Melton Street, Euston, in August 2008. In October 2008, Sir Ian McAllister announced that he would not stand for re-election as chairman of Network Rail and he had held the position for six years. He noted that as Network Rail moved to a new phase in its development it was appropriate for a new chairman to lead it there, many track safety initiatives have been introduced in the time Network Rail has been responsible for this area. This ruling came into force in January 2009 for maintenance and property workers and in April 2009 for infrastructure, in 2009, allegations appeared in the media from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association concerning treatment of Network Rail employees. Former chief executive Iain Coucher was also accused of financial impropriety involving unspecified payments to his business partner Victoria Pender during his tenure at Network Rail, an internal investigation held by Network Rail in 2010, vetted by its auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers, uncovered no evidence of wrongdoing. An independent enquiry headed by Anthony White QC in 2011 further examined the claims, critical commentary appeared in the media concerning the knighthood awarded to John Armitt in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to engineering and construction. The reorganisation has been interpreted as a move back towards vertical integration of track, in 2016 Network Rail failed to check whether the Flying Scotsman could fit through tunnels along the Borders Route resulting in the cancellation of a trip just 24 hours before departure. Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay branded the affair a debacle, Network Rails attempt to electrify the West Coast Mainline has been dogged by poor planning and cost overruns, the projected cost has ballooned from by £1.2 billion to £2. It however owns a fleet of departmental stock, although it owns over 2,500 railway stations, it manages only 18 of the biggest and busiest of them, all the other stations being managed by one or other of the various train operating companies. Network Rail has a 15-year lease on Square One in Manchester with 800 staff in one of Manchesters largest refurbished office spaces, Network Rail should not be confused with National Rail. National Rail is not an organisation, but merely a brand, used to explain, the majority of Network Rail lines also carry freight traffic, some lines are freight only. A few lines that carry passenger traffic are not part of the National Rail network, conversely, a few National Rail services operate over track which is not part of the Network Rail network
4.
Tramlink
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Tramlink is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in London since 1952 and it is owned by London Trams, an arm of Transport for London, and operated by FirstGroup. The Tramlink is the fourth-busiest light rail network in the UK behind Manchester Metrolink, Tyne and Wear Metro, in 1990 Croydon Council with London Regional Transport put the project to Parliament and the Croydon Tramlink Act 1994 resulted, which gave LRT the power to build and run Tramlink. In 1996 Tramtrack Croydon Limited won a 99-year Private Finance Initiative contract to design, build, operate, TCL was a partnership comprising FirstGroup, Bombardier Transportation, Sir Robert McAlpine and Amey, and Royal Bank of Scotland and 3i. TCL kept the revenue generated by Tramlink and LRT had to pay compensation to TCL for any changes to the fares, TCL subcontracted operations to CentreWest Buses. One of the leading to its creation was that the London Borough of Croydon has no London Underground service. There are four routes, Route 1 – Elmers End to Croydon, Route 2 – Beckenham Junction to Croydon, Route 3 – New Addington to Wimbledon, and Route 4 – Therapia Lane to Elmers End. Route 2 runs parallel to the Crystal Palace to Beckenham Junction line of the Southern network between Birkbeck and Beckenham Junction – the National Rail track had been singled some years earlier. At Woodside the old station buildings stand disused, and the platforms have been replaced by accessible low platforms. From Woodside to near Sandilands and from near Sandilands almost to Lloyd Park, Tramlink follows the former Woodside and South Croydon Railway, including the Park Hill tunnels. The section of Route 3 between Wimbledon and West Croydon mostly follows the single-track British Rail route, closed on 31 May 1997 so that it could be converted for Tramlink, a partial obstruction near this point has necessitated the use of interlaced track. A Victorian footbridge beside Waddon New Road was dismantled to make way for the flyover over the West Croydon to Sutton railway line, the footbridge has been re-erected at Corfe Castle station on the Swanage Railway. In March 2008, TfL announced that it had reached agreement to buy TCL for £98m, the purchase was finalised on 28 June 2008. The background to this purchase relates to the requirement that TfL compensates TCL for the consequences of any changes to the fares, in 2007 that payment was £4m, with an annual increase in rate. In October 2008 TfL introduced a new livery, using the blue, white and green of the routes on TfL maps, the colour of the cars was changed to green, and the brand name was changed from Croydon Tramlink to simply Tramlink. These refurbishments were completed in early 2009, the tram stops have low platforms,35 cm above rail level. They are unstaffed and have automated ticket machines, in general, access between the platforms involves crossing the tracks by pedestrian level crossing. There are 39 stops, most being 32.2 m long and they are virtually level with the doors and are all wider than 2 m
5.
London station group
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The London station group is a ring of 18 railway stations served by the National Rail network in central London. Most are terminal stations, although a few are through-stations, each of these stations is part of a notional common location to which tickets from stations outside that group are issued. The station group is rendered on tickets as London Terminals, all current stations in the group fall within London fare zone 1. The majority of the larger stations managed by Network Rail are in the group, in addition, full Eurostar services began from St Pancras on 9 December 2007. ^e international and domestic category A, Thameslink category C
6.
Farringdon station
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Farringdon is a London Underground and connected main line National Rail station in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, just outside of the City of London. It was opened in 1863 as the terminus of the Metropolitan Railway, today the Underground station is served by the Circle, Hammersmith & City, and Metropolitan lines between Kings Cross St. Pancras and Barbican. The station was opened on 10 January 1863 as the terminus of the original Metropolitan Railway, the station, initially named Farringdon Street, was originally a short distance from the present station building. The line ran from the Farringdon area to Paddington, a distance of 4 mi, the station was relocated on 23 December 1865 when the Metropolitan Railway opened an extension to Moorgate. It was built in conjunction with a route to take livestock to a depot to its south to supply Smithfield Market. Smithfield was redesignated as a wholesale deadmeat market only before the initiation of services, the lines from Farringdon to Kings Cross run alongside the now culverted River Fleet, which was above ground here until 1734. Thameslink trains to Moorgate ceased at the same time, there are three major rail development projects in progress that involve Farringdon. Once all projects have completed by 2023, Farringdon will be one of the countrys busiest stations with approximately 200tph which equals to a departure from the station every 20 seconds. It will be the station where passengers can change between Crossrail and Thameslink. A new building, housing a ticket hall, has been constructed to serve these extra passengers. The new building is to the south of the original station. An additional entrance has also built at the north end of the original station. Farringdon Station has been rebuilt to accommodate longer Thameslink trains and to other improvements to the station. The existing station building has been refurbished with a new roof canopy covering the end of all four platforms. Platforms have been widened to accommodate increased passenger numbers and this process required the bridge that formed Cowcross Street to be demolished and rebuilt. The existing listed ticket hall and concourse have been remodelled, for use by London Underground and it was necessary to build the Thameslink platform extensions to the south, since there is a sharp gradient to the immediate north of the station. This resulted in the branch to Moorgate being permanently closed. The platform extensions cross the former Moorgate line and reach within a few metres of the entrance of the Snow Hill Tunnel, the Farringdon Crossrail station is being built between Farringdon and Barbican Underground stations and it will have interchanges with both of them
7.
St Pancras railway station
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St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus located on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It was opened in 1868 by the Midland Railway as the terminus of its main line. When inaugurated, the train shed by William Henry Barlow was the largest single-span roof in the world. The restored station has 15 platforms, a centre. St Pancras is owned by London and Continental Railways and is managed by Network Rail, high-speed domestic services to Kent, run by Southeastern, began in December 2009. St Pancras is often termed the cathedral of the railways, the train shed, completed in 1868 by the engineer William Henry Barlow, was the largest single-span structure built up to that time. The terminal is one of relatively few stations in England to feature multilingual signage, all notices are written in English. Ashford International station has similar bilingual signs, other stations with foreign-language signs include Southall, which has signs in Punjabi, Wallsend Metro station, and Moreton-in-Marsh. In March 2014, the public relations team commissioned a study of mispronounced words. St Pancras occupies a site orientated north/south, deeper than it is wide, the south is bounded by the busy Euston Road, with the frontage provided by the former Midland Grand Hotel. Behind the hotel, the Barlow train shed is elevated 5 m above street level, to the west, the original station is bounded by Midland Road with the British Library on the other side of the road. To the east, it is bounded by Pancras Road and is opposite Kings Cross station, the new northern half of the station is mainly bounded to the east by Camley Street, with Camley Street Natural Park across the road. To the north-east is Kings Cross Central, formerly known as the Railway Lands, a complex of intersecting railway lines crossed by several roads, St Pancras contains four groups of platforms on two levels, accessed via the main concourse at ground level. The below-surface group contains through platforms A and B, and the level has three groups of terminal platforms, domestic platforms 1–4 and 11–13 on each side of international platforms 5–10. The international platforms do not occupy the width of the Barlow train shed. The southern end of The Arcade links to the ticket hall of Kings Cross St Pancras tube station. The main pedestrian entrance is at the end of this concourse, where a subway enables pedestrians to reach Kings Cross station. There are several items of art on display to the public at St Pancras, at the south end of the upper level, a 9-metre high 20-tonne bronze statue named The Meeting Place stands beneath the station clock
8.
Holborn Viaduct railway station
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Holborn Viaduct was a railway station in London which was opened in 1874 by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway as a new terminus to alleviate increasing usage of the nearby Ludgate Hill station. During the 1860s and 1870s, Ludgate Hill had begun to struggle with increasing numbers of trains using the station, at the time, the London, Chatham and Dover Railway was suffering financial problems and was unable to raise capital to expand the station. Trains would travel as far as Herne Hill where they would split, with one going to Holborn Viaduct. Opened on 1 August 1874, these formed a small station named Snow Hill. The distance of just 660 yards between Holborn Viaduct and St. Pauls station led to the station at Ludgate Hill being closed in 1929. The route was electrified in 1925 for services from Shortlands and Orpington, after the Second World War, services to Holborn Viaduct began to be withdrawn. The electrification of the Kent Coast route led to two services operating all day from the station, to Sevenoaks and West Croydon, with peak time services to a number of other destinations. The station was rebuilt between 1960–63, in 1963 the hotel, which had been heavily damaged during the Blitz, was demolished and redeveloped, with a new 10-storey office building replacing it. In 1988 Snow Hill Tunnel was restored and passenger trains running through as a north-south rail link through central London. Services to and from Holborn Viaduct were gradually run down as part of plan with services operating only Monday-Friday during peak hours. The Thameslink plan was to build a new station in the vicinity. Its construction required the demolition of the bridge to Holborn Viaduct from Ludgate Hill, Holborn Viaduct station was eventually closed by British Rail after the last train on Friday 26 January 1990. The frontage of the buildings was incorporated into the new Thameslink station. Holborn Viaduct was constructed as a terminus, with two island platforms and two side platforms, covered by a three-roof train shed. The last train out of Holborn Viaduct was a special formed of two Class 411 units and it was both an enthusiast special and a dedication to those involved in the Ludgate project. It visited every London terminal used at that time by South Eastern and it terminated at Charing Cross and a reception for the Ludgate project guests was held in the Charing Cross Hotel. List of closed stations in London Broad Street railway station Jackson. Newton Abbot, David and Charles ISBN 0-7153-5901-0 White, H. P, London Railway History in, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol. III, Greater London
9.
St. Paul's tube station
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St. Pauls is a London Underground station located in the City of London financial district. The station, which takes its name from the nearby St Pauls Cathedral, is on the Central line and it should not be confused with City Thameslink railway station which opened in 1990 with the name St. Pauls Thameslink, but is some distance from the Underground station. The station was opened by the Central London Railway on 30 July 1900 with the name Post Office, the name Post Office was possibly chosen instead of the more obvious St. Pauls to differentiate it from a South Eastern Railway station which already held that name. A modern ventilation shaft in the centre of the island at the junction indicates the location of the original lift shafts. When the SER station called St. Pauls was renamed as Blackfriars in 1937, the Underground station called Post Office took the name St. Pauls, at the end of the 19th century, Newgate Street was a narrow road with some of its mediaeval character remaining. To reduce land purchase and compensation payments, the CLR routed its tunnels directly under public roads, at St. Pauls the narrowness of the road required the tunnels to be placed one above the other with the westbound tunnel uppermost. The lifts originally operated to a level between the two platforms, with stairs up or down to the platforms as necessary, a high-level access passageway is visible at the lowest level leading to the disused lift lobby. During the Second World War the electricity grid control room for London, the station entrances are located around the junction of Newgate Street, Cheapside and St Martins Le Grand. St Pauls Cathedral is a distance to the south. Visitors should note that the entrance to the cathedral is at its western end. St. Pauls is also the nearest Underground station to the London Stock Exchange, other notable sites in the vicinity include the Old Bailey, Museum of London and the church of St Mary-le-Bow. London Buses routes 4,8,25,56,100,172,242,521 and night route N8 serve the station
10.
Central line (London Underground)
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The Central line is a London Underground line that runs through central London, from Ealing and Ruislip in the west to Epping, Essex in the north-east. Coloured red on the map, the line serves 49 stations. It is the longest tube line and it is also one of only two lines on the London Underground network to cross the Greater London boundary, the other being the Metropolitan. One of Londons deep-level tube railways, the trains are smaller than those on British main lines. The line was opened as the Central London Railway in 1900, crossing central London on an east–west axis and it was later extended to the western suburb of Ealing. After the Second World War, the line was expanded considerably into the recently constructed suburbs, taking over steam-hauled outer suburban routes to the borders of London and beyond to the east. This realised plans that had delayed by the war, when construction stopped. The Central line has mostly operated by automatic train operation since a major refurbishment in the 1990s. In terms of passengers, the Central line is the busiest line on the London Underground. In the year 2011/12 over 260 million passenger journeys were made on the Central line, the tunnels were bored with the nominal diameter of 11 feet 8 1⁄4 inches, increased on curves, reduced to 11 feet 6 inches near to stations. The tunnels generally rise approaching a station, to aid braking, the Central London Railway was the first underground railway to have the station platforms illuminated electrically. All the platforms were lit by Crompton automatic electric arc lamps, with the white glazed tiling, all underground Central London Railway platforms were very brightly lit. Earlier tube lines generated DC power at the required to run the trains. The line between Shepherds Bush and Bank was formally opened on 30 June 1900, public services beginning on 30 July, with a uniform fare of 2d the railway became known as the Twopenny Tube. This allowed higher-speed and lighter motors to be used, which reduced the weight of the locomotive as well as the unsprung weight. The railway also tried an alternative approach, it converted four coaches to accommodate motors, two of these experimental motor coaches were used in a 6-coach train, the control gear being operated by the system used on the Waterloo and City Railway. The modified locomotives were an improvement, but the motor coaches of an even lower weight were much better still. The CLR ordered 64 new motor cars designed to use Spragues recently developed traction control system, the CLR was exclusively using the resulting electric multiple units by 1903
11.
City of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Jamess, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963. On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
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