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Public Transport

For more news and comments see the Public Transport category in the forums.

New Cockfosters - Hatfield - Luton bus connection

25 March 2016

As of Tuesday 29th March there will be a new regular bus service connecting Cockfosters Station with Luton, via Potters Bar, Hatfield, Wheathampstead and Dunstable. The new connections come about as the result of changes to an existing bus route, the 610, run by UNO, a company set up primarily to serve the University of Hertfordshire, but whose services are available to everyone. As previously, a few peak hour buses will operate to and from Enfield Town, but they will now be routed via.......

London transport watchdog publishes its priorities for the next Mayor

21 February 2016

The official watchdog for transport users in London has published a document outlining transport users' priorities for the 2016-20 Mayoral term. The document, Ten Policies to Keep Londoners Moving, has been issued by London TravelWatch (or to give it its official name, the London Transport Users Committee). Ten Policies to Keep Londoners Moving Transport is one of the Mayor’s key responsibilities. London is changing rapidly and it will be a major challenge to ensure that.......

Details of new Moorgate line trains

20 February 2016

Govia Thameslink Trains has concluded a financing deal which will allow it to replace the current 1976-vintage trains that run on services from Moorgate, which include the Hertford Loop.  The 25 new trains, built by Siemens, will enter service in late 2018. The Moorgate service require special dual-voltage trains as the underground section, the "Northern City Line" between Moorgate and Drayton Park, uses a DC third-rail system, while the remainder of the route uses AC overhead power........

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Enfield Transport Users Group meeting - everyone welcome

17 February 2016

The Enfield Transport Users Group (ETUG) will be meeting at the Civic Centre on Tuesday 23rd February from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Representatives of both London Overground Rail Operations and Govia Thameslink Railway will be attending. The meeting is open to all people interested in improving public transport in Enfield. The meeting will be in Room 3 at the Civic Centre. Read the minutes of the meeting on 26 November 2016........

Palmers Green Station to lose its ticket office?

05 February 2016

Govia, the company behind the Great Northern and Thameslink brands, is planning to close ticket offices at Palmers Green and other stations where average ticket sales are low.  Instead, a station "host" will be available on the "concourse", selling a limited range of "popular" tickets.  However, the plans do have a positive aspect - there would be a Host at the station from first to last train every day. According to Govia's "Stakeholder Manager" (PR person?), these plans would only.......

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London Overground to serve Palmers Green - but not for at least five years

21 January 2016

"Inner suburban" services from Moorgate - presumably including those serving Palmers Green - are among a list of rail services which will be transferred to Transport for London (TfL) ownership and become part of the London Overground, if newly published proposals go ahead. However, this will not occur before 2021. It also appears that we will have to wait until then before seeing any serious attempt to smarten up the dismal stations along the tunnels between Moorgate and Highbury. A "new.......

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Crossrail 2: Councillors urge public to press for route via Alexandra Palace

23 December 2015

All three councillors representing Winchmore Hill Ward have issued an appeal to residents of N13 and N21 to respond to the Crossrail 2 consultation by indicating a preference for the New Southgate branch to be routed via Alexandra Palace rather than Wood Green.  The consultation runs until 8th January. The two options for the New Southgate branch of Crossrail 2Councillors Barry, Hayward and Hurer have issued a leaflet explaining the advantages of a Crossrail 2 station at Alexandra Palace.......

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Govia Great Northern - Do you always know which station you're at when it's dark?

07 December 2015

Now that evenings are well and truly "drawn in", the problem of knowing how far you've got to on trains is affecting people travelling on Great Northern trains.  Some of the stations are very poorly lit and don't have big enough signs with the station name.  There's a very simple solution, of course, at zero cost.  The train company should just tell its drivers to announce each station - also helpful, of course, to people with eyesight problems at any time of day. .......

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Changes to Hertford line services from 13 December

04 December 2015

Timetables are now available for the (very slightly) improved Hertford Line service that starts on 13th December. During the week the main change to Down (northbound) services is that the 20 minute frequency will continue slightly later into the evening and that all trains will start at Moorgate up to and including the 0018 from Moorgate.  There will be one late train from Kings Cross, at 0105, not stopping at Crews Hill or Bayford. For travellers from Palmers Green the evening Down.......

Alternative routing proposed for Crossrail 2 New Southgate branch

01 November 2015

Transport for London (TfL) is continuing to develop its ideas for the routing of the proposed Crossrail 2 rail link and is putting new proposals out for public consultation.  A recent development with implications for our readership concerns the routing of the spur between Dalston and New Southgate. The main section of Crossrail 2 will run in a tunnel between Tottenham and Clapham Junction, via Dalston, Angel, Euston/St Pancras, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria and Kings Road Chelsea. .......

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Bus Travel and Cycle Enfield: TfL Freedom of Information Act responses

10 September 2015

I have previously expressed concern about the effects of changes along the A105 on bus travel. This didn't seem to me to be being properly considered in what is still predominantly a debate between cyclists and those concerned about car parking. It has taken some time to get a response from TfL to what seemed to be three key issues; the potential effects on bus journey times, getting on and off buses, and the removal of the bus stop outside the Fox. Well here's the response. The sections in.......

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Improved train services on the way... eventually

27 July 2015

In recent months rail services serving both the west and east of Enfield borough have seen changes of operator, promises of improved services but, so far at least, precious few signs of improvements, and in some the service has actually deteriorated. In this article we report on what has occurred so far and what the future holds........

New night bus services planned from September

27 May 2015

Transport for London are proposing to introduce additional night bus services from September, including some which would provide new east-west connectivity between locations in north London.  The changes are planned so that travellers on Night Tube services will be able to travel on from tube stations to other destinations. Routes 34 (Walthamstow-Edmonton-Palmers Green-Whetstone-Barnet) and 123 (Ilford-Walthamstow-Tottenham-Wood Green) would both run at half-hourly intervals throughout.......

Public transport group disappointed with slow progress on proposed bus routes changes

22 February 2015

The Enfield Transport Users Group (ETUG) has expressed its disappointment about the delay on the part of Transport for London (TfL) in responding to an integrated package of bus route changes drawn up by ETUG on behalf of Enfield Council. Enfield Council submitted the proposals set out in the Enfield Bus Review at the end of 2013.  The Review recommended changes to 29 bus routes running wholly or largely within the borough, aimed at achieving a number of objectives without increasing the.......

Palmers Green bus garage to expand its footprint

24 January 2015

The owners of Palmers Green bus garage, Arriva London ("a DB Company" - ie owned by the German state railways), have applied for planning permission to demolish two buildings next to the garage (to its east) and use the land as an open-air bus park.  However, there are no plans to expand the number of buses which are housed at the garage - the maximum number will remain at 69.  This number of buses is in fact rather too many for the size of the building, meaning that manoeuvring of buses.......

The Enfield Bus Review - will it ever be implemented?

19 January 2015

A list of proposed bus service changes, several of which would affect Palmers Green, was presented to Transport for London a year ago, but to date there has been no indication that any of the proposals will be implemented.  A public meeting on 22nd January may shed some light on the situation. The Enfield Bus Review In.......

New rail franchise performing even worse than Capital Connect

17 January 2015

“I never thought I would hear a passenger say to me bring back First Capital Connect."  A quote from Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of the transport watchdog Passenger Focus, emphasizing how poor has been the performance of the Govia consortium since it took over the Great Northern and Thameslink routes last September. Govia's bad start - three to four per cent of services failed to run in the first twelve weeks of the new franchise - proved to be only a prelude to its appalling.......

Were you caught up in the 27th December rail chaos?

14 January 2015

Caught up in train disruption to/from London Paddington or to/from London King's Cross on Saturday 27 December? The rail industry must establish what went wrong and take steps to stop it happening again – that is a given. Passenger Focus, the independent watchdog, wants to know how well things were handled from a passenger perspective – in terms of information, of the alternative arrangements, of how you were looked after. Passenger Focus will use this feedback to provide a.......

Poor service by new rail operator prompts complaints

03 January 2015

Since the Govia consortium took over services on the Great Northern routes out of Moorgate and Kings Cross in September 2014 there has been little sign of the promised improvements in service.  There have been more of the delays and cancellations that we are familiar with from the bad old days of First Capital Connect and the usual half-hourly service in Christmas week. Some of the problems can, of course, be laid at the door of Network Rail, but employing enough drivers is clearly Govia's.......

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Step-free access coming to Palmers Green station

16 December 2014

Palmers Green and Alexandra Palace stations are among a list of 26 stations where step-free access to platforms will be provided, according to an announcement made today by transport minister Baroness Kramer.  The work, part of the Access for All programme, will be carried out by 2019. The stations selected for the work were all nominated by the rail industry last year on the basis of criteria such as the number of passengers using the station or proximity to hospitals or schools for.......

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