The last station to open on the Elizabeth Line should welcome passengers on 24 October, said Transport for London. Bond Street was held up by delays to the construction work, and although it has been available for emergency evacuations since the central section of the line was opened in May, final safety approvals are still outstanding but are expected soon. London Underground will operate the station, and it will be transferred from Crossrail to LUL shortly. The new station will provide access to the western end of Oxford Street as well as New Bond Street and nearby Marble Arch. It will have two ticket halls, lit by natural light. Both entrances feature columns which are intended to blur the line between interior and exterior spaces and help the station fit into its surroundings with the choice of materials: red sandstone at Davies Street, and pale Portland stone at Hanover Square. Its daily capacity will be 140,000 passengers, and it will also provide interchanges with the Central and Jubilee Lines. Outgoing transport commissioner Andy Byford said: ‘When we opened the brilliant central section of the Elizabeth line earlier this year, I promised that Bond Street station would open this autumn and I am extremely pleased that Londoners and visitors will be able to use this magnificent station from 24 October.  ‘Bond Street was of course the station site that Her Majesty the Queen visited during construction in 2016 to mark the renaming of the railway in her honour. It was also our honour that Her Majesty graced us with her presence earlier this year to mark the completion of the railway. ‘The station at Bond Street will be the jewel in the crown of the West End’s transport provision. It is truly spectacular and will provide a highly significant new link to one of the busiest shopping districts in the UK, enabling even further connectivity to jobs and leisure for people across London and the South East. I can’t wait to see people using this beautiful, spacious-step-free station. It will be yet another huge moment for transport in London and the bright future for city that lies ahead.’ Elizabeth Line trains from Shenfield, Heathrow and Reading are set to start running through the central section from 6 November.

The Labour Party would complete the renationalisation of the railways, shadow rail minister Tanmanjeet Dhesihas has confirmed. He was speaking at an RMT fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference, where he said: ‘We believe that under a Labour government we should be taking rail back into public ownership.’ The path away

The government has unveiled a Growth Plan which includes lower taxes, new ‘investment zones’ and investment in infrastructure. This features 86 schemes to improve roads, and 10 for railways. The rail schemes included in the Plan have previously been proposed, and in some cases work on them has already begun. They are

Avanti West Coast is restoring some of the trains which were withdrawn last month, but one group of business leaders and politicians is calling for its government contract to be withdrawn. Avanti said there would be further improvements in December. For now, AWC is adding back 70 services a week on

The RMT has called a further 24-hour strike on 8 October, as the deadlock over railway pay continues. The new transport secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan has been in discussions with the leaders of the RMT, ASLEF and TSSA, which was something her predecessor Grant Shapps had refused to do, but there are

London transport commissioner Andy Byford has resigned and is returning to the United States. Current chief operating officer Andy Lord will become Commissioner for the time being. TfL said Mr Byford had achieved his priorities since he joined TfL in June 2020, which were to complete the Elizabeth Line and to resolve

London transport commissioner Andy Byford has resigned and is returning to the United States. Current chief operating officer Andy Lord will become Commissioner for the time being. TfL said Mr Byford had achieved his priorities since he joined TfL in June 2020, which were to complete the Elizabeth Line and to resolve

London transport commissioner Andy Byford is poised to resign, it has been reported. Mr Byford has just completed the lengthy process of procuring a financial settlement for Transport for London from the government, and was also responsible for providing transport for hundreds of thousands of people who were in London

The High Court has granted an ‘extensive’ injunction to HS2 Ltd, which will make disrupting construction work or entering HS2 sites without permission a potential contempt of court. Jail sentences can be given in contempt cases. Mr Justice Julian Knowles, sitting in Birmingham, said the terms of the injunction struck ‘a

Update: The RMT has also announced a strike of its members at 14 operators on 1 October. Train operators have urged the drivers’ union ASLEF not to go ahead with two more strikes at 12 train operators on 1 and 5 October. The Rail Delivery Group said: ‘These strikes will once again