Boris Watch

OK, now we have the official word:
The Mayor said: ‘For far too long passengers on our Overground lines have suffered from crumbling, unreliable trains that were just not up to muster.
‘Every element on these brand spanking new trains has been crafted to meet the Capital’s needs and the standard of design will surprise even the [...]

Boris tweets us to say Kulveer Ranger and he are going to Willesden Junction today for the official launch of the Class 378 ‘Capitalstar‘ trains for the London Overground network.  Let’s see how many of the following things are mentioned:

They were ordered in 2006
They were specified as having fewer seats than existing trains to speed [...]

Via Railway Eye and London Reconnections comes word that London Travelwatch, the rather toothless body charged with representing the London transport user, has noticed a bit of buried bad news in the recent East London Line Extension Phase 2b announcement.  This was the one, you may remember, greeted so warmly a few weeks ago by [...]

New Civil Engineer reports that the annoyingly extended saga of the East London Line Extension Phase 2 may be about to reach a conclusion.
Phase 2 would connect London Overground services from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction, with work to start following the 2012 Olympic Games.
Eh?  I hope NCE are wrong here, ELLX Phase 2 is [...]