Years of chaos: that’s the warning from whistleblowers who contacted the Evening Standard to raise the alarm over the shocking state of the Central line. The underlying cause is chronic underinvestment with one person in the know calling the dire state of some trains — which are more than 30 years old — “an accident waiting to happen”.
For months, commuters have had to suffer chronic delays caused by a shortage of trains. There are 85 in the Central line fleet with 71 needed during the morning and evening peaks. Last Wednesday, just 54 were available. Transport for London has said problems will ease when an emergency timetable is introduced. Yet that will only even out gaps in the service, not fix the problem.
There is also the risk this spreads to other lines — such as the Bakerloo, Northern and Piccadilly — due to a lack of funding. Meanwhile, the Mayor has used his £500 million cash windfall elsewhere. Short-term giveaways over long-term investment are politically attractive, but the risks are self-evident.
Normalising hate
For all the hatred unleashed and fear quietly felt, yesterday was just another day of anti-Jewish racism in London. Three people who displayed paraglider images at a pro-Palestine rally — of the kind used by Hamas to murder Israelis on October 7 — were found guilty of a terror offence. A comedian, Paul Currie, was banned from Soho Theatre for allegedly hounding out Jewish audience members.
In Rochdale, Azhar Ali was eventually suspended by Labour for antisemitic conspiracy theories, not only suggesting Israel let the Hamas massacre occur, but according to a recording, he blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of a Labour MP. A second candidate and ex-MP, Graham Jones, has also been suspended.
In recent days, protesters at Birmingham University called for “death to Zionists” and a Jewish chaplain at Leeds University has been forced into hiding after death threats. Meanwhile, anti-Jewish hate acts are up 534 per cent compared to the same period last year.
This is now sickeningly normalised and must be confronted. Racism directed at British Jews living thousands of miles from Israel does not help a single Palestinian. Instead, it suggests that the perpetrators oppose the existence of Jewish people anywhere.
Stunning celebration
Every little helps for TfL, which has won £1 million of advertising on the immersive screens of Outernet’s Now building by Tottenham Court Road station, for its campaign inspired by the patterns of the Tube’s moquette seats.
The design celebrates the diversity of London’s communities, and the Outernet is the perfect place to tell those stories.
