A weekly round-up of London’s rail transport news…

London Underground

Balfour Beatty wins £50m deal to upgrade Piccadilly line Facilitate

Plans to add step-free access to Stanmore tube station on the Jubilee line have been pushed back after the housing development that would enable them was withdrawn. ianVisits

Tube suicides down by half as successful staff interventions jump dramatically CityAM

Elizabeth line / Crossrail

Always touch in at the start of a journey and touch out at the end, say TfL, to ensure you pay the correct fare. So it’s unfortunate that three new Crossrail stations have been configured so that you can’t always do that, Diamond Geezer

The new express train is four years late, wildly over budget, and beautiful as hell. The New Yorker

Platinum jubilee: Prince Philip’s Crossrail joke on 2011 Islington visit Islington Gazette

Human cost of Elizabeth Line project Camden New Journal

A fourth TV series about the construction of the Elizabeth line will be shown on BBC2 in a couple of weeks’ time, covering the final stages ahead of opening the line for passengers. ianVisits

Visitors to London’s Canary Wharf have risen by more than a quarter since the Elizabeth Line railway opened BNN Bloomberg

Mainline / Overground

Commuters were given a bit of a shock on Friday, after a herd of cows tried to hop on a train to London Waterloo. ITV

Smoke bomb delay for Sunderland fans on train from Wembley could cost rail company ‘thousands’ Sunderland Echo

Eurostar network hit by delays following fatality in France Independent

The railway between New Cross and St Johns in southeast London will be closed over a number of weekends later this summer due to track replacement work. ianVisits

Miscellaneous

Is it time for an overhaul of the London tube map? Bloomberg

An inquest into the death of a railway worker will not examine if she was infected with Covid by a passenger who allegedly spat at her. BBC News

A man has been fined nearly £400 in court over a £7.80 Southeastern train journey. News Shopper

A top rail chief is still working from home part time 130 miles away from the office despite urging commuters to return to the railway, The Telegraph (£)

And finally: The voice of London transport Emma Hignett shares how her announcements have travelled from her loft in the north-east to Greater London to feature on the the first new line since 1979. Standard

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The image above is from June 2017: First Elizabeth line trains enter passenger service