16-day planned part closure of the Piccadilly line (Wood Green to Cockfosters and Rayners Lane to Uxbridge) between Saturday 17 August and Sunday 1 September, with a reduced service expected on other parts of the Piccadilly line due to the unavailability of trains.

 Brent commuters who use Piccadilly line services from Alperton and Sudbury Town can expect train delays during August due to a reduced service as a result of the unavailability of trains:

 PRESS RELEASE

Transport for London (TfL) is advising Piccadilly line customers to plan ahead and allow more time for their journeys as a series of vital track and platform upgrades mean sections of the line will temporarily close this year. These upgrades are essential to ensure the line is ready for the first new Piccadilly line trains which will arrive in London later this year for testing, and then be introduced as a fleet of 94 new trains from 2025. 

The new trains are part of a £2.9bn investment to modernise the line, to help it run more reliably, safely, inclusively and sustainably. The scale of the upgrade, which will take place on one of London’s deepest Tube lines with some of the oldest track and signaling infrastructure, means that a series of closures is required.

The longest of these is a 16-day planned part closure of the Piccadilly line (Wood Green to Cockfosters and Rayners Lane to Uxbridge) between Saturday 17 August and Sunday 1 September, with a reduced service expected on other parts of the Piccadilly line due to the unavailability of trains. Rail replacement buses will serve all stations between Wood Green and Cockfosters although customers travelling to central London may find it quicker to use local bus services to connect to nearby alternative Tube and rail stations. Customers who use Piccadilly line services to Uxbridge are advised to change at Rayners Lane for the Metropolitan line. 

For all of these part closures, Piccadilly line customers are advised to plan ahead by using TfL’s real-time travel information tools including TfL Journey Planner and TfL Go, to check before travelling and to allow more time for their journeys. A dedicated travel advice webpage, which also lists the upcoming, confirmed weekend closures on the Piccadilly line so customers can plan ahead, is available on TfL’s website, here: https://tfl.gov.uk/status-updates/major-works-and-events/piccadilly-line-upgrade

Stuart Harvey, Chief Capital Officer at TfL, said: “I’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we carry out these essential upgrades to the Piccadilly line. The closures will help us prepare for the arrival of the fleet of 94 brand-new trains which will transform journeys on the line in the coming decades. Introducing a new fleet of trains is a huge engineering and logistical feat. Although much of the hard work goes on behind the scenes, there are times when we need to close sections of the railway to ensure that all existing infrastructure is compatible with the new trains. Closures of this type are scheduled to take place, where possible, in school holidays when demand on our network is significantly reduced.” 

Up to 80 per cent of the new Piccadilly line trains will be built in the UK at Siemens Mobility’s new manufacturing facility in Goole, Yorkshire. The new trains will feature walk-through carriages, wider all-double doorways to help customers get on and off more easily, enhanced digital display screens for customer information, on-train CCTV cameras for additional customer security and will, for the first time on a Deep Tube train, provide air-conditioning. They will increase capacity by 10 per cent and will also improve energy efficiency and accessibility. 

Ahead of these closures, TfL will contact regular users of the Piccadilly line with travel advice and information. In addition, posters and public address announcements will be in place at all relevant stations. 

 This announcement comes after another on the Bakerloo and Overground:

Closure details

Between Saturday 3 and Thursday 8 August, these sections of line will be closed:

• London Overground: Euston to Watford Junction
• Tube - Bakerloo line: Queen's Park-Harrow & Wealdstone

London Overground stations

During the closure, there will be no London Overground service at these stations: Euston, South Hampstead, Kilburn High Road, Queen's Park, Kensal Green, Harlesden, Stonebridge Park, Wembley Central, North Wembley, South Kenton, Kenton, Harrow & Wealdstone, Headstone Lane, Hatch End, Carpenders Park, Bushey, Watford High Street and Watford Junction

Tube stations

During the closure, there will be no Bakerloo line service at these stations: Kensal Green, Willesden Junction, Harlesden, Stonebridge Park, Wembley Central, North Wembley, South Kenton, Kenton, and Harrow & Wealdstone

 

End this wretched sniping at Barham Library volunteers

This comment by Gaynor Lloyd was submitted in response to the comments on Wembley Matters' story on the decision abut to be made by Trustees on the organisation to be granted the lease on the Barham Park Lounge.  

Having been a very early member of the Barham Library campaign and, over the last four years a long standing volunteer at the Volunteer Library currently (and for three  years) running at 428 Wembley High Road, can I just for the zillionth time clarify that Friends of Barham Library is not a covert front for the Lib Dems in Brent? I am sick, sick, sick of this wretched sniping- and mildly resentful of  the implication for all those of us who work for the Barham volunteer community library at this end of the Borough.

Can whoever is left annoyed by  us library campaigners please get over it? I would much prefer a library service delivered  throughout Brent -  as it should be -  by a properly funded Council - but that isn't where we are. Let us add to the service - please don't be mean about us. Perhaps even join us.

Start by coming to see us in  the Library premises in Wembley or Sudbury Town Station.  We have an amazing selection of books...but there is a lot more to us! For example, go and see the children's arts and crafts workshop in Sudbury Town every Saturday - full to bursting in the limited space. As to Wembley, two days this week have provided perfect examples of what happens in premises pathetically inadequate to offer true library services. I spend a lot of my time crashing about outside 428 Wembley High Road shaking a green  bucket to raise less than the Minimum wage, never mind the London Living Wage, per hour - but, in so doing, talking to many of the people who pass by on their daily round who stop to put a bit of money in  and talk about books, services , children and their lives. It's brilliant. I may get called in to the shop  to give what expertise I have on English literature, to chat or to offer my opinion on children's books.

Yesterday a family with 5 children came in looking for English dictionaries suitable for four of the children. We were able to offer 5 varying levels of dictionary and spelling primers. While there and all chatting, the children looked for fiction. Mum was clearly a bit concerned at the amount of space they have at home for the acquisition of the collection the children  amassed. We were able to say "Well just read them and bring them back".

Then there was the lad who came in with his Mum looking for project materials on Europe, who left with books on countries and a child's French dictionary; they left really chuffed promising to bring the project in when they could. Then there was the group of lads - aged around 10 or so - who passed me three times on bucket duty and finally stopped on round 4. "Is this for the library?" one asked. "Yes" I said. "I've only got 60p. Is that OK?" And in went the 60p. Many of my donors are young people. Often parents will come in and we give them a sampler book for their babies; never too young to start with books still seems to be a message that resonates. Then there are the adults seeking to improve their English, who need study books - or just come in and talk  on topics various, including literature.

It am proud to work with Paul, Francis, Judy, Alex, Frank, Peggy, Vi and the other volunteers in the heart of the community (sorry to those ranked as others). Anyone who doubts what we are there for - please call in.

I grew up with a library -what's wrong with wanting all that a modern community library can offer for our bit of the Borough?.

Then we can extend even further the range of people  who will find in a library what I did  and still do- much better put by Bernard Kops  in his poem Whitechapel Library, Aldgate East "That door of the library was the door into me"

Referendum on Sudbury Town Plan - details

On Monday, 27 July 2015 Brent Council's Cabinet approved for the Sudbury Town Neighbourhood Plan to progress to referendum. The referendum will take place on Thursday, 10 September 2015.

The plan has been produced by the Sudbury Town Residents' Association with involvement of the wider community. The neighbourhood plan’s overriding aim is “to create a greener, cleaner, safer Sudbury Town.” In summary, policies in the plan:

• set design criteria for shop fronts in Sudbury town centre and for the continuation of public realm works
•  seeks to protect open spaces and allow the reuse or redevelopment of buildings within Butlers Green and Barham Park, for uses which support the function of the green space
•  sets priorities for spending Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy, including public realm improvements
• identifies uses which will be appropriate in Sudbury town centre and support development that strengthens Vale Farm as a regional centre for sports excellence, whilst preserving open space.

Anyone living in the neighbourhood area (see map below) who is registered to vote in a local election will be entitled to vote in the referendum. If the majority of those who vote in the referendum are in favour then the plan will be adopted as planning policy for Sudbury. The policies within the neighbourhood plan will then form part of Brent's Local Plan and will guide development in the neighbourhood area alongside other Development Plan policies.

If you have recently moved into the area or you are not currently registered to vote, you may complete an online application at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote or ask the Electoral Services office (020 8937 1372) for a paper form. The deadline to register to vote in time for the referendum is midnight on Monday 24 August 2015.

Further information and a copy of the plan is available at www.brent.gov.uk/stnp and on the Sudbury Town Residents' Association webpage http://stra.org.uk/.    

Battling Friends of Barham Library impress on National Libraries Day

After my visit to Kensal Rise Library for National Libraries Day I took the 18 bus up the Harrow Road to Sudbury Town Station. Campaigners for the closed down Barham Library have a 3 month letting on a vacant room there which has a month or so to run. They also have a shop on Wembley High Road.

The Sudbury Town library looks very professional and hosts a variety of clubs as well as the book lending/sale activities.

 

I popped into Barham's other 'branch' on Wembley High Road, opposite Copland School and again was impressed by all the work and commitment that has gone into providing books and a social space for local people. The sheer staying power of campaigners is amazing.