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London's Tube will offer full mobile coverage by the end of 2024
London is expanding 4G mobile connectivity to the entirety of the tube by 2024.
London's Tube will finally offer 4G coverage next year
It's finally happening: 4G is coming to the London Underground. After years of promises, Londoners will at last be able to check their email while traveling on the Tube.
London's Oyster cards are getting an app for easier top-ups
Contactless payments make it so easy to get around London that the trusty ol' Oyster card isn't as convenient as it once was. You can add funds or Travelcards online, for instance, but then have to wait 24 hours and tap in at a specific station to actually bring your card up to date. Transport for London (TfL) is making the Oyster card a little more 2017-friendly today, though, cutting that processing time down to 30 minutes and removing the need to visit a nominated stop. Tapping in at any train, Tube, tram or River Bus terminal will confirm the top-up, and by the end of autumn, buses will also be on that list.
The only thing stopping 4G on the Tube is finding someone to deliver it
Londoners' dreams of using their phone on the Tube may soon become a reality after it emerged that Transport for London (TfL) is preparing to invite bids from companies to build a public underground 4G network. According to the Financial Times, the regulator -- with backing from London Mayor Sadiq Khan -- could hold an auction after next week's general election, extending connectivity beyond Virgin Media's station-centric WiFi network.
Android Pay helps Brits keep track of their Tube spending
It might have been late to the party, but Google is determined to make Android Pay the de facto payment solution for non-iPhone users in the UK. An update going out "this week" will add some deeper integrations with Transport for London (TfL), including incomplete journey notifications -- so you'll know when you forgot to tap out -- and daily travel summaries, complete with station names and bus numbers. Together, they should help you track your spending habits and spot when something strange has occurred, warranting further investigation and possibly a refund from TfL.
London Tube font redesigned for the internet age
The iconic typeface of the London Underground is getting a revamp. Design firm Monotype has been commissioned to rework the letters, numbers and symbols that people look at every day while they hurriedly board Tube carriages, stand on platforms and look at maps. The "Johnston" typeface was unveiled in 1916 and while it's undergone some changes since then, Transport for London (TfL) thinks it could use another tweak. The new "Johnston100" serves two purposes; to bring back some of the "soul" of the original typeface, which may have been lost in subsequent redesigns, and to make it more legible for apps and digital signage.
Twitter and TfL team up for instant Tube disruption alerts
From today, London's Tube and train passengers can get travel alerts sent to their phone, thanks to a partnership between Transport for London (TfL) and Twitter. In what's being described as a "world first" by the travel authority, the new service will notify travellers via a direct message if there are severe delays on their chosen line.
Ride on the Tube for free using Apple Pay next week
At the tail end of last year, Mastercard incentivized card owners to use Apple Pay by gifting them free travel as part of its "Fare Free Mondays" promotion. It must have proved popular, because the company has decided to run the campaign again, allowing Londoners with an Apple Watch or iPhone 6 (or newer) to ride the London Underground and buses for free over the next three Mondays.
TfL is making it easier to beat traffic and find parking
With the majority of Brits now owning a smartphone or tablet, developers have jumped at the chance to deliver up-to-the-minute information on traffic and travel. Transport for London (TfL) has helped facilitate a number of these features by opening its data feeds, which let app makers display train departure times, ticket costs and even list which stations have toilet facilities.
Mastercard gifts Apple Pay users with free London travel
Everyone likes getting something for free, especially when you get to save money doing things you normally do on a daily basis. For the next four Mondays (including today), Mastercard is offering free travel across London's Tube, trains, buses and the DLR for all riders using Apple Pay. That right, as long as you own a iPhone capable of supporting Apple's NFC payment service or an Apple Watch with a Mastercard attached, you can commute to work or roam across the capital for nothing.
London Tube's 'regenerative braking' tech can power an entire station
To make the London Underground greener and more cost effective, Transport for London (TfL) has been trialling a new system that collects and recycles waste energy from train brakes. Over the course of a week, the company says it's been able to capture electricity at a rate of 1 Megawatt hour per day -- enough to slash 5 per cent off its energy bill. The salvaged energy could also be used to run a station as large as Holborn for at least two days every week, TfL claims. The "state-of-the-art regenerative breaking system" is dependent on a new "inverter" set up at a substation near Cloudesely Road, where TfL manages the power sent to the Victoria Line. The "world-first" setup also reduces the amount of heat that's normally produced by the train's brakes. Recovering power could, therefore, keep London's Tube cooler and reduce TfL's operating costs, leading to cheaper fares. The "inverter" is now in operation full-time, but only on the Victoria line -- all the same, it's good to see TfL exploring new ways to modernise its iconic transport network.
Live Rugby World Cup scores are coming to London's Tube
With the Rugby World Cup kicking off this week, Transport for London (TfL) is gearing up to play a big role in helping sports fans navigate to and from the city's three host stadia. However, that's not all it will do come Friday. The transport authority today announced it has teamed up with ITV to deliver live news, scores and results from the tournament across 180 Tube and DLR stations right through until the final on October 31st. It'll be the second time the London Underground has hosted a World Cup, after it delivered goals and updates via information boards during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The deal will generate revenue for TfL, helping it to invest more in its modernisation of the Tube network, which will include the development and rollout of new driverless trains with built-in WiFi in 2022.
Citymapper travel app tells you the best place to get on the train
While Apple and Google are incorporating more public transport data into their operating systems, standalone apps like Citymapper continue to lead the way in terms of features. Already in 28 cities, the travel app combines bus routes and live times, train timetables and cycle paths, but from today it'll also help you navigate your way around an unfamiliar metropolis with its new "Where to Get On the Train" feature.
UK government wants to bring 3G and 4G coverage to London Tubes
In the future, you might be able to tweet, read your emails and stream music on the London Underground without using Virgin Media's WiFi service. As part of new proposals to boost the capital's economy, the UK government has revealed its desire to bring 3G and 4G connectivity to the entire Tube network. Nothing is confirmed just yet -- it's merely talking with Transport for London (TfL) about how such a move could be funded -- and neither has it detailed how it would be implemented. The current WiFi network is inconsistent and doesn't stretch between stops; decent 3G and 4G connectivity would help to keep you online. In the meantime, the UK government has promised to extend WiFi to all subterranean sections of the Tube by the end of the next Parliament. Not a lofty goal given 150 stations are already supported, but a welcome one nonetheless.
London's Tube is now home to 150 WiFi-connected stations
While full mobile service on the Underground may still be a pipe dream, Virgin Media has helped connect travellers by serving London's Tube stations with glorious free WiFi. The company has steadily brought more locations online since it launched the service more than two years ago, but today it took to Twitter to celebrate an important milestone in that rollout: 150 connected stations. Wimbledon, Richmond, Morden, East Ham, Barking and Upminster are the latest terminals to offer free WiFi to Virgin, EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three customers, meaning that more than half of the Tube's 270 stations are now online. Passengers can't get enough, either, with more than 2.5 million devices now registered on the network and more than 3 terabytes of data downloaded each day. Waterloo and Kings Cross are the busiest hubs -- no doubt helping overground commuters get their internet fix as they head beneath the streets in order to get to work.
These stunning driverless trains are the future of London's Tube network
Want to see what the Tube could look like in the next ten years? Thanks to Transport for London and design studio PriestmanGoode, we now can, after they unveiled designs for a new fleet of driverless Tube trains due to be rolled out in 2022. The "New Tube for London" features a futuristic design that abandons the traditional multi-carriage layout for a walk-through car, which will provide passengers with air-cooling and onboard WiFi for the first time.
Three customers will soon get free WiFi on the Tube
After installing WiFi throughout the London underground and allowing free access during the 2012 Olympics and well beyond, Virgin Media eventually began charging for the service to recoup some of the investment. EE and Vodafone struck a deal to keep it free for their mobile customers before that solemn day even arrived, and O2 followed suit before too long. Apparently, Three didn't fancy jumping on the bandwagon then, but has just announced its patrons will be able to enjoy the same level of complementary connectivity by the end of the July. In early August, Three also plans to launch a new app called InTouch that'll allow you to call and text over WiFi (O2's Tu Go app lets you do the same), making even Tube platforms a stage for your loud and witty banter.
Amazon now lets Londoners pick up packages from Tube station lockers
If work commitments mean you're constantly trudging to the Post Office to collect a missed Prime delivery, Amazon's hoping to make things easier for you, if you're a Londoner that is. As of Monday, the company will open click-and-collect lockers in Finchley Central and Newbury Park Tube stations, where you can have packages delivered instead of an address. They come seven months after the retailer was rumoured to have begun talks with Transport for London with a view to installing the lockers inside unused ticket offices. However, Amazon has placed them inside the stations' car parks instead, meaning you might have to take a small Oyster hit for the privilege. Amazon won't be alone in offering collections on the Underground, though, as major supermarket chains including Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Sainsbury's are installing lockers of their own to limit the hassle of shopping around work.
London's Tube stations to serve up live World Cup scores alongside train times
There's going to be no escaping the World Cup when travelling on the Tube over the coming weeks. To supplement Virgin Media's WiFi hotspots, which'll let you check scores on your phone, ESPN has linked up with Transport for London (TfL) to bring scrolling news, results and score updates to platform screens and entrances in more than 140 stations. The sports broadcaster is said to have stumped up around £100,000 for the privilege, and will kick off proceedings on June 12th, when hosts Brazil meet Croatia, continuing until July 14th, the day after the World Cup final. If you find yourself heading out in London to catch some of England's late-night matches, you'll almost certainly be reminded of the team's performances (whether they're good or bad) on your way home.
Tubecore wants you to hack and mod its beautiful, modular speaker
Let's be honest: Wireless speakers are a dime a dozen. The options are seemingly endless, and new ones arrive on an almost daily basis. Companies have begun to push the boundaries of design as of late, making options that are an aesthetic step above the larger outfits. Tubecore's Duo certainly does that, but it's also so much more.
