Terrorist attack near London bridge station.

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

Late yesterday evening.
Latest reports state 6 dead and dozens wounded, some seriously. Some victims deliberately run over, others stabbed.
Attackers shot dead by police.

Very sad.

Do not know what if any impact on LUL^▸ (London Underground Ltd) and mainline trains, the attack looks to have been concentrated around Borough market not the station itself.

[broadgage]

Update to say death toll now confirmed as 7.

[grahame]

On this occasion, it seems to be clear of railway infrastructure though many (all?) services on the central side are showing "cancelled - security alert" on real time trains as I write.  London Bridge has a number of bus routes passing over it - all no doubt subject to cancellation and diversion, though Sunday's far and away the quietest day of the week in The City so effect won't be as much as it would have been during the week.

[broadgage]

I am rather glad that I moved from London.

Had I still been in London, the chance that I would have been a victim is in fact vanishingly small, of the order of one in a million in fact. Though I did visit both the "barrow boy and banker" and "the wheatsheaf" fairly regularly when I lived in London.
Still glad I am not there, consider the scale of disruption and the likely delays to public transport tomorrow, and ongoing.

I am sure that the bereaved and injured are in our thoughts.

[ChrisB]

London Bridge, roads around & the station all shut for the whole day today & National Rail saying the station closure may go on into tomorrow unfortunately.

[Electric train]

London Bridge, roads around & the station all shut for the whole day today & National Rail saying the station closure may go on into tomorrow unfortunately.

Might be challenging for me to get to work ................ office is just opposite London Bridge Station Tooley St side

[broadgage]

Might I make a suggestion, to anyone thinking of leaving flowers, candles, cards, or the like at the scene of the attack.

Please re-consider, such displays do little if any good and are an appreciable waste of resources, instead perhaps consider making a cash donation to the Red Cross who are a non-political, non-partisan charity who offer direct help to those bereaved, displaced, injured and otherwise impacted by this and other events.

£10 spent on probably imported flowers goes largely on fuel for airfreight and profit for florists. Public money is then spent on dumping most of it into landfill.

£10 given to the Red Cross can help in providing counselling for those who have lost a loved one, or help with transport to/from hospital for those without money to pay for this, or a bed for the night for those displaced by evacuation.

(I have no direct connection with the red cross, but do support them, Other charities exist.)

[ChrisB]

The Mayor of London has invited Londoners to a vigil at the park by his office tomorrow at 6pm. Bring flowers, he said in an email

[grahame]

Might I make a suggestion, to anyone thinking of leaving flowers, candles, cards, or the like at the scene of the attack.

Please re-consider, such displays do little if any good and are an appreciable waste of resources, instead perhaps consider making a cash donation to the Red Cross who are a non-political, non-partisan charity who offer direct help to those bereaved, displaced, injured and otherwise impacted by this and other events.

There is a logic to your suggestion - but there are exceptional times that the heart, and the solice it brings to the person who places the flowers too, can rule the head.  By all means ask people to reconsider ... but the not to be embarrassed if having reconsidered they still want to place flowers ... and of course, they could make a donation or provide help in other ways too - the options are not mutually exclusive. 

[Electric train]

It was certainly a lot quitter in the London Bridge area today, the station was open except the Borough High St exit of the Underground.  Basically Borough Market and the surrounding roads were cordoned off by the Police

[broadgage]

A body has just been recovered from the Thames, suspected to be the body of a French man missing since the attack. Formal identification is awaited.
Source is BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) website.

[Electric train]

The steel crash barriers have been installed over London Bridge, both sides.  It the temporary type used in motor way worksites; also the big lozenge shaped bollards have been placed on the pavements.

Whilst all this makes it safe for pedestrians, the crash barriers sits in the road gutter which means busses cannot stay in the bus lane so have to straddle the next lane, slows the traffic down (no bad thing really)

I have not crossed other bridges recently but I am guessing they have had the same treatment. 

[Surrey 455]

The steel crash barriers have been installed over London Bridge, both sides.  It the temporary type used in motor way worksites; also the big lozenge shaped bollards have been placed on the pavements.

Whilst all this makes it safe for pedestrians, the crash barriers sits in the road gutter which means busses cannot stay in the bus lane so have to straddle the next lane, slows the traffic down (no bad thing really)

I have not crossed other bridges recently but I am guessing they have had the same treatment. 

I caught buses over Waterloo Bridge today and can confirm that steel crash barriers were also in place, mostly on the cycle paths.