The Time Out London blog team

It’s no secret that Londoners are ambitious and (can be) a little bit cut-throat. We’ve all speed-walked past lost tourists on the Underground, run red lights on Lime bikes and elbowed others out the way to be the first in line for the Pret baguette (just me? OK). Perhaps we’re a bit impatient, but it turns out that all that unbridled determination could actually be making a difference, because London has just been named the most powerful city in the world in the new ‘Global Power City Index’ (GPCI).  The 2026 edition of the index assessed cities around the globe across six categories to determine their ‘magnetism’, which the report defines as their ‘comprehensive power to attract people, capital and enterprises from around the world’. Seventy-two different metrics were assessed and divided into these categories: economy (GDP per capita, employment levels, wage rate); research and development (number of patents, startups and presence of top universities); cultural interaction (proximity to World Heritage Sites and number of theatres, museums, stadiums and hotel rooms); livability (life expectancy and rent prices); environment (air quality and waste recycle rate); and accessibility (the price of a cab and the number of international flights).  Photograph: Shutterstock Although the Big Smoke lost points from the previous year, it managed to top the list for the 14th consecutive year in a row with an overall score of 1,642.2 out of a possible 2,700. The city ranked first...

Pedestrians: you will now be safe from rogue e-biking tourists and Tour de France wannabes in Regent’s Park, because new crossings and rules for bicycles are being introduced in the Royal park from this week. Huzzah! Work has begun to install three new traffic-light controlled pedestrian crossings around the park’s Outer Circle at Monkey Hill Gate, Chester Gate and Kent Passage. This comes after there was a fatal collision in 2022 and another serious collision in 2024.  The project, which is funded by the Royal Parks charity and Crown Estate Paving Commission (CEPC), is part of a wider initiative to improve pedestrian safety in the Outer Circle and reduce collisions between road users and people on foot. The Royal Parks also launched a ‘considerate cycling’ campaign in April 2025 which urged cyclists to slow down and not skip red lights. The campaign was created in response to a survey that found that almost three-quarters of London pedestrians (72 percent) had witnessed or experienced a near miss or collision with a cyclist.  Photograph: Shutterstock What happens if a cyclist runs a red light in Regent’s Park now? Under the new rules, riders are now legally required to stop at red lights in the same way as drivers. If they are caught jumping the signal they could be issued a £50 fine by park enforcement officers.  Darren Share, Director of Parks, The Royal Parks, said: ‘These wonderful, urban green spaces are incredibly important to so many people, and it’s vital that...

Could the Northern line be split into two separate tube lines? Under proposals from TfL, it just might be. Transport for London has long-term goals to break up the line, saying that the split could increase the line’s capacity by 20,000.  At the moment, the Northern line has two central branches: trains run either via Bank or Charing Cross, before rejoining at Camden Town in the north and Oval in the south.  You’re probably wondering: who gets Kennington in the divorce? Well, if the line was split, the alteration would see all trains from Morden run via Bank, and all services starting at Kennington (or Battersea) travel via Charing Cross. The High Barnet and Edgware branches would each continue to be served by both Bank and Charing Cross trains.  Plans to split the Underground line dated back to before 2018, which was first revealed in 2024 by a Freedom of Information (FoI) request. In January 2026 the Express reported that TfL still wants to break the line into two separate services, however it doesn’t currently have the dosh to do it.  Photograph: Shutterstock The 2024 FoI response read: ‘It was our intention to separate the Northern line, for which various options have been considered. These options vary between full separation and partial separation with timetable separations. Separation of the line would enable a more frequent service but requires more trains and as such, additional trains were being procured as part of the Jubilee and Northern line Additional...