The Time Out London blog team

British trains are famously unreliable. Chances are if your train’s not cancelled, it’ll probably be delayed – and to make matters worse, you’ll almost certainly have had to fork out an absolute fortune for a ticket. However, some train lines are better than others. Some, in fact, are award-winningly good.  A London train line has just been crowned the best rail service in the entire UK for 2026. Picking up the top prize at the 2026 Rail Business Awards was London Northwestern Railway (LNR). The capital-based line and its sister-brand West Midlands Railway (WMR) celebrated the win after £1 billion’s worth of investment was pumped into new trains and infrastructure on the services. Clearly that has paid off.  LNR operates trains from London Euston along the West Coast Main Line, with trains reaching the Midlands and northwest. In recent years both winning brands have introduced new fleets, increasing capacity on its services by 40 percent. Also improving the service was LNR’s introduction of the spacious 730/2 electric train on routes to and from London Euston. These roomy carriages feature intelligent air conditioning, improved accessibility features and power points at every seat. LNR said that since the arrival of the 730/2 customer satisfaction on the line has risen by 20 percent.  Photograph: Claudia8c / Shutterstock.com Ian McConnell, managing director at LNR, said: ‘We are extremely proud to win “Train Operator of the Year”. This award is testament to the hard work...

Could Londoners one day reach Paris in less time than it takes to get from north to south London? Thanks to new research into land travel, it might soon be easier to meet your pals for un café et croissant in Paree than making the dreaded journey from Hackney to Peckham.  Engineers are looking into hyperloop technology, which isn’t something from Star Trek, but instead could be a very real mode of transport that would make land travel as fast as flying. The European Hyperloop Center Veendam in the Netherlands, where the research is taking place, said one day travellers could reach Paris from London in just 20 minutes.  If it were to become a reality, passengers would be shuttled through hyperloop vacuums, travelling 600 miles per hour. Pods are not attached to rails, but are suspended in midair by magnets attached to the roof of the vehicles. It sounds a little scary, but advocates for the futuristic mode of travel say it could alter how we perceive time and distance forever, affecting everything from holiday planning, to house prices.  Hyperloop travel was once just a pipe dream, but it gained more recognition in 2013 after Elon Musk wrote a white paper on the topic. The world’s first hyperloop passenger test was conducted in Nevada in 2023, but then the project folded amid skyrocketing costs.  Thanks to funding from the European Union, research in the Netherlands is still zooming ahead. But it’s not been total plain sailing (or looping) – the project still faces...

This week south London’s very own RAYE has kicked off one of the capital’s biggest music residencies of the year. The former Time Out cover star is set to play a whopping six dates at the O2 Arena in Greenwich between February and May 2026. Since the This Tour May Contain New Music Tour was announced back in September, RAYE has confirmed that she has a new record on the way. Her sophomore album This Music May Contain Hope., which was previewed with last year’s hit single ‘Where Is My Husband!’, will be released at the end of the March. Heading to see RAYE at the O2 between now and May? Here’s what you need to know about the shows, from timings and setlist to any remaining ticket availability. When is RAYE playing at London’s O2 Arena? London is first in the capital for four shows between February 26 and March 2. She’ll then go off to tour North America before returning to London for two more dates in May. Here’s the full list of shows: Thursday February 26 Friday February 27 Sunday March 1 Monday March 2 Tuesday May 19 Wednesday May 20 What time do doors open? For all shows apart from March 1, doors open at 6.30pm. On March 1 – as it’s a Sunday – doors are at 6pm. As always, you’ll be able to get into the venue (but not the arena) earlier, with all its shops, restaurants, bars etc. When will RAYE come on stage? Previous tour dates have seen RAYE take to the stage at around 8.30-8.40pm. Expect similar timings at the London shows. The only exception is Sunday March 1,...