01/01/2018 London News

for the news where you are.

Good evening.

Work to transform one

of London's busiest rails

Work to transform one

of London's busiest rail

stations is almost complete,

and the station will

fully reopen tomorrow.

It couldn't come soon enough

for thousands of commuters,

who have often faced

delays or had to find

new routes in to the capital,

since work began on London

Bridge station in 2011.

since work began on London

Bridge station in 2013.

We're told the pain

will be worth it.

Tara Welsh reports.

Applying the finishing touches

to what has been a huge project

here at London Bridge.

The capital's oldest station has

been completely redeveloped.

The idea is to allow

more trains to travel

through London with fewer delays.

The Thameslink programme

is all about connecting people north

and south of London.

This is a transformation in terms

of rail travel across London.

It will take pressure

off the Northern line,

it will mean that people will not

have to change onto the Tube

either side of London -

they can travel straight

through from destinations

like Peterborough and Cambridge

and Bedford in the north,

right down to Brighton, Horsham

and Maidstone in the south-east.

One of the biggest parts

of the project has been to untangle

the complex web of tracks leading

to the station.

Here at Bermondsey, trains will now

pass under and over each other,

Are

hopefully leading to fewer delays.

All of the tracks here

at London Bridge have been replaced.

And the work has been

ongoing every single day.

But some of it has been

so disruptive, it's had

to completely close the station.

And on those occasions,

there have been up to 2,000 people

working on this site.

And the project has not

been without challenges.

There have been chaotic scenes

at times throughout the programme.

We recognise that there has been

disruption for people while we've

been constructing London Bridge

here, and whilst we've been

remodelling the track layout

and redoing the railway signalling

here at London Bridge.

And we thank people

for their patience, and hopefully

they'll recognise that the end

product has been something that's

been worth waiting for.

Some of the work will

go on to the spring.

But for now, passengers will see

a new concourse, extra entrances

and five new platforms.

And after three years,

Cannon Street services

will stop here again.

But as a New Year brings higher

fares, passengers might not be

in a celebratory mood

at tomorrow's reopening.

Tarah Welsh, BBC London News.

Strike action affected three museums

in Greenwich today including

the National Maritime Museum

and the Royal Observatory.

Members of the Prospect union

say new contracts have

been imposed on them,

increasing their hours

and ending their paid breaks.

Royal Museums Greenwich said

that the majority of the "front

of house" staff agreed

to the new terms and

conditions, which increase

the hourly rates of pay.

Thousands of people lined

the streets of central London

to support the New Year's

Parade today, which

celebrated the diversity

of London's communities.

It's a popular event on US TV

networks, but this year,

organisers were keen

to reflect our own culture,

as well as playing host to dozens

of American marching bands.

Sarah Harris reports.

It's not Chinese New

Year until February.

But for the first time,

London's Chinese community came

to join the New Year's parade

to celebrate the capital's

diversity and spirit.

We all love to share our culture,

and that's why when it's

Chinese New Year, everyone come

and join us as well.

We say happy New Year but we also

say "Xin nian kuai le".

And we also say,

"Gong hei fat choy!"

Like that!

The parade is watched

by millions of Americans

as they wake up to the New Year

watching breakfast television.

Many of the 8,000 performers came

from across the Atlantic.

But this year, organisers

are keen to promote dozens

of London traditions

from across all of

the London boroughs.

Clyde, pearly king of...

Woolwich.

Peggy Scott, Pearly

Queen of Highgate.

Sue Pace, Pearly Queen

of Forest Gate.

It's meeting the people,

it always is, like, you know,

we take this time out,

we're collecting money most

of the time, but this one's

our little bit of fun.

So, just going down, saying hello

to all the people, all the visitors,

it's lovely.

Thousands of people lined the route

from Green Park Tube station

to Parliament Square.

There were visitors from all over

the world, but plenty of Londoners

keen to get out of the house

and support the event

in the heart of London.

We celebrate the culture,

and what London is about,

and all the traditions.

It gives you a sense of pride that

a city like London can still produce

these fantastic events -

and it's starting to rain!

It's the first time

I've ever been as well.

Or any of us have ever been.

So, yeah, we're really

impressed, it's been great.

17 London boroughs took part,

with special vantage points made

for children with disabilities

to get the best view.

Half of the performers may come

from the United States,

but organisers were determined that

in 2018, London's unique spirit

would shine through.

Sarah Harris, BBC London News.

Now let's take a look at

the weather, with Georgina Burnett.

Good evening and happy New Year.

A lot of wet and windy

weather to kick-start 2018.

This evening, some blustery showers

around, they should move away

as we head through the night

and the wind drops off a little

as well, leaving us with mainly

clear skies and possibly even a bit

of frost in more rural spots.

Probably some patchy fog around

as well, temperatures down

to about 2-3 Celsius.

So, it is a dry start to tomorrow,

but that's fairly short-lived,

as we do have some rain coming

in from the west in the mid-morning.

That's going to be fairly heavy

at times, and a southerly wind

will pick up during that

time as well.

It does clear in the afternoon,

though, so a drier end to the day,

with highs of 10-11 Celsius,

so really, it's still fairly mild.

Some more rain overnight

into Wednesday, but drier

during the day, just

a few showers around.

We've got some rain on Thursday

and then a cloudy day

with showers on Friday.

So, wet weather never really far

away, and really quite a blustery

forecast for the week ahead.

That's it for now,

we will be back at 10.50 -

until then, goodbye.