Exclusive: Bolt offers free rides to Londoners getting Covid vaccine January 7, 2021 Ride-hailing app Bolt has offered to provide Londoners with £250,000 worth of free transport to Covid-19 vaccination centres in a bid to aid the inoculation programme. City A.M. can reveal that the firm has written to the government to offer its services to the NHS. The offer comes as the UK attempts to vaccinate the [...]
Ryanair cuts traffic forecasts again as carrier slams ‘brutal lockdowns’ January 7, 2021 Ryanair has cut its traffic forecast for the full financial year to 26m-30m passengers, just a fifth of last year’s number, amid the new coronavirus lockdowns. The Irish carrier said that due to new restrictions in the UK, Ireland, and parts of the EU, it would reduce flights from 21 January. Few, if any, flights [...]
Scandinavian fund EQT join race for First Group’s US businesses January 7, 2021 A Scandinavian fund has joined the bidding for transport operator First Group’s US assets, which are valued at £2.5bn. Sky News reported that EQT Infrastructure made a $3.7bn bid for the First Transit and First Student in the days leading up to Christmas. The fund, which is run by one of Scandinavia’s most powerful equity [...]
Khan pushes for airport testing, while airport boss wants taxpayers to foot bill January 7, 2021 Sadiq Khan pushes for airport testing, while Southend airport boss wants taxpayers to pay for pre-flight tests
HS2 minister: Covid crisis has ‘strengthened’ case for high speed rail link January 6, 2021 The case for the controversial HS2 rail link has been bolstered by the coronavirus pandemic, the minister responsible for the project has told lawmakers. Speaking to the Transport Select Committee, Andrew Stephenson hit back at growing concerns that the current crisis has made the high speed line unnecessary. “You can argue that Covid has affected [...]
UK can still be gateway to Europe for car giants after Brexit, says auto boss January 6, 2021 The UK can still be the gateway to Europe for foreign carmakers despite the challenges of leaving the EU, the head of the country’s biggest auto trade body has said. Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that the UK would still be able to compete with [...]
Rail services to be cut in half under new lockdown – report January 5, 2021 Rail services are set to be slashed in half during the new coronavirus lockdown in a bid to save taxpayer money. The Telegraph reported that ministers were finalising plans to pare back timetables to similar schedules to those put in place in March, when the first lockdown began. At that time, trains ran on a [...]
Honda halts Swindon car production for second time in a month due to supply chain disruption January 5, 2021 Honda this afternoon said that it would halt production at its plant in Swindon due to supply chain disruption – the second time it has done so in a month. In a statement, the carmaker said that production would stop today and tomorrow, with a view to starting again on Thursday. It said that the [...]
Tube and bus passenger numbers plunge as lockdown begins January 5, 2021 There were 200,000 journeys made on the London Underground on the first morning of the latest national lockdown, figures from Transport for London (TfL) showed today. As of 10am this morning, passengers made a total of 400,000 entrances and exits to the Tube network, which is the equivalent to 18 per cent of pre-pandemic demand [...]
Decision on UK border restrictions in coming days, says Michael Gove January 5, 2021 Cabinet minister Michael Gove today confirmed that the government is preparing new border controls for travellers entering England. Speaking to ITV, he said: “We will be making announcements later today and in the days ahead about how we will make sure that our ports and airports are safe. “It is already the case that there are significant [...]