RMT joins calls for emergency Eurostar funding as passenger numbers collapse November 25, 2020 Rail union the RMT has called on the government to provide emergency funding for the Eurostar, saying that a failure to do so threatens the future of the rail link. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic,the Eurostar is currently battling a 95 per cent decline in passenger numbers. If the service were to fail [...]
Crossrail funding remains up in the air despite government commitment November 25, 2020 Questions remain over the immediate future of the Crossrail link despite the government committing to the £19bn project’s completion in today’s National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS). “The government is continuing to address capacity issues in the capital, by financing the completion of Crossrail”, the paper read. But negotiations over the funding package for the rail link [...]
Sunak pledges £100bn in capital spending to fund ‘once in a generation’ infrastructure investment November 25, 2020 Capital spending will increase to £100bn next year, Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged today, as the government looks to make a “once in a generation investment” in its infrastructure. The plans, which were announced as part of today’s Spending Review, will see new money for housebuilding, a “levelling-up” fund for local projects, and a new national [...]
Exclusive: TfL officials watered down Croydon tram safety audit to ‘placate’ First Group November 25, 2020 Internal emails seen by City A.M. show that Transport for London (TfL) officials agreed to water down an audit into fatigue management on the Croydon tram network in a bid to “placate” the company running the service. A group of TfL executives responsible for a 2017 audit of Tram Operations Limited’s (TOL) safety standards agreed [...]
Road to recovery: AA accepts £219m private equity bid November 25, 2020 The AA has accepted a £219m cash takeover offer from private equity groups Towerbrook Capital and Warburg Pincus. Shareholders in the roadside recovery business will receive 35p per share as a result of the takeover. The private equity firms plan to inject £380m into the business to help reduce its debt pile of £2.6bn as [...]
On the charge: Tesla breaks $500bn market valuation after stock rally November 24, 2020 Tesla has broken through the $500bn (£375bn) market value mark following a mammoth rally that has seen its share price rise more than sixfold this year. The company’s shares were opened more than five per cent up today to give the firm a market cap of $519bn. The growth will round off an historic year [...]
Covid-19: Travel quarantine restrictions to be relaxed in time for Christmas November 24, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has scrapped blanket travel quarantine restrictions in time for Christmas so that people can travel to high-risk "red list" countries to visit relatives.
Royal Mail awarded contract to deliver and collect Covid-19 home testing kits November 24, 2020 Royal Mail has been awarded a new contract to deliver and collect coronavirus home testing kits seven days a week. The move comes as ministers prepare to ramp up testing capacity in the coming week, part of Boris Johnson’s ‘Operation Moonshot’ that was announced several months ago. Completed tests will be collected from 35,000 postboxes [...]
Wizz Air slams slot suspension as it seeks to grow presence at Gatwick November 24, 2020 Hungarian carrier Wizz Air has hit out at regulators over fears that a continued freeze on airport slot rules could derail efforts to bolster its presence at London Gatwick. Under normal circumstances, airlines which fail to use 80 per cent of their take-off and landing slots have to cede some of these to their rivals. [...]
Think ‘carefully’ before travelling at Christmas, warns Shapps November 24, 2020 People should think “carefully” about travelling over the Christmas period, the transport secretary warned today, because of “limitations” on the UK’s railways. Speaking to the BBC, Grant Shapps said that people should “take a close look at any proposed journeys and routes they are taking” amid fears of overcrowding. “I would appeal to people to [...]