London bus drivers threaten strike action January 6, 2020 Londoners could face more travel chaos in the new year as 20,000 bus drivers are threatening to strike. Unite is preparing to ballot its members to decide if industrial action is taken over complaints of “chronic levels” of fatigue among bus drivers. Read more: RMT pledges to fight Tory plans for ‘minimum service’ during strikes [...]
Daimler to recall 744,000 Mercedes-Benz cars in US due to faulty sunroofs January 5, 2020 German carmaker Daimler has announced that it will recall nearly 750,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles in the US due to fears that the sunroof glass panel could detach and become a threat. The recall covers over two dozen models from 2001 to 2011, including the C-Class, CLK-Class, CLS-Class and E-Class. Read more: Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler to cut [...]
Greater Anglia rail franchise clause at centre of dispute involving Abellio January 5, 2020 A row between rail officials in Holland and Britain has spilled over into 2020, after train operator Abellio continued to take heavy losses from a clause in one of its UK government contracts. Abellio is a subsidiary of Dutch state-owned company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS). Read more: Rail: Williams review recommendations ‘could take 10 years to [...]
Boeing scraps festive bonuses in UK amid ‘challenging time’ for aerospace giant January 5, 2020 Boeing’s UK employees will be glad to have put 2019 behind them, after the aerospace giant reportedly capped off a dismal year by cancelling workers’ festive bonuses. The US aerospace giant has been feeling the pinch in recent months, as it loses billions of dollars over the ongoing grounding of its best-selling 737 Max jet. [...]
Dissenting HS2 report revives calls for government to release official review January 5, 2020 Whitehall is facing growing clamour to release its official review into the HS2 rail line, after a former insider slammed the project in his own dissenting report over the weekend. The Rail Industry Association (RIA), which represents contractors working on HS2, urged the government to publish its independent review into the line “swiftly” after Lord [...]
MPs were ‘misled’ on HS2 cost, says former deputy of government review into project January 5, 2020 Parliament was “misled” over the costs of the High Speed 2 rail project, according to the former deputy chairman of the government’s independent review into the line. Lord Tony Berkeley said the cost of the project is “out of control” and could be as much as £107m, three times the original estimate, in his own [...]
Tesla shares hit record highs as firm beats vehicle delivery estimates January 3, 2020 Shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla today hit record highs after the firm beat Wall Street estimates for annual vehicle deliveries and met the low-end of its own target. Tesla said it delivered 112,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, including 92,550 Model 3s and 19,450 Model S/X SUVs, which was above expectations of 104,960 vehicles, according [...]
Northern Rail franchise likely to be scrapped January 2, 2020 Plans to strip Northern Rail of its franchise have begun, according transport secretary Grant Shapps Shapps said that the process to take away routes from the rail operator has already begun due to its “completely unacceptable” performance over several years. Read more: Northern Rail could be split up amid nationalisation plans The rail operator has [...]
Sadiq Khan promises free travel for disabled people’s carers January 2, 2020 London’s public transport system will be free for anyone accompanying a disabled passenger if Sadiq Khan is re-elected. The Labour mayor of London has pledged to create a “companion pass” if he wins the May election, which would provide free travel on all Transport for London (TfL) services for carers of disabled people. Read more: [...]
Tesla delivers first electric cars made in China December 30, 2019 Electric car firm Tesla has delivered its first vehicles made in China as its billionaire founder Elon Musk targets a bigger share of the country’s car market. Fifteen Model 3 cars were handed over to employees at the firm’s Gigafactory near Shanghai, meaning deliveries have started just over a year after construction of the factory [...]