Scrapped: Government cancels bidding for Southeastern rail franchise as fresh search for operator begins August 7, 2019 The government has faced accusations of running Britain’s railways “on the hoof” after it scrapped the bidding process for the Southeastern rail franchise, making it the latest botched procurement by the Department for Transport (DfT). Officials will now have until 1 April 2020 to choose the next franchise operator. Go-Ahead Group, which currently operates the [...]
Rolls-Royce boss still cannot call time on Trent 1000 engine issue August 6, 2019 Rolls-Royce’s chief executive Warren East was today unable to predict when he will draw a line under a long-running engine problem which has grounded hundreds of passenger jets and already cost the firm billions of pounds. The blue-chip engineer today announced a further £100m loss on the Trent 1000 engine, which powers the popular long-haul [...]
Users of Gospel Oak to Barking line get month of free travel following delays August 6, 2019 Users of a London Overground line that has been beset by delays and setbacks have been given a month of free travel as compensation. London mayor Sadiq Khan requested free travel for the users of the Gospel Oak to Barking line, which will now be in place from 31 August to 1 October. Read more: [...]
Ryanair passenger numbers climb to 14.8m in July August 6, 2019 Ryanair’s passenger numbers grew to 14.8m In July, a nine per cent increase on the same period the year before. Ryanair carried 14.2m passengers, while Lauda, the low-cost Austrian airline acquired by Ryanair, carried 600,000. Read more: Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary warns of job losses over Brexit and Boeing woes Ryanair operated over 81,000 scheduled flights [...]
Crossrail shares pictures of progress at key Elizabeth Line stations August 6, 2019 Crossrail has infamously fallen far off track from its original opening date of December 2018, with the £17.6bn Elizabeth Line now not set to open until sometime in 2021. But bosses eager to assuage angry commuters have shared pictures showing the state of progress at key stations along the London route. Read more: MPs blast [...]
British Airways pilots applauded for landing ‘horror film’ smoke-filled plane August 6, 2019 The pilots of a British Airways (BA) plane which sparked terror as it filled with smoke on the way to Spain yesterday have been praised for landing passengers under “extremely challenging” conditions. Yesterday afternoon, 175 passengers on BA flight 422 were forced to slide down emergency chutes to the runway at Valencia airport, after the [...]
Eurozone construction sector held back by Germany in July August 6, 2019 The Eurozone construction sector grew marginally in July despite activity falling in Germany for the first time in nine months. Read more: Investor confidence in Eurozone hits five-year low The construction purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a gauge of the sector’s health from data firm IHS Markit, rose slightly to 50.8 in July from 50.6 in [...]
Chaos averted as union calls off tomorrow’s Heathrow strike August 5, 2019 The 24-hour strike that was due to force Heathrow into shutdown has been called off. Unite the union had been engaged in talks with senior Heathrow personnel about averting the strikes, which would have been carried out by more than 4,000 workers, including security guards, firefighters and engineers. A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Unite has chosen [...]
BBA Aviation profits down amid aerospace industry struggles August 5, 2019 Aerospace services firm BBA Aviation shares fell this morning as it announced a slight deterioration in first half profits. The firm, which provides the global aviation industry with fuelling, ground handling and passenger services, said a cooling sector was partly to blame for the results. Read more: Cobham founding family says takeover ‘against national interest’ [...]
Heathrow and Unite locked in last-ditch talks to halt tomorrow’s strike August 5, 2019 Heathrow and Unite the union are engaged in last-ditch talks to prevent strikes planned for tomorrow from going ahead. Unite has postponed the strike that was set for today, in which more than 2,000 workers, including security guards, firefighters and engineers, planned to “shut down” the airport in a dispute over pay. Read more: Union [...]