New roads increase traffic rather than ease it, says the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) March 20, 2017 Building new roads causes more traffic, according to a study of over 80 road schemes by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. It found that congestion initially falls, but often this doesn't last long as new roads result in people swapping from public transport and making more journeys. Read more: This is how much Londoners will [...]
Rail industry promises 6,400 new passenger trains a week by 2021 to address the railway’s “capacity crunch” March 20, 2017 Britain's rail industry has announced plans to run 6,400 more passenger trains a week by 2021 as around £50bn gets plugged into the network to address a "capacity crunch". Projected timetable improvements for the next four years show 1,283 more trains a day will run from Monday to Friday nationwide, according to analysis by the Rail [...]
Uber president Jeff Jones quits after six months in role March 19, 2017 Uber president Jeff Jones has quit his role after little more than six months in the job, the car hailing giant has confirmed. A spokesperson for the firm said: “We want to thank Jeff for his six months at the company and wish him all the best.” Second in command at the car hailing firm to Travis Kalanick, Jones [...]
From Singapore to London: Here are the cities with the best infrastructure in the world March 18, 2017 It's official: London's not quite at the top when it comes to cities with the best infrastructure. In fact, it's not in the top three globally. First place goes to Singapore, followed by Frankfurt and Munich in joint second, Copenhagen in fourth and Dusseldorf in fifth. The capital does though, rank fairly highly, coming joint sixth with [...]
Not just hot air: Government plugs £23m of funding into accelerating the take-up of hydrogen vehicles March 18, 2017 The government has announced a new £23m fund to accelerate the take-up of hydrogen vehicles and roll-out high-tech infrastructure such as fuel stations. A perceived road bump to wider usage is the availability of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, so the government is launching a competition this summer. Hydrogen fuel providers will be able to bid for funding in [...]
Southeastern gives St Pancras station a cheeky makeover for St Patrick’s Day March 17, 2017 Southeastern Railway said top of the morning to its travellers by cheekily renaming St Pancras International station to St Patrick’s International in honour of the holiday today. Travellers have joined in the festivities across social media, noting the name change across display boards at stations: Railway fun this morning at Canterbury West train station, changing the [...]
Transport for London (TfL) has updated its walking Tube maps to cover Zone 3 and National Rail stations March 17, 2017 Transport for London's (TfL) walking maps have just become even handier. The indispensable guides to walking times and steps between stations have been expanded and now encompass Zone 3 and National Rail stations. So they're the ideal tools for when a Tube strike is on the horizon and you need to scope out other options. Read [...]
South East business leaders urge government to commit to Crossrail 2 as a project of “national importance” March 17, 2017 Business leaders, including the bosses of Heathrow and Gatwick airports, have urged the government to make Crossrail 2 a priority and enable "rapid progress" on the project. A group of more than 70 leaders from across the South East have written to chancellor Philip Hammond and transport secretary Chris Grayling, saying the infrastructure project is of "national importance". [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan has no plans to follow in Paris’ footsteps and trial free public transport days to curb air pollution March 17, 2017 London mayor Sadiq Khan has said he has "no plans" to trial free public transport days in a bid to cut air pollution, saying the move would cost Transport for London (TfL) £12m in lost revenue. Over in Paris, authorities announced a few days in December where people could use public transport for free after a [...]
Driverless cars will leave a big dent in the insurance industry according to the Bank of England March 17, 2017 The adoption of driverless cars will leave a massive dent in the car insurance market, according to the Bank of England, forcing insurers to team up with car firms as they transform their business. Economists at the Bank say their central forecast is for the UK motor insurance market to contract by 21 per cent [...]