National Audit Office blasts DfT and Network Rail over Great Western railway project as costs have surged £2.1bn since 2013 November 9, 2016 The National Audit Office (NAO) has lambasted Great Western railway as "a case study in how not to manage a major programme" in a report into the project. The cost of modernising the railway is currently estimated at £5.58bn – an increase of £2.1bn since 2013, and there are delays to the electrification of the route [...]
Gatwick Airport and Cathay Pacific subsidise flights for British small business trade mission to China November 9, 2016 Gatwick Airport is subsidising a new trade mission to China, along with its newest airline Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific. 25 British fledgling brands are off to Hong Kong today for a week-long trade mission organised by Enterprise Nation, and their flights are being subsidised by by Gatwick and Cathay Pacific. It comes as new figures show more [...]
A Southern train without a guard travelled with its doors open yesterday (but not very far) November 8, 2016 A Southern train on the way from Tattenham Corner to London Bridge travelled for a brief period with its doors open yesterday. The DfT said it was aware of the incident; the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said the incident happened on the 0554 service and was reported by operator Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR). The driver-only operated (DOO) [...]
Severe delays on Victoria line after customer incident and bus services disrupted due to black cab protest November 8, 2016 There were severe delays on the Victoria Line this afternoon, after a customer incident at Finsbury Park station earlier today. The north London station has now reopened after being closed when a person was reportedly hit by a train. https://twitter.com/victorialine/status/796007235772149760 https://twitter.com/victorialine/status/796007031790518272 Finsbury Park station closed due to a person under a train. Vic line trains not stopping. [...]
Airbus faces a race to meet jet delivery target for 2016 November 8, 2016 The clock is ticking on Airbus meeting its order target for the year. It's just released its updated orders for 2016 and the race is on. Taking the month's bookings and cancellations into account, Airbus net orders for 2016 came to 395 aircraft through to 31 October. It sold 19 aircraft for the month, bringing new [...]
Ford’s investing £157m in a new technology centre in India November 8, 2016 Ford's investing 13bn rupees (£157m) in a new technology and business centre in India over the next five years. The car giant said the development, in the Indian city of Chennai, was to develop new products, design mobility solutions and provide business services. In a statement, Ford said it will create 3,000 jobs while 9,000 people [...]
Tesla is ramping up production by buying a German company November 8, 2016 Tesla has taken action to address its production problems (too much demand. not enough supply), snapping up a German manufacturer to help it build its electric cars. Grohmann Engineering will help it hit a target of producing 500,000 cars a year by 2018, Elon Musk's company said today, and it will become Tesla Grohmann Automation. Read [...]
Toyota profits driven off track by strong yen but it lifts full-year forecast after cost-cutting November 8, 2016 Toyota looks to have set its sights on long-range electric cars for 2020, and in its latest results, the car firm dropped a heavy hint that's the direction it's going in. But first, it needs to fend off a strong yen that's impacting profit. The figures For the July-September period operating profit fell 43 per cent to [...]
DfT will publish rail franchises’ performance against benchmarks after Southern chaos November 8, 2016 The department for transport (DfT) has said it now intends to publish actual performance against the contractual benchmarks for each rail franchise. Performance figures against contractual obligations will be published for every franchise every four weeks to provide frequent updates on performance to "give commuters real insight into the quality of the service they pay [...]
Great Western electrification delayed across four routes including Oxford to Didcot Parkway November 8, 2016 Part of the £2.8bn project to electrify the Great Western route has been delayed, rail minister Paul Maynard has confirmed. In a written statement to Parliament to provide an update on rail investment for the Great Western route, Maynard said part of the project had been "deferred". Four electrification routes have been deferred: Between Oxford [...]