Business pushes government once again on airport decision after Gatwick records largest ever month of traffic August 11, 2016 Business groups have jumped on data showing Gatwick recorded its busiest ever month in its 80 year history to push for a decision on aviation capacity. Some 4.6m passengers travelled through the airport in July, up 6.9 per cent on the same month last year, while long-haul jumped 23 per cent. Business groups welcomed the news, but indicated it [...]
Southern Rail is still running its services based on the strike timetable August 11, 2016 Commuters may have breathed a sigh of relief yesterday, when the Southern Rail strike was called off – but it actually hasn't made much of a difference to service today. The rail company said this morning that it is still running services based on its strike timetable. Today's service will be based on the strike [...]
The RMT’s dangerous strikes are a cynical ploy to pave the way for rail renationalisation August 10, 2016 There is no general upsurge of industrial militancy in the UK: the latest figures show both numbers of stoppages and days lost to strikes remain low. The cluster of RMT actions – against Southern Railway/Govia Thameslink (now suspended), Virgin East Coast and Eurostar – will not be a harbinger of a new wave of damaging [...]
Air India celebrates 70th year of independence with non-stop route to London August 10, 2016 Coinciding with its India's 70th year of independence the country's national airline is set to launch non-stop flights from London to Ahmedabad and Newark. The services will commence on 15 August, reducing the journey time for up to three and a half hours, utilising Boeing 787 Dreamliners. Read more: Private jet membership set to take off in [...]
Southern Rail strike called off to allow for fresh negotiations August 10, 2016 The strike on Southern Rail has been called off to allow for fresh negotiations to take place. Acas said that the strike had been called off but Southern said services could still be affected tomorrow. "Southern and the RMT are returning to talks tomorrow under the auspices of Acas. Strike action has been suspended for Thursday [...]
Mick Cash didn’t know this morning how many RMT members voted in the Eurostar strike. He only had to check his own website… August 10, 2016 A total of 55 votes were cast by RMT members in a ballot for strike action against Eurostar, 52 of which said they would be "prepared to take strike action". In a second vote, 48 of the 55 voted that they would be prepared to take "industrial action short of a strike". The information was listed under "ballot [...]
Quiz: Most UK drivers can only recognise 80 per cent of road signs – can you? August 10, 2016 Alarming news if you're planning a weekend getaway: the average UK driver can only recognise eight in 10 road signs. According to research by Kwik Fit, two in five drivers have become so confused by the meanings of road signs, they've run into trouble on the road. Just one in 10 drivers were able to [...]
The train journey between London and Norwich is about to get faster, with a £1bn order for new trains August 10, 2016 The crawl between London and Norwich is about to be turbo charged (or at least get a little speedier), after the government gave the East Anglia rail franchise back to Abellio. In a statement today the government said its decision will cut travel times between Liverpool Street and Norwich, Cambridge and Peterborough by an average of [...]
Rail union RMT announces more strikes – this time on the Eurostar August 10, 2016 Rail union RMT has announced more industrial action, with Eurostar workers set to strike over seven days this month, including the Bank Holiday weekend – over their work/life balance. RMT said this morning that Eurostar train managers would strike for four days from 12.01am on Friday 12 August until 11.59pm on Monday 15 August, with a [...]
Sick of the strikes? Job-threatening technology could lead to even more industrial disputes August 10, 2016 The strike bringing misery to thousands of commuters on Southern’s railway line may be merely the start of a wider trend of industrial action throughout the UK. The RMT union has got its tail up and yesterday declared that workers on the Virgin east coast mainline have voted in favour of walkouts, while passenger groups are [...]