Exclusive: Aberdeen Standard backs controversial £1bn bid for Crossrail fleet December 17, 2018 Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) is backing a controversial £971m bid to acquire a fleet of 70 Elizabeth Line trains from Transport for London (TfL), City A.M. can reveal. The asset management giant is stumping up £147m in equity investment to Rock Rail, a rolling stock infrastructure company that finances new trains, with funding proposed from [...]
Tube driver salaries break £100,000 barrier despite train automation December 16, 2018 Some London Tube drivers are now earning more than £100,000 a year, despite new technology that makes their jobs easier. Figures obtained by the Sunday Times reveal the highest-paid driver earned £103,374 in the year to November, a 69 per cent rise since 2012. The surge in pay comes despite five of the network’s 11 lines [...]
More than half of Londoners would vote for Sadiq Khan in 2020 according to a Yougov survey December 11, 2018 More than half of Londoners would vote for Sadiq Khan in the 2020 mayoral election, according to a new survey, despite concerns over crime rates and affordable housing. A total of 55 per cent of respondents to a Yougov survey said they would vote for the incumbent Labour mayor in the first round of the election, [...]
Sadiq Khan blasts government for ‘forcing London to pay twice’ for Crossrail delay December 11, 2018 Transport for London (TfL) has admitted its fare income will be £2.1bn lower than expected as it battles a "perfect storm" of pressures on its finances. In its business plan for 2019-20 to 2023-24, TfL said a “subdued” economy and a £700m reduction in central government funding for challenges facing the organisation. It said fare revenue [...]
Nearly 300,000 homes could be built in Greater London above rail tracks, says new research December 11, 2018 Untapped space above London’s railways tracks could pave the way for as many as 280,000 new homes, according to new data that comes amid growing calls to tackle the capital’s housing shortage woes. Almost 2,500 hectares of land on top of Greater London’s train, overground and Tube lines could be freed up, a report by [...]
Crossrail crisis escalates as TfL confirms up to £2bn cost overrun and possible delay to 2020 December 10, 2018 The crisis facing Crossrail deepened today after Transport for London (TfL) admitted that the delayed project could need an extra £2bn in rescue funding to stay afloat. The Elizabeth Line, which will stretch from Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood in the east, was projected to cost £15.4bn and to open by 9 December [...]
Sadiq Khan slams Westminster Council for pulling out of £80m TfL Oxford Street redevelopment plans December 6, 2018 Sadiq Khan has slashed £80m of funding from Westminster City Council (WCC) for redeveloping Oxford Street, after finding out the council had ditched joint plans with Transport for London for the project in favour of its own £150m proposal. In a letter seen by City A.M., addressed to council leader Nickie Allen, the mayor of [...]
Crossrail boss Terry Morgan resigns after Sadiq Khan spat December 5, 2018 The chairman of Crossrail and HS2 has resigned from both roles following a dispute with mayor Sadiq Khan over delays and spiralling costs. Terry Morgan admitted last week he expected to be sacked amid rising costs and opening delays to both the Crossrail and HS2 projects. Morgan, who has led Crossrail for almost a decade, [...]
Sadiq Khan hits back at Terry Morgan over Crossrail comments December 3, 2018 Sadiq Khan has hit back at Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan over comments he made about what the mayor knew about the project’s delay. The soon-to-be-sacked Morgan told the BBC earlier today that he was in “absolutely no doubt” that Khan was told on 26 July that it was no longer feasible to deliver Crossrail, also known [...]
Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan ‘in no doubt’ that Sadiq Khan was told about project delay in July December 3, 2018 The soon-to-be sacked HS2 chairman Terry Morgan has insisted he told Sadiq Khan that the £15.4bn Elizabeth Line was not going to open on time at least a month before the London mayor said he knew about the delay. Morgan, who has led the Crossrail project for a decade, told the BBC that he was in "absolutely no [...]