Heathrow is just one decision where the government could be falling short of its infrastructure promises July 3, 2015 The recommendation that Heathrow should have a third runway sent ripples of disbelief among business communities in the UK regions. Not the least of those was the West Midlands. They had hoped that the Davies Commission on the future of aviation would advocate measures that would help rebalance the economy, a frequent promise from Prime [...]
Tfl signs contract to bring new, air-conditioned trains to London Overground July 1, 2015 In today's extreme heat, the prospect of feeling cool on London transport seems too good to be true. Read more: TfL wants businesses to pitch "something exceptional" to transform its disused Down Street Tube station But thanks to a new contract signed by TfL, from 2018 some London overground trains will be blasting out [...]
RMT and TSSA workers vote to strike over Night Tube June 30, 2015 Workers for transport unions RMT and TSSA have voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of strike action over the Night Tube. Nearly 92 per cent of members voted in favour of strike action over both London Underground pay and the transition to running the Tube night. Some 96.5 per cent voted for action short of a [...]
Taxi protest shuts down more London roads as black cab drivers block TfL office over Uber regulation June 30, 2015 It's becoming something of a familiar site: yet another taxi protest has brought London streets to a standstill. Yet again the black cab drivers are protesting outside TfL's offices, meaning that areas around from Blackfriars Bridge, stretching as far as Waterloo, are jammed. https://twitter.com/AndrewNickolls/status/615881341821931520 Cabbies are demonstrating against what they see as [...]
TfL shortlists four train operators to run London Overground June 29, 2015 Transport for London (TfL) has announced a shortlist of four train operators to run London Overground services from next year. Arriva Rail, LoKeGo (the snappily-titled joint venture between Keolis and Go-Ahead), Metroline and MTR are all in the running to take over the routes, which includes routes between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, Cheshunt and [...]
Fire crews called in after burst water main creates “river” in Kennington, TfL warns of severe delays to buses across south London June 29, 2015 Update: Around 15 properties have been flooded by the burst water main in Kennington, south London, which has been finally been brought under control. But that hasn't stopped travel disruption, with TfL warning that bus routes and drivers were still being caught in severe delays throughout Vauxhall, Pimlico, Stockwell, Camberwell, Old Kent Road, Elephant [...]
Why we should mobilise public land to tackle London’s housing crisis June 28, 2015 A starter for ten. How much of the land in the London Borough of Southwark is owned by Southwark Council? 10 per cent? 20 per cent? More? Answer: 43 per cent, including, astonishingly, 10,000 garages, most of them part of council housing estates built in the 1960s and 1970s. Southwark Council is not exceptional. London’s [...]
London Mayoral hopeful Ivan Massow: Give spare cash from Oyster cards to charity June 25, 2015 Mayoral candidate Ivan Massow wants £75m of unused Oyster card money to be put towards a fund devoted to increasing social mobility in the capital, he told City A.M.. Read more: Did Ivan Massow just become London's most honest Mayoral candidate? Massow also said London would benefit from encouraging a depot system, where [...]
Sir Peter Hendy, the Transport for London boss who called commuter trains “s**t”, appointed to lead Network Rail as £35.8bn investment plan is delayed June 25, 2015 Network Rail has appointed Peter Hendy, the former Transport for London commissioner who only two months ago described commuter trains as "s**t" and "awful", as its chairman. Read more: Network Rail is at crisis point and won't deliver the upgrades it promised "On Southeastern, the trains are like the Wild West. They are s**t, awful. And [...]
From the Shard to Crossrail: Five female engineers shaping the future of London June 23, 2015 Women make up only six per cent of UK engineers – but that hasn’t stopped these London engineers from joining a male-dominated workforce, building everything from the Shard to Crossrail. Today marked the second-ever National Women in Engineering Day, to highlight the lack of female engineers. This is bad news for business, according to a [...]