Chris Grayling sets sail again with new £100,000 ports advisory role September 17, 2020 Former transport secretary Chris Grayling’s latest endeavour has been revealed – an £100,000 per year role to advise a global port company. The Tory MP will be paid for seven hours of work a week for a year by China-headquartered Hutchison Ports, the MPs’ register of financial interests said. The company operates Harwich, Felixstowe and [...]
Trainline ticket sales slump as passenger numbers flatline September 17, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic sent sales at online rail ticketing firm Trainline down to less than a fifth of last year’s take as passenger numbers flatlined in the first half. Although sales have begun to come back as lockdown restrictions were eased, business ticket sales remain mired at just four per cent of last year’s levels. [...]
Alstom reduces offer for Bombardier rail unit by $350m September 16, 2020 French transport giant Alstom has announced that it will buy Canadian firm Bombardier’s rail business for $350m (£270m) less than previously indicated. The two companies signed a sale and purchase agreement today worth $8.4bn, with total proceeds from the deal expected to come in at $6.2bn. Back in August, Bombardier announced unexpected financial and performance [...]
Tui to refund all customers by the end of the month September 16, 2020 Travel giant Tui UK will refund all package holidays cancelled due to the coronavirus by the end of the month, the UK’s competition watchdog announced this morning. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had launched an investigation into the firm after receiving thousands of complaints from customers who had not been refunded. Under consumer protection [...]
Fatal Boeing crashes result of ‘horrific culmination’ of events September 16, 2020 The two Boeing 737 Max crashes which killed 346 passengers last year were the result of a “horrific culmination” of errors at the aerospace giant. A report into the two crashes carried out by the US Congress found that the accidents were caused by a “series of faulty technical assumptions by Boeing’s engineers, a lack [...]
Thomas Cook relaunches as online-only firm September 16, 2020 Iconic holiday firm Thomas Cook will today relaunch as an online-only company, a year after going bust in dramatic circumstances. To start with, the new travel company will sell holidays to destinations that are on the government’s safe travel list. In November, Chinese firm Fosun, which also owns package holiday brand Club Med, acquired the [...]
Break international law ‘at our peril’, says City of London policy chief September 16, 2020 The City of London’s policy chair has warned the government that it must assure investors that the UK will not break international law over the current Brexit negotiations. Catherine McGuinness said that the alarm around the Internal Market Bill could prove problematic for future investment. Speaking to the PA news agency, she said that Northern [...]
Silvertown Tunnel to cost £2bn over next 30 years September 16, 2020 A controversial tunnel which will connect Greenwich with London’s Docklands will cost Transport for London (TfL) almost £2bn over the next three decades. Although the actual construction of the Silvertown Tunnel remains at £1bn, figures from the capital’s transport operator show that the overall cost for building, maintaining and operating the tunnel will be £65m [...]
Hitachi withdraws from Wylfa nuclear power plant September 16, 2020 Hitachi has this morning confirmed that it is scrapping plans for a £15 – £20bn nuclear power plant on the island of Anglesey in Wales. Yesterday Llinos Medi, the leader of Anglesey council, said that she had been informed that the Japanese firm were intending to pull out of the project altogether. In a statement, [...]
British Airways boss: We are still ‘battling for survival’ September 16, 2020 The chief executive of British Airways has said that the airline is still “battling for its own survival” as travel disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic drags on. Speaking to the Transport Select Committee this morning, Alex Cruz said that the carrier was burning through £20m a day because of the downturn. However, he did [...]
