The nightmare’s nearly over for the Piccadilly line social media team: It’s just running with “minor delays” now December 16, 2016 Piccadilly line passengers have not been impressed with Transport for London (TfL) taking out half the fleet of trains for wheel repairs. It has been causing severe delays along the line since last month – and some turmoil for the poor people manning the Piccadilly line's Twitter account. But today, the account had some – relatively – good [...]
Will it ever end? Southern rail services are axed for the third day this week as commuters vent fury at government December 16, 2016 All Southern rail services have been cancelled for the third day this week, after protests were held last night by fed-up commuters over the crisis. Members of the Aslef train drivers' union had met with the train company yesterday for a second day of talks at conciliation service Acas, but they ended without resolution. So today's [...]
London just got the first ever contactless payment beer pump December 16, 2016 It looks like bartenders are the latest workers to be threatened by robotic replacements. The world's first contactless, self-pouring beer pump prototype has been launched by Barclaycard. Set up in Henry's Cafe and Bar in Piccadilly, the first-of-its-kind contraption has been dubbed "Pay @ Pump", and it's designed to help pubs and bars reduce queuing times [...]
No, 2016 has not been the worst year ever December 16, 2016 If you're looking for some Christmas cheer, avoid the latest meme sweeping the internet, for 2016 was apparently the worst year ever. Perhaps the singer James Blunt best encapsulated the gloomy mood on Twitter: “If you thought 2016 was bad – I’m releasing an album in 2017.” Blunt aside, there’s much wrong with this pessimism. Most [...]
It’d be a Christmas miracle if the chancellor delivered on these three festive reforms December 16, 2016 While Philip Hammond hasn’t been chancellor for long, he has already adopted George Osborne’s style of giveaways – the gifts aren’t simply bought by taxpayers, but are often funded by taxpayer money that hasn’t been raised yet. Of course, this kind of gift-giving rarely places the goods in the hands of the people who need [...]
Only a quarter of us are getting our festive haul on the high street December 16, 2016 Only a quarter of UK shoppers are collecting their haul on the high street this year, preferring to stay at home instead and order goods online. Figures from research company Qualtrics suggest that the proportion of Britons who are willing to physically search for gifts is falling. Last year, 29 per cent of people in the UK [...]
MPs demand Sir Philip Green ends BHS black hole December 16, 2016 A top group of MPs has made fresh demands that Sir Philip Green dig deep to plug the gap in BHS’ pension fund as new figures reveal the magnitude of the shortfall. City A.M. can reveal that Duff & Phelps, the administrators salvaging the wreckage of BHS, are set to contribute a maximum of £45.7m in [...]
Why Adam Silver and Sir Philip Craven are my sports leadership heroes of the last 12 months December 15, 2016 If politics entered a post-truth era in 2016, sport entered a post-trust era. So much of sport is about trust – from your teammates to the coaches and medical team to the administrators that govern the game. Slowly but surely trust has been seeping out of the sports we love, and 2016 was the climax of [...]
Betting: Three points make Pep and Arsene’s Christmas list December 15, 2016 Nothing but three points will be on Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger’s Christmas lists as Manchester City host Arsenal at the Etihad on Sunday. The title challengers meet, with each left to rue missed opportunities this term. Both have led the way at the top of the Premier League this season – City from August until [...]
Southern rail chaos continues: Talks to solve dispute between rail firm and union end with no deal December 15, 2016 Talks aimed at resolving Southern rail strikes have ended without agreement. A 24-hour strike, following a 48-hour one held by Aslef union earlier in the week, will go ahead tomorrow. Nick Brown, chief operating officer of GTR, Southern's parent, said: "We're deeply disappointed, as our passengers will be, that Aslef has been unable to accept our [...]