From Southern rail’s backfiring poster to Google’s April Fool prank gone wrong: Six of the most memorable business blunders of 2016 January 1, 2017 2016 has been an interesting year to say the least. There has of course been a plethora of notable political events over the past 12 months, but there’s also been plenty going on in the business world. With that in mind, here are some of the most memorable company clangers from over the year – from [...]
As freezing fog settles across the South East, here are all the travel delays and disruptions taking place in London in the run-up to New Year’s Eve December 30, 2016 New Year’s Eve can be a hectic period for travel, and this year has the added trouble of thick fog and ice causing concern, on top of a planned Southern rail strike. Drivers have been warned to be wary of fog and sub-zero weather conditions across large swathes of England. Freezing fog has settled in [...]
Media union Bectu to merge into engineering counterpart Prospect taking membership to 140,000 December 24, 2016 Entertainment and media workers union Bectu will be swallowed by Prospect, the UK's largest engineer-dedicated union. Prospect numbers will swell to 140,000 following the merger which will go live from 1 January, putting it firmly inside the top 15 largest unions in the country and almost double in size of the likes of the Rail, Maritime and [...]
Londoners face Christmas travel headache as Paddington closes, Moorgate experiences disruption and M1 shuts down December 24, 2016 Engineering works on railways across the country have left passengers facing disruption, with London one of the most badly affected areas. There are no trains to and from Paddington until next Thursday to make way for Crossrail work, while severe disruption is expected between Finsbury Park and Moorgate until lunchtime at the earliest due to an electricity fault. A number of [...]
Beat the January rail price hike: 10 ways to find cheaper train tickets December 23, 2016 Imagine the scene: It's 2 January, you're feeling a bit bloated and jaded after a week of Christmas excesses. You turn up to the rail station with a heavy heart as the reality of work sets in. The queues to renew your season ticket are horrendous and in the line of morose commuters you can [...]
RMT confirms Tube station staff strike dates – workers will walkout on 8-9 January 2017 December 22, 2016 The RMT union has confirmed that London Tube station staff will go on strike on the 8 and 9 January 2017. The union balloted over 3,000 members in November over the possibility of industrial action, with 85 per cent voting for strike action and 94 per cent for action short of a strike in the ballot. Workers are striking [...]
RMT’s Great Western Rail strike will go ahead tomorrow December 22, 2016 A Great Western Railway (GWR) workers' strike will go ahead tomorrow, the RMT union confirmed today. RMT members who are cleaners on the rail network will take industrial action over "serious bullying, claims of discrimination and poverty working conditions" on the GWR train cleaning contract operated by Servest UK. Members have been instructed not to book on for [...]
Southern rail court documents reveal Aslef has grander plans on driver-operated doors December 22, 2016 The drivers union at the centre of the Southern rail dispute doesn't simply want to stop further roll out of driver-operated doors, it is determined to ban the policy across all train services. The question of who operates Southern rail train doors is pivotal in the dispute that has led to waves of industrial action and blighted the network for much [...]
Buses for trains? Unions say government plans will boost Go-Ahead revenues December 21, 2016 Unions have once again accused the owners of Southern rail of cashing in on the industrial action that has blighted the network. During Parliamentary questions yesterday, rail minister Paul Maynard revealed officials were working with the bus and coach body, the confederation of passenger transport, to "determine how bus and coach operators can best assist with providing [...]
All Piccadilly line trains back in service, says TfL, after weeks of delays due to repairs December 20, 2016 All 79 Piccadilly line trains are in service again, bringing weeks of delays to a close. Around half of the Piccadilly line fleet was taken out of action last month so that repairs could be carried out, causing massive disruption to services ever since. But today, Transport for London (TfL) said a good service had resumed [...]