Ex-Uber self-driving chief Anthony Levandowski declares bankruptcy March 5, 2020 Uber’s former self-driving unit boss Anthony Levandowski has declared bankruptcy, after being ordered to pay Google $179m. Anthony Levandowski has been engaged in a long-running battle with Google’s parent company, Alphabet, after it was alleged he stole secrets from the company’s autonomous driving unit Waymo. Levandowski had been an engineer for the self-driving project, before [...]
Hammersmith Bridge to close for Boat Race spectators amidst safety fears March 3, 2020 The Hammersmith Bridge will be closed to spectators for the annual Boat Race, turning away thousands from the popular vantage point. The bridge has been closed to cars last April due to safety concerns, with the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham estimating repairs will cost £120m. The council said today it had been asked [...]
Crossrail 2 business case passes major Department for Transport hurdle March 3, 2020 The business case for Crossrail 2 has been given preliminary approval by the Department for Transport (DfT), bringing the project closer to a decision on its final fate. The latest business case for the new north-south Tube line was submitted to the government by Transport for London (TfL) in June last year. It includes details [...]
TfL rolls out new trains on the London Overground March 3, 2020 A raft of new trains will be rolled out on the London Overground from today. Transport for London (TfL) announced today that the new electric trains will increase capacity by 10 per cent and replace the oldest rolling stock on the network. The new trains are on overground routes from Cheshunt, Chingford and Enfield Town [...]
TfL rolls out 20mph speed limit for central London March 2, 2020 A speed limit of 20mph has come into place today on all central London roads managed by Transport for London (TfL). The rollout of the new limit will apply to 8.9km of roads within the congestion charge zone, including some in the City of London. Some of the main roads affected inlcude Albert Embankent, Millbank [...]
UCL to force students to relocate mid-semester February 29, 2020 Top London university UCL is under fire this afternoon for forcing residents of a postgraduate residence hall to move out of their student accommodation – with no guarantee of where they will be moving to. Earlier this week students at Hawkridge House in Kentish Town were emailed informing them that “a decision has been made [...]
London Underground workers to be balloted on tube strikes in pay row February 28, 2020 London Underground’s thousands of workers are to be balloted on tube strikes as the long-running dispute over pay continues. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has said it will ballot the 10,000 staff across the underground after more than a year of negotiating yielded no results. The union said London Underground had failed to [...]
Focus on Isle of Dogs: Dog days are over for once-neglected peninsula as new development abounds February 28, 2020 There are two questions that residents of the Isle of Dogs are often asked. First, why is it called the Isle of Dogs? The boring explanation is that it’s a corruption of a more sensible water-related name like the Isle of Ducks. The grim one is that it was so called because of the sheer [...]
Court date set for Uber’s London ban appeal February 27, 2020 The court date for Uber’s appeal of its London ban is set for 6 July, with a judge deciding today that the capital’s largest taxi union can take part in the proceedings. Chief Magistrate of England and Wales Emma Arbuthnot ruled today that the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) are an “interested party” in the [...]
RMT calls on government to avoid ‘reanimating the corpse’ of rail franchising February 26, 2020 Rail union RMT has called on the government to commit to a full renationalisation of the UK’s railways ahead of the imminent Williams review into the franchising system. Although the review is expected to lead to an “overhaul” of the current system, RMT says that the concession model that is widely touted as the government’s [...]