Britain’s worst trains: London’s passengers are the unhappiest as Thameslink, Southeastern and Southern trains voted worst for customer satisfaction January 27, 2016 Commute into London? Feel like it's the worst journey in the world? Quite possibly, you're right. Thameslink, Southeastern and Southern have been voted the worst train companies in the UK, with passengers on their services the least satisfied in the country, after being rated on everything from how much room there is to stand and how helpful [...]
Will there be a Night Tube launch in 2016? London’s 24-hour underground service could be delayed until after the mayoral election January 27, 2016 May could be the earliest we see a Night Tube running in London, as unions have warned the 24-hour service could be delayed until after the mayoral election. Hotly anticipated by Londoners and debated by Transport for London (TfL) and unions, the weekend night services were announced 18 months ago, but their launch has been [...]
How the next mayor can turn London into a truly digital city January 26, 2016 In a little over three months, Londoners will elect a new mayor. When we last went to the polls in 2012, London’s tech industry was only just starting to bloom, but since then it has gone on to become the driving force of the capital’s economy. The next mayor will take the helm of the undisputed [...]
Forget speed bumps and cycle lanes: Why Britain’s roads should be more like ice rinks January 26, 2016 Over the festive period, many of you would have ventured to Somerset House or Winter Wonderland to ice-skate. Taking to the rink, you would have seen children skating for the first time while clasping their parent’s hand, as other adults whizzed round at high speed. Each individual, including you, moved at their own speed, judging [...]
How we can mobilise public sector land to build the homes London needs January 26, 2016 In 1941, under tremendous pressure to increase food production, the war cabinet commissioned a National Farm Survey. It sought to identify uncultivated agricultural land, as well as new land to support the dig for victory. It resulted in 36,000 maps and was nicknamed the “Second Domesday Book”. Under pressure to identify land for new homes [...]
Tube strike 2016: RMT has called off action scheduled for 26 January at 11th hour – but February’s strikes could still be on January 25, 2016 Update: The UK's largest transport union RMT has called off this week's Tube strike, after receiving a new pay deal from Transport for London. The Tube strike was due to start at 9.15pm on Tuesday 26 January and run until the same time on Wednesday 27 January. This was then to be followed by two further 24 hour strikes [...]
Why TfL running London trains is actually a terrible idea for the capital January 21, 2016 Whenever something does not work properly, we demand a “fat controller” to sort it out – especially when it comes to trains. Sure, there are many aspects of our transport system that are grossly unsatisfactory, but, certain facts do stand out and they do not point in the direction of more state control of the [...]
London trains turning Overground orange will revolutionise the capital and commuters’ journeys January 21, 2016 The London Underground map is a design classic. But it has one major problem: there’s not enough orange – the colour of London Overground. And there’s not enough south London, which is a foreign land to most of the tube network. London’s suburban rail users – particularly in south London – are faced with a [...]
Everyone agrees TfL running London’s trains like the Overground is a brilliant idea January 21, 2016 It's pretty difficult to bring together political parties and several different parts of government and get them to agree, but now there's one thing that has – an apparent shared dislike of commuter trains into London. Nothing brings people together like a collective resentment towards train companies such as Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink, and now plans to [...]
London trains are about to become the Overground: Transport for London will take over running of commuter trains into capital from Southeastern, Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern January 21, 2016 London's rail services will be taken over by Transport for London (TfL) in an effort to improve services into the capital. The news comes after another evening of commuter misery which left thousands of commuters stranded at Liverpool Street Station. Trains operating within greater London will come under the control of TfL when the franchises [...]