Wrong kind of concrete brings Victoria line to a rush hour halt January 23, 2014 THE LONDON Underground’s Victoria line was plunged into disarray yesterday, after a bizarre incident in which a signal room was flooded with wet concrete. Services were completely stalled between Warren Street and Brixton during one of the busiest times of the day, putting nearly half of the line out of action, with severe delays on [...]
Crossrail is hailed for being on track even with funding setbacks January 23, 2014 CROSSRAIL has been praised for sticking to its budget and overall schedule by the National Audit Office, despite a smaller-than-expected contribution from the private sector. With the £14.8bn railway across London now half-built, the spending watchdog said Crossrail was set to provide good value for money. “The sponsors and Crossrail Limited have so far done [...]
TfL staff volunteering as Tube ambassadors during strikes January 23, 2014 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) is drafting in trained volunteers from its back offices to man the stations as “ambassadors” during next month’s strikes. Around 1,000 TfL staff, from accountants to former drivers, have offered to lend a hand to passengers during the RMT walkouts on 4-5 and 11-12 February. Volunteers working beyond the ticket barriers, [...]
Victoria Line concrete clean up “nearly done”, says TfL January 23, 2014 After the Victoria Line has suffered from some concrete related problems with its signalling equipment (it's not cement, that's just an ingredient in concrete) – the fun is nearly over. Transport for London have said that cleaning of the fast-setting stuff is nearly done, with testing and fixing of equipment to follow. For now the [...]
TfL to use its own Olympic volunteers to staff stations during strikes January 23, 2014 Transport for London has found a new benefit to the Olympic legacy – it is drafting in trained volunteers from its back offices to man the stations as “ambassadors” during next month’s strikes. Around 1,000 TfL staff, from accountants to former drivers, have offered to lend a hand to passengers during the RMT walkouts on [...]
Boris let loose on London in a green cab January 16, 2014 (Laura Lean/City A.M.) Boris Johnson took a spin in a new, green black cab this lunchtime as he announced plans to force new taxis to operate with zero-emissions by 2018. The mayor of London, who has admitted in the past that his driving skills are awful (see the video below), took the white Metrocab for [...]
2013 Royal Family gift list revealed January 15, 2014 It might not come as too much of a surprise that, for the Royal Family, a gift is not just for Christmas – they receive them all year round. And today, Buckingham Palace has released a list of what was received in 2013. Below are the items the Queen alone received last year. Highlights for [...]
Capita wins £145m congestion charge contract ahead of toll-hike January 14, 2014 Capita, which helped set up the congestion charge for London in 2003, has won back the contract to run the scheme, five years after losing it to IBM. The outsourcing group reckons the contract is worth £145m in revenues over five years – meaning it’s likely to make up just 0.9 per cent of Capita’s annual [...]
Serco awarded extension to run Boris Bikes January 9, 2014 SERCO, the beleaguered outsourcing firm under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), yesterday said it has won a £38m two-year contract extension with Transport for London (TfL) to manage and operate the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. The original contract to design, build and operate the service – commonly known as Boris Bikes, named after [...]
Business anger at plans to hike congestion levy January 6, 2014 LONDON’S congestion charge could rise from £10 a day to £11.50, under plans revealed yesterday by Transport for London that were criticised by hauliers and some business groups. The levy on motorists in central London has already doubled from £5 a day when it was launched in 2003, though TfL said the charges have been [...]