First Group reports half-year loss as travel restrictions continue December 10, 2020 Bus operator First Group has reported a half-year loss after lockdown restrictions placed pressure on its rail and bus divisions. First Group said adjusted pretax loss was £73.3m for the six months ending 30 Deptember, down from a profit of £19.9m a year ago. Revenue fell 23.8 per cnet to £3.1bn in the period after [...]
Tory mayoral candidate calls for Night Tube and Waterloo & City line to open December 7, 2020 Tory mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey is urging Sadiq Khan to reopen the entire London Underground network, including the Night Tube and City & Waterloo line. Bailey also called for all Transport for London (TfL) staff to be given a free flu jab this winter. TfL closed the City & Waterloo line – which is a [...]
Crossrail employs 140 drivers on £62k more than a year before line is due to open December 4, 2020 Crossrail has employed 140 drivers to operate its trains in central London, even though trial runs will not start until next year. Drivers’ union Aslef confirmed that pay for Crossrail drivers is set at £62,533 per year with a 2 per cent pay rise due to come into place next April. Transport for London (TfL) [...]
Goin’ underground: Tube journeys jump a third as lockdown ends December 3, 2020 The number of Tube journeys jumped a third yesterday compared to last week as the national lockdown restrictions were finally lifted. According to data from Transport for London (TfL), there were 2.64m taps in-and-out of Tube stations yesterday, 33 per cent higher than on the same day last week. That’s roughly a third of the [...]
Driving home for Christmas? Government puts road and rail works on ice December 3, 2020 The government will cancel planned roadworks and rail upgrades, and also lay on extra services, to ease people’s journeys over the Christmas period. With a large number of people expected to travel to visit relatives and friends over the holidays, ministers have put in place plans for a special travel window between 23 and 27 [...]
Government agrees £825m loan to finish Crossrail December 1, 2020 The government has agreed a £825m loan to finance the completion Crossrail train link, Grant Shapps today announced. Writing on Twitter, Shapps said that the loan was a “fair dal for taxpayers across the UK”. The loan takes the total cost of the project, which has been plagued by difficulties over its lifespan, to £18.6bn. [...]
London festive travel guide: How to get around safely this Christmas December 1, 2020 UK leaders have agreed to lift coronavirus lockdown restrictions over the festive period, granting families the chance to see their loved ones for Christmas. Under the plans, members of up to three different households will be able to form an exclusive bubble between 23 and 27 December. Transport secretary Grant Shapps has warned Brits to [...]
Proposal to extend Bakerloo line to Beckenham and Hayes gathers steam November 30, 2020 A proposal to extend the Bakerloo Tube line even further south-east than previously planned has garnered considerable support from local residents, Transport for London said today (TfL). Last month the capital’s transport operator launched a consultation into the Bakerloo Line extension, which is currently meant to extend as far as Lewisham. However, TfL is also [...]
Planning permission granted for 454 new homes in Wembley November 27, 2020 Brent Council has given the green light on building 454 new homes, including 40 per cent affordable housing, next to Wembley Park underground station. The scheme covers a 1.6-acre site, and will be delivered across five buildings. The new homes will be a mixture of studios, one, two and three-bedroom apartments. The affordable homes will [...]
Crossrail funding remains up in the air despite government commitment November 25, 2020 Questions remain over the immediate future of the Crossrail link despite the government committing to the £19bn project’s completion in today’s National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS). “The government is continuing to address capacity issues in the capital, by financing the completion of Crossrail”, the paper read. But negotiations over the funding package for the rail link [...]