TransPennine joins Avanti and cut services due to staffing shortages September 5, 2022 TransPennine Express has announced it will cut around one in four services from 12 September as a result of staff shortages. It is the second train company forced to alter its schedule in a matter of weeks, after Avanti West Coast axed most trains between London and Manchester following staffing issues. TransPennine routes will be [...]
Avanti contract to be renewed despite no sign of train timetable issues abating soon September 5, 2022 The London-Manchester train operator Avanti West Coast is to receive fresh government support with a new long-term agreement to keep the line going. Three weeks ago the operator slashed services between the cities, reducing trains from three to one an hour, with no sign of when normality will return. Its managing director Phil Whittingham is [...]
Sunday Sitdown: Grind’s CEO on conquering America with his cult coffee chain September 4, 2022 Londoners may recognise the Grind coffee brand. There are currently eight branches around the capital and a 15,000 sq ft roastery in Bermondsey. Despite a hit to cafe revenues during the pandemic, the company is taking its business model across the pond as City A.M. can reveal today Grind has ambitious plans to conquer the [...]
Tube and Elizabeth line journeys to and from Heathrow become peak fares today September 4, 2022 All tube and Elizabeth line journeys to and from Heathrow through zone 1 will be charged a peak fare starting today. Journeys that avoid zone 1 will continue to remain off-peak while services to stations before Heathrow will not be affected. Transport for London (TfL) said this was part of the government’s funding conditions, which [...]
New rail strikes confirmed for Greater London and most of England on 15 and 17 September September 1, 2022 More than 40,000 railway workers at Network Rail and 14 other operators will strike on 15 and 17 September over jobs, salaries and working conditions. The action is expected to effectively shut down both London and the UK’s network as on 15 September the walkout will coincide with the train drivers’ strike. Operational and support [...]
Letters: Time to keep moving September 1, 2022 [Re: Transport for London signs funding settlement with government, August 30] Sadiq Khan has finally given up the petty political posturing and agreed to a long-term financial settlement for TfL. The deal reached is a reasonable one, and it reflects TfL’s own pre-Covid financial plans. The government is providing £3.6bn, on top of the £5bn [...]
Train drivers to strike on 15 September August 31, 2022 Train drivers at 12 companies will walk out on 15 September in a dispute over pay. Disruption will affect services on Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains. The union said the operators had forced the workers’ [...]
Sadiq Khan: Next PM must ditch “anti-London agenda” and work with City Hall August 31, 2022 Sadiq Khan slammed Boris Johnson’s outgoing administration as the “most anti-London government in modern times” as he pledged to work with the new Prime Minister to reset relations between the capital and the government. Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak will take part in the final hustings of the contest to be the next PM in [...]
Long-term TfL settlement to lead to further strikes, says union August 31, 2022 The long-term TfL settlement agreed yesterday will lead to further strikes, according to the union RMT. The union said the long-term TfL settlement was an attack on “workers’ pay and pensions,” especially amidst the cost-of-living crisis. Members will throw a rally against the funding deal tonight, with US senator Bernie Sanders as special guest. “This [...]
A new Prime Minister must give London a hearing in Downing Street August 31, 2022 That the farcical fights over Transport for London have dragged on this long tells us everything we need to know about Westminster’s relationship with London. When Boris Johnson was elected it was on a mandate of “levelling up” – a victory which often made our capital city, and the south east in general, a useful [...]