DfT speeds up staff security checks as disruption continues at UK airports July 3, 2022 The Department for Transport (DfT) has assured it was speeding up the process to give aviation staff security clearance while disruption continues at UK airports. Counter-terrorism checks are now being processed in 10 days on average – half the time it took in March – while accreditation now takes 5 days, Sky News first reported. [...]
Britain could be stuck with an outdated telecoms industry without a plan for 5G July 1, 2022 The enormous benefits of full 5G are clear. Developing high capacity, standalone infrastructure promises to be a gamechanger for our transport network, for industrial settings such as smart factories, and for public services such as hospitals. What is less clear at present is whether the UK will get to feel the full benefits of the [...]
Bus cuts will only save TfL £35m a year when £730m needed under govt plan June 30, 2022 Transport for London’s (TfL) decision to axe or amend 78 of the current 620 bus routes will only lead to a £35m cost savings per year – when £730m is required from a government plan. TfL’s operating officer Andy Lord said the savings weren’t “an insubstantial amount in the context of savings we’ve got to [...]
Guess who’s back: TfL restarts Night Tube services on Northern line from Saturday June 29, 2022 Transport for London (TfL) has announced it will restart Night Tube services on the Northern line from Saturday, two and a half years after they were initially suspended. The Northern line is the latest to see the return of the Night Tube, after services were reinstated on the Victoria and Central lines in November 2021 [...]
Aslef chief calls Grant Shapps ‘either inept or a liar’ after speech earlier today June 29, 2022 The Aslef union has slammed Grant Shapps for lying in a speech he made earlier today, where he accused railway unions of standing in the way of modernisation by carrying out strike action. “We’ve got to get out of these 20th century work practices in order that the whole thing works together and provides a [...]
Government modernising railways despite ‘unions’ best efforts’, says Shapps June 29, 2022 The UK Government is modernising the railway network “despite the best efforts of unions,” Grant Shapps said today. The transport secretary’s comments came as he announced £1bn worth of funding to replace the Victorian signalling system along the East Coast Main Line (ECML) – which connects London to Edinburgh – with a digital one. “We’re [...]
TfL extends consultation on bus cuts to 7 August June 28, 2022 Transport for London (TfL) has extended its deadline for the consultation on bus cuts from 12 July to 7 August. The public body said it wanted to give more time to people “to review, understand and provide feedback,” over its decision to cut or alter 78 of the current 620 bus routes. The public body [...]
Shapps warns RMT the country ‘coped’ with three strikes due to ‘collapse of commuting’ June 27, 2022 Grant Shapps has warned most of the country “coped” during last week’s strikes due to the “collapse of commuting” and increasingly hybrid working culture. Commenting after the third day of industrial action by tens-of-thousands of RMT union members, he said they had struck to “ defend indefensible working practices” which needed an update. Writing in [...]
Croydon Tramlink staff to strike tomorrow and Wednesday in TfL dispute over pay June 27, 2022 The ASLEF union said this morning that its members on the Croydon Tramlink will strike on tomorrow and Wednesday this week in a dispute over pay. “With the RPI rate of inflation running at over 11 per cent, FirstGroup, the company which operates Tramlink on behalf of Transport for London, has offered tram drivers just [...]
Brits suffer weekend travel chaos as RMT goes ahead with third strike June 25, 2022 Strike action has entered its third day on the UK's rail network this week, causing severe disruption to passengers across the country.