Trainline seeks Whitehall reassurance as rival ticketing app spooks businesses February 6, 2022 Trainline’s bosses have been fretting over a possible government-funded ticketing competitor, saying it could destroy the business. The group has reportedly sought reassurance from Whitehall that ministers’ plans to create a new ticketing app will not undermine its business, the Sunday Telegraph reported. According to Peel Hunt analyst James Lockyer, after a meeting where Trainline’s [...]
Where’s Boris (bikes)? London loses record number of hire cycles February 4, 2022 London has lost a record number of Boris bikes, data from Transport for London (TfL) reported. Around 1,164 bikes were lost in the nine months ended September 2021, a 24.6 per cent hike on the 934 lost in 2020, the Evening Standard reported. TfL attributes the increasing number of bikes lost – which has grown [...]
RMT deals TfL umpteenth blow announcing two-day strike in March February 4, 2022 The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has dealt Transport for London (TfL) the umpteenth blow as it announced this morning a two-day strike. The day-long industrial actions will take place on 1 and 3 March and risk causing the closure of the entire London Underground network. The move was voted by [...]
Grant Shapps promises angry commuters ‘big improvements’ in railway timetables February 4, 2022 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has promised angry commuters that ‘big improvements’ in railway timetables are bound to take place within the next two weeks. Shapps said this morning he’s in talks with train operators to bring timetables back to quasi normal levels, as the number of people travelling has increased significantly following the removal of [...]
Editorial: TfL deal needed as you can’t grow the UK with London in gridlock February 2, 2022 It is a strange and perverse mark of this government that it seems thoroughly uninterested in Britain’s most successful industries. Financial services were broadly absent from the treaty with the European Union, and barely feature in the post-Brexit discussions instead dominated by debates over our mackerel catch. It seems in a semi-permanent state of war [...]
Levelling up: Khan says ‘deprived’ London areas need funding as much as the North February 2, 2022 Sadiq Khan has said London’s poorest boroughs are “some of the most deprived” in the UK and need funding just as much as the North in response to the government’s newly unveiled levelling up white paper. The mayor of London said he welcomed the new policy plan to help left behind areas in the North [...]
TfL faces D-Day, as government funding expires on Friday February 2, 2022 Transport for London (TfL) is about to face its D-Day as the latest round of government funding is set to expire on Friday. “I see it as existential for TfL, as it will determine the TfL of the future,” said TfL’s commissioner Andy Byford this morning during a board meeting. “What we do and what [...]
Elizabeth line is tangibly close to completion, TfL says February 2, 2022 The completion of Crossrail’s Elizabeth line is ‘tangibly close’, according to Transport for London’s commissioner Andy Byford. “It really is that close,” Byford said this morning during a TfL board meeting. “We have really put huge effort into getting the trials off [to a start]. The commissioner added that the quick turnaround of stations was [...]
Londoners spend up to 72 per cent of their entire income on simply getting by in the capital February 2, 2022 London renters are forking out up to 72 per cent of their monthly household income simply to get by in the capital’s rental market. Nationwide, that figure is even higher, up to 77 per cent. The average UK rental household pays £808 per month in rent, accounting for 26 per cent of total monthly household [...]
District and Piccadilly lines impacted and dozens evacuated: 70 firefighters tackling blaze near Acton Town tube station February 2, 2022 About 70 firefighters are tackling a blaze at a car garage close to a Tube station in London. Ten fire engines were called to the large fire on Bollo Lane, Acton, on Tuesday evening, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. Around 35 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution. LFB said there were a [...]