Emirates boss: Covid will be ‘history’ by end of next year and aviation will recover October 6, 2021 Emirates president Sir Tim Clark has said that the aviation sector is months away from going back to normal and will not suffer a long recovery, which was initially predicted by industry stakeholders during the peak of the pandemic. Clark, who has run the Dubai-based airline since 2003, told the Telegraph the aviation sector will [...]
Government launches competition to find office for Great British Railways outside London October 5, 2021 As Great British Railways is set to take the reins of the UK railway network, the Department for Transport (DfT) has launched a competition to find a new appropriate headquarters. UK transport secretary Grant Shapps has launched a competition to find the Great British Railways a head office, the new state-owned public body in charge [...]
UK’s oldest synagogue ‘saved for now’ as City of London Corporation rejects tower application October 5, 2021 The UK’s oldest synagogue has been “saved for now” as the City of London Corporation rejected a 48-storey tower block that would have put the historic site at risk of closure. The planning and transport committee for the Square Mile’s local authority today rejected the application by 14 votes to 7 in the wake of [...]
Johnson: ‘Sadiq Khan has not handled the finances of TfL well’ October 5, 2021 Prime minister Boris Johnson has criticised London mayor Sadiq Khan’s handling of Transport for London (TfL) finances, snubbing Khan’s plan to impose a £5.50 levy for those driving into London. The charge is intended to fuel London’s transport system, which is looking for some £8bn to fund an extension of the Bakerloo line to Lewisham. [...]
Eurostar to hold on to its brand name in Thalys merger October 5, 2021 Eurostar will retain its brand name even after a planned merger with continental operator Thalys. The post-merger business will operate from Brussels but UK-bound services will be overseen by an operational centre in London. The news was first reported by the International Railway Journal. Speaking to the magazine, Belgian National Railways’ chief executive Sophie Dutordoir [...]
Just 127 drivers have applied for emergency UK visas, says Johnson October 5, 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that just 127 truck drivers have so far applied for UK visas to help ease acute shortages. In an interview with the BBC Johnson said that the road transport industry had been asked to provide the details of drivers who were willing to come to Britain amid shortages. So [...]
Return to work: Midweek-only office workers gain a new moniker October 4, 2021 Last Thursday was the busiest day for Farringdon, Canary Wharf, Bank and Monument stations since the pandemic began, as London’s commuters adjust to a new world of hybrid working Almost a hundred thousand people travelled through Bank and Monument stations. And since City workers were encouraged “back to school” from the beginning of September, footfall [...]
Insulate Britain activists block Blackwell Tunnel and Wandsworth Bridge October 4, 2021 Activists from Insulate Britain have launched their eleventh day of protest at London’s Blackwall Tunnel and Wandsworth Bridge today, according to reports. The Blackwall blockage is expected to hinder the route for commuters travelling into London for the east. It comes despite a government injunction put against them, prohibiting them from blocking traffic following a [...]
Future of HS2 uncertain as Grant Shapps will not ‘blindly follow’ decades old-plans October 4, 2021 Speculation over the future of the eastern route of the HS2 is mounting after Grant Shapps said he is not planning to “blindly follow” plans dawn up 20 years ago. In an interview with the Financial Times today, the Transport Secretary signalled that a major rethink of the high-speed rail project between Birmingham and Leeds [...]
Ballooning infrastructure costs could be quelled if Whitehall embraced clear data October 4, 2021 Infrastructure is one of the government’s latest passions. It could be, in ministers’ eyes, a foundation for Global Britain and a way out of the economic decline that Covid-19 has brought in its wake. We have a National Infrastructure Strategy, and the prime minister, announcing it last summer, admitted it sounded “positively Rooseveltian” and pledged [...]