Andrew Stephenson named minister for HS2 February 20, 2020 Andrew Stephenson has been named as the minister for HS2 and Transpennine Rail, the Department of Transport (DfT) has announced via tweet. Last week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a dedicated ministerial post would be created to oversee the controversial high speed rail project, which was finally given the go-ahead after months of delays. [...]
London Bridge: Commuters face seven-month closure February 20, 2020 London Bridge will be closed to all road traffic except buses, taxis and cyclists for seven months during repair works. The City of London Corporation announced today that the bridge will be closed from 16 March to October for the “vital works”. Pedestrians will still be allowed to cross the bridge, however the local authority [...]
TfL ‘service performance’ complaints skyrocket in new figures February 20, 2020 Commuter complaints to Transport for London (TfL) skyrocketed in 2019, with complaints about service performance increasing by 62 per cent in just two years. TfL logged 110, 072 complaints from travellers in 2018-19, which was 19 per cent higher than two years earlier. More than 25,000 of these were around issues of “service performance” – [...]
HS2 reveals Old Oak Common station design February 19, 2020 HS2 has unveiled its new designs for its planned passenger super-hub at Old Oak Common in west London, which will serve 250,000 passengers per day. The plans for the new hub, which were submitted for planning approval today, are part of a wider regeneration project for Old Oak and Park Royal, which will see the [...]
Tube strike talks break down over Bakerloo walkout February 19, 2020 The Bakerloo line will grind to a halt on Friday as last minute talks between the rail union and Transport for London (TfL) to avoid a Tube strike have broken down. The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) confirmed this morning that its drivers would strike over the weekend despite “intensive efforts” [...]
Green mayoral candidate to launch campaign with swipe at Khan’s environmental record February 19, 2020 Green mayoral candidate Sian Berry will launch her campaign today by accusing Sadiq Khan of being disingenuous about his environmental record. The Green party co-leader is expected to criticise the mayor of London for his support of the £1bn Silvertown Tunnel and airport expansions, while labelling his environmental policies as “lip service” to “green issues”. [...]
London’s Tube is the world’s most dog-friendly subway system February 18, 2020 The London Underground has been rated as the world’s most welcoming subway system for four-legged locals. A report, by apartment rental company Essential Living, revealed that the Tube was the most dog-friendly subway in the world, coming ahead of the Tokyo Metro and the Madrid Metro. They are followed by subways in Paris, Seoul, New [...]
Union slams Amazon over ‘hellish’ warehouse conditions February 18, 2020 More than 600 serious injuries or near misses have been logged at Amazon warehouses in the past three years, according to the latest figures from GMB Union. Between 2016/17 and 2018/19 a total of 622 reports have been made from Amazon warehouses to the Health and Safety Executive, the union said as it called for [...]
A high-speed economy needs more than just a few extra trains February 18, 2020 History will show that productivity, not Brexit, was the economic issue of our age. And the new government has made a high-speed start. The focus on “levelling up” the UK economy — and a resultant focus on regional productivity — is completely right. The story of this country’s regional productivity is sometimes characterised solely as [...]
Tube fare dodging rates spike by almost 30 per cent February 17, 2020 Instances of fare dodging have increased by almost 30 per cent since 2016, leading to £116m of lost revenue for Transport for London (TfL) in a single year. TfL statistics, released by City Hall, show the number of warnings, penalty notices and prosecutions for fare dodging rose from 87, 948 in 2016-17 to 112,266 in [...]