Does Labour’s pledge to cut rail fares make sense from a social mobility perspective? December 5, 2019 Does Labour’s pledge to cut rail fares make sense from a social mobility perspective? Grace Blakeley, economics columnist at the New Statesman, says YES. Many have pointed out that middle-earners are most likely to use trains, but few analyse why. First, trains around London are too expensive for many commuters, meaning that they are forced [...]
TfL adds extra peak time services to London Overground December 4, 2019 The London Overground will add early morning capacity on services from Gospel Oak to Barking from next month. The line will benefit from two extra services before 6am to meet “growing customer numbers”. Read more: Crossrail delay until 2021 may cost London £2bn Rory O’Neill, TfL’s general manager for London Overground, said: “These additional early morning [...]
Rail strike: Union writes to South Western to restart talks as commuters complain of ‘hell’ December 4, 2019 Rail union bosses have written to South Western Railway in an attempt to halt what is planned to be Britain’s longest ever rail strike. As commuters complained of “hell” on their way to work with the strike entering its third day out of 27, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) Union asked South Western [...]
Sadiq Khan should ‘review’ fare freeze, says new report December 4, 2019 Sadiq Khan should review his Transport for London (TfL) fare freeze and make zonal reform to make public transport more accessible for people on low incomes, according to a new report. The report, from the Centre for London think tank, points out that the fare freeze does not count for weekly, monthly and yearly Travelcards, [...]
Dating app advert starring Ulrika Jonsson banned for objectifying women December 3, 2019 An advert for an over-50s dating app starring Swedish TV personality Ulrika Jonsson has been banned over concerns it was offensive and objectified women. The Christmas campaign for mature dating service Lumen showed 52-year-old Jonsson in a red nightie and stockings, and was accompanied by the tagline “Be my stocking filler”. Read more: Twitter outlines [...]
Corbyn can’t fix your miserable commute December 3, 2019 Jeremy Corbyn is well and truly getting into the Christmas spirit — he’s making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, Jeremy is coming to town. Momentum activists could turn that into a Christmas number one. But who’s on the Labour leader’s list? Well, he’s pretty clear about who’s been [...]
Green belt reform isn’t political dynamite, it’s a major part of fixing the housing crisis December 3, 2019 As in every election campaign, the need to build huge numbers of new homes for voters is common ground across the main political parties. Yet, also treading a well-worn path, both the Conservatives and Labour continue through their manifestos to promise to protect the green belt and to prioritise development of brownfield land. Will this [...]
Bolt is best placed app to take Uber’s London crown, says report December 2, 2019 Bolt is the best-placed ride-hailing app to capitalise from Uber’s failure to secure a new London licence, according to a new study. Figures from market intelligence company SimilarWeb show that the Estonian app has had the largest amount of Android downloads out of Uber’s competitors in the months leading up to the app’s ban last [...]
TfL is finally giving the Tube an Apple Pay upgrade December 2, 2019 Apple Pay users will be able to move through Tube stations faster, after the app upgraded its payment system with Transport for London (TfL). Apple Pay’s Express Transit allows people to tap through Tube stations without first having to use authentication measures. Read more: TfL deficit shrinks thanks to Ulez and increased Tube numbers Formerly, [...]
Capco to become real estate investment trust after completing £425m Earls Court sale December 2, 2019 Capital and Counties will officially become a real estate investment trust (Reit) this year after selling off its vast Earls Court development site. The FTSE 250 property giant said it is now a “prime central London property investment business centred around Covent Garden” after officially completing the sale of its stake in Earls Court to [...]