Uber and rival Ola sniffing around London’s Addison Lee July 24, 2019 Uber and Indian ride-hailing firm Ola are mulling bids for London-based taxi firm Addison Lee, which could create a powerful force in one of the world’s biggest private transport markets. Read more: Uber rival Viavan wins three year license renewal from TfL The US giant and Ola are two of “a handful” of companies talking [...]
London set for commuter chaos as Greater Anglia and others reduce services in 37C heat July 24, 2019 Londoners face sweltering rush-hour delays tomorrow with rail groups urging travellers to avoid using trains as record temperatures could buckle the tracks. Greater Anglia, which runs trains into the City’s Liverpool Street station, said this evening it will significantly reduce its service across its network across East Anglia and London. Read more: London heatwave: Temperatures [...]
Naked houses: Unfinished homes give buyers a discount price – but are they practical? July 24, 2019 In case you hadn’t noticed, Britain is in the grip of its worst housing crisis since the 1940s. The verdict, delivered in a recent report from the Centre for Policy Studies, will be endorsed by anyone who has endured the vagaries of the London rental market, where a ‘cosy one-bed’ can be a garage with [...]
Farewell, Failing Grayling: Here are your five finest moments in office July 23, 2019 Any article written about transport secretary Chris Grayling over the past year has tended to start with a not-so-favourable adjective. “Embattled”, “Beleaguered” and “Failing” spring to mind. As of this week, Grayling – who is likely to be ousted as the head of the Department for Transport (DfT) when Boris Johnson enters No.10 – can [...]
Business groups warn of delays for troubled HS2 July 21, 2019 Business groups have said they remain broadly supportive of HS2 despite the admission from its chairman that the costs of the project could spiral by as much as £30bn. Over the weekend it emerged that Allan Cook had written to Bernadette Kelly, permanent secretary at the Department for Transport (DfT), to warn that the [...]
London Underground: Entire Tube network set for 4G coverage by mid-2020s July 19, 2019 Londoners will be able to use the 4G mobile network anywhere on the Tube by the mid-2020s under plans unveiled by Transport for London. The first passengers to benefit from the roll out on the underground will be those using the Jubilee Line, with the eastern part of the line spanning from Westminster to Canning [...]
MPs blast Crossrail bosses’ huge bonuses as £17.6bn Elizabeth Line costs set to increase July 19, 2019 Crossrail bosses pocketed huge performance bonuses even as London’s huge rail network programme fell disastrously off track, MPs revealed today, warning that project costs could continue to rise. The £17.6bn Elizabeth Line was originally due to open in December 2018 but management recently admitted large swathes of track may not be operational until at least [...]
Let’s end the government monopoly of financial regulation July 19, 2019 The growth of financial regulation seems inexorable. Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, has noted that in 1980 there was one UK regulator for every 11,000 people employed in finance, compared to one for every 300 people by 2011. At that rate of growth, the number of regulators will overtake the number [...]
Gatwick to use standby runway to increase passenger capacity July 18, 2019 Gatwick airport has jettisoned plans to build an extra runway, instead opting to bring the standby runway into “routine use” by 2020. The airport said it is readying a planning application to use the second runway alongside the main tarmac. This would increase capacity at the airport so as to serve around 70m passengers by [...]
Tube delays hit commuters in miserable rush hour July 18, 2019 Commuters face a miserable journey to work this morning with severe delays affecting the Jubilee Line. Read more: Revealed – London’s most stressful Tube stations The Jubilee Line is plagued with severe delays between Waterloo and Stratford after engineers had to deal with a faulty train on the track, hitting thousands of east London passengers. [...]