DEBATE: Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? April 12, 2019 Should individuals be held accountable for the failure of the Garden Bridge project? Caroline Pidgeon, chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, says YES. When £53.5m is spent on a project, including £43m from the public’s pocket, and there is literally nothing to show for it, some very fundamental questions have to be answered. I fundamentally [...]
Liz Truss is right to hit the brakes – HS2 would put us all on the train to nowhere April 12, 2019 The bogeyman of politics may be ousted for good, if the chief secretary to the Treasury has anything to say about it. I’m not referring to our Halloween Brexit, but rather High-Speed 2 – a follow-on from the first high-speed rail project, mapping a fast route from London to Birmingham, with branches to Manchester and Leeds [...]
Council blasted for ‘incompetence’ over Hammersmith Bridge closure April 11, 2019 Hammersmith and Fulham council have been criticised for an apparent lack of transparency over the Hammersmith Bridge, which has been closed indefinitely over safety concerns. The suspension bridge over the Thames was found with “critical faults” that would risk the safety of users and the council said it had “no choice” but to shut the bridge. The [...]
Passengers warned of disruption as Euston station set to close over Easter and May Bank holiday weekends April 10, 2019 Euston station will be closed for several days over the Easter and May Bank holiday weekends with no trains running in and out of the station, passengers have been warned. The busy London station will be shut from 19 to 22 April and from 4-6 May, which will close routes and lead to longer travel [...]
Transport heads raise concerns over Sadiq Khan’s plans for TfL takeover of Network Rail April 9, 2019 Leading Assembly members have raised concerns over Sadiq Khan’s headline-grabbing plan for Transport for London (TfL) to take over key routes and stations from Network Rail in London. Last month the London mayor said responsibility and funding for key rail assets such as tracks and stations should be transferred to the transport body to plug [...]
Charity watchdog criticised for lack of action against £53.5m Garden Bridge project trustees April 9, 2019 The charity watchdog has been criticised for failing to take action against the people behind the failed Garden Bridge project that cost taxpayers £43m. The Charity Commission’s inquiry into the conduct of the Garden Bridge Trust, whose members included the actor Joanna Lumley and PR tycoon Roland Rudd, found that the botched bridge project across [...]
Tube havoc hits commuters as holidaymakers battle Stansted train delays April 9, 2019 Commuters have been hit with delays on the Jubilee and Piccadilly lines this morning. There are severe delays on the Piccadilly Line between Acton Town and Uxbridge with some disruption around Heathrow, due to a faulty track at Turnpike Lane. https://twitter.com/piccadillyline/status/1115537004261933057 The Jubilee Line is now running with minor delays after a signal failure at Canary [...]
Debate: Is Sadiq Khan’s new ultra-low emission zone an effective solution for tackling air pollution? April 9, 2019 Debate: Is Sadiq Khan’s new ultra-low emission zone an effective solution for tackling air pollution? Yes – Fiona Howarth is chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles. If London’s water supplies were poisoning 9,000 people a year, there would be national outrage. So why are we not outraged about the air that we breathe? Research published [...]
Tube strike action on the cards as Aslef and RMT unions reject TfL pay deal April 8, 2019 A second transport union has rejected a pay deal from Transport for London (TfL), increasing the chance of strikes on the Tube. The Aslef train drivers' union has rejected a 2.5 per cent pay rise from TfL, saying it matches the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rate which falls "way below" what Aslef is seeking. [...]
Sadiq Khan’s ill-conceived pollution plan only threatens London’s push to go green April 8, 2019 From today, all private hire drivers in London will have to pay the daily £11.50 congestion charge when driving in central London. This is an enormous financial burden for some of the city’s lower paid workers – costing nearly £3,000 a year for a driver earning around £25,000. It's also hugely unfair for operators, many [...]