Who owns the UK’s railways? Well, not British firms in many cases January 11, 2017 The sale of the C2C rail franchise – labelled by consumer groups as the best network into London – has once again sparked concerns that Britain's railways are being taken over by foreign, often state-owned, firms. National Express' sale of its final franchise in the UK was part of the FTSE 250 firm's strategy to target [...]
The Garden Bridge’s trustees warn the project could cost more than the £185m planned January 11, 2017 The Garden Bridge's future has come into doubt after its trustees said today that it could cost more than the £185m planned and that it was "difficult" to conclude that it was a going concern. The project has been hampered by delays, pushing up the costs associated with the project. Accounts filed on Companies House [...]
National Express flogs C2C network to Italian firm keen to get foothold in UK rail market January 11, 2017 Transport giant National Express has exited the UK rail market, flogging its final franchise to an Italian firm with grand designs to take control of Britain's rail networks. The C2C franchise, which operates trains in East London and South Essex across 26 stations, has been sold to Trenitalia in a deal worth £70m. Read more: National Express [...]
Buy-to-lose? With new restrictions on buy-to-let mortgages and the introduction of other punitive measures in 2017, is there any value left in letting for mortgaged landlords? January 11, 2017 As we enter 2017, the tide has truly turned against Britain’s buy-to-let landlords. First, George Osborne discouraged people from buying a second residential property by imposing extra stamp duty of 3 per cent. Now, the Bank of England is demanding that mortgage lenders “stress test” loans to landlords. Since 1 January, the Bank’s Prudential Regulation [...]
Sadiq Khan says he’s “worried about industrial relations” as TfL seeks talks with unions to avoid more strike chaos January 10, 2017 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was "always worried about industrial relations" after a 24-hour Tube strike caused havoc in the capital yesterday. He was taking questions from the London Assembly about his prospective Budget for the coming year. Chair of the Transport Committee Caroline Pidgeon asked Khan how concerned he was that significant restructuring and transformational change [...]
Three-day Southern rail strike gets underway: Here’s the rest of the industrial action planned for the month January 10, 2017 On the bright side, Transport for London (TfL) has said Tube services are back to normal today after a 24-hour strike caused numerous travel headaches for the capital's commuters. On the not so bright side, the next batch of Southern rail strikes get underway today, as workers of the train drivers' union Aslef start a [...]
Tories slam Khan over zero strikes vow and “woeful” understanding of London transport January 9, 2017 London mayor Sadiq Khan has been slammed by London and home counties Tories over today's tube strike, with Khan accused of a “woeful” understanding of the capital's transport. Tube station workers have been on strike throughout the day, with many Londoners suffering extended commutes both to and from work. Although the strike formally finishes at [...]
Fear not commuters: Apparently nearly 70 per cent of Tube stations are open January 9, 2017 Commuters might have battled their way into work this morning due to a 24-hour Tube strike, but Transport for London (TfL) has said nearly 70 per cent of Tube stations are open. Yes, really. TfL has been trying to lessen the chaos, and says it's running a limited service on nine out of 11 Tube [...]
24-hour Tube strike disruption to cost the capital tens of millions January 9, 2017 Commuters might've had a miserable journey into work this morning, and businesses haven't been enjoying the 24-hour Tube strike much either. The industrial action, organised by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), has resulted in a plethora of station closures and disruption across the capital. This has [...]
London has fallen – as Tube strike travel chaos hits again, what’s the solution? January 9, 2017 As UK plc begins to count the economic impact of today’s tube strike, questions of how we got to a place where stations are being evacuated and queues snake round some of Europe’s largest stations and when – not if – this will happen again, must be asked. The capital relies on the tube – [...]