Banning diesel cars is essential to tackling London’s pollution crisis August 17, 2016 Writing in City A.M. on Friday last week, Trevor Raymond from the World Platinum Investment Council argued that the phasing out of diesel cars from London’s roads, as recommended in a recent report we published, was a “blunt policy response to a complex and evolving [air pollution] problem”. We totally agree. There is no single [...]
Retail groups hail long-awaited introduction of the Night Tube August 17, 2016 Retail groups have welcomed the long-awaited introduction of the Night Tube to give business a boost and make London more attractive for visitors. The Night Tube is scheduled to get started Friday 19 August, after first being unveiled by Transport for London in September 2014. The New West End Company, which provides a voice for London's West [...]
Three at 3: The three stories you need to read right now August 17, 2016 We’re officially halfway through the working week – to celebrate, we’ve put together the top three stories of the day in bite-size form, just to make your life that bit easier. Time for a coffee break? Check out our three at three. Corbyn has some explaining to do After revealing his plans to re-nationalise and [...]
Rough & the smooth: Sadiq Khan’s first 100 days as mayor of London August 17, 2016 London mayor Sadiq Khan has celebrated his first 100 days in City Hall. So, how’s his mayoralty shaping up? Khan was elected on 5 May, after his rival Zac Goldsmith sank in a pit of his campaign’s own making. The Tory candidate would probably have made a perfectly decent and thoughtful mayor, but his campaign [...]
Economists blast “anachronistic system” system of setting rail fares as ticket prices set to rise August 17, 2016 More misery was piled on to beleaguered commuters yesterday as a hike in rail fares was unveiled. Fares will rise by an average of 1.9 per cent next year following the release of July’s retail price index (RPI), against which fare increases are pegged. RPI rose from 1.6 per cent. The jump in fares comes as rail [...]
Uber launches legal challenge over new London taxi rules August 16, 2016 Uber has launched legal action against London's transport regulator over new rules that threaten to limit its business in the capital, City A.M. can exclusively reveal. The billion-dollar startup is seeking a judicial review to halt the introduction of new rules it claims are too strict. Transport for London set out new regulations earlier this year after a [...]
Jeremy Corbyn unveils renationalistation transformation plans for Britain’s transport system August 16, 2016 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has laid out his plans to rebuild and transform the UK's transport system through renationalisation as the fight for the Labour crown continues. Corbyn set out how he would "rebuild and transform Britain's transport system", extending public ownership from rail to bus networks. He said that enough money from public ownership [...]
Samarco dam disaster pushes BHP Billiton to $6.4bn loss August 16, 2016 And lo, it came to pass (almost): miner BHP Billiton unveiled a multi-billion dollar loss for the year, after a series of unfortunate events. The figures BHP said it had made an attributable loss of $6.4bn (£5bn) in the year to the end up June, down from a profit of $1.9bn last year. That was driven by $7.7bn of exceptional items, including [...]
California choo-choo-chooses Balfour Beatty to electrify a major rail link August 16, 2016 Balfour Beatty has been awarded a $697m (£540m) contract to electrify the 52-mile Caltrain rail link between San Francisco and San Jose – the largest US contract it's ever won. Shares in Balfour were up 0.5 per cent, at 242.3p, after the construction giant said it will begin work on the line, which operates across 17 cities [...]
I quit government over Heathrow expansion: This is why I changed my mind August 15, 2016 I resigned as parliamentary private secretary to the minister of state at the Home Office and Treasury in 2009 over government proposals for expansion at Heathrow. The plan was unsympathetic to local residents, it ignored concerns about both environmental and noise pollution, and it didn’t offer enough in the way of increased surface access to [...]