London mayoral election 2016: Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith vows to give startups retail space in London Underground stations January 14, 2016 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith has said that he will use public land to house startup businesses in the capital, vowing to repurpose Transport for London (TfL) Underground stations to provide discounted space to smaller firms. Goldsmith said today that he will parcel off shop space in TfL’s Underground stations and offer it to retail [...]
London had 1m contactless Tube journeys in a single day January 14, 2016 The number of contactless journeys on the Tube made with Visa surpassed one million for the first time in just a single day in the lead up to Christmas as paying with just a swipe of a card or phone grows in popularity. The use of contactless Visa increased 166 per cent annually in December alone and commuters spent £339m taking 7.75m [...]
King’s Cross station reopened after “Mr Sands” alert and evacuation over false alarm January 13, 2016 King's Cross station was reopened after being evacuated this morning over an emergency alert. Commuters reported being evacuated from the Underground during rush hour today following a tannoy announcement for "Mr Sands". That is the code to alert staff and services including the police and London Fire Brigade to an emergency such as a fire. It's a long-standing code, first [...]
Hundreds of Southeastern trains cancelled for second day after Barnehurst landslide as signal failures at King’s Cross bring down Hammersmith & City, Circle Line January 13, 2016 Hundreds of trains were cancelled this morning after Southeastern was forced to shut the entire Bexleyheath Line after yesterday's landslip at Barnehurst. The line between Lewisham and Dartford will be closed for the entire day. Services from Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, Welling, Falconwood, Eltham and Kidbrooke were affected, with Southeastern advising passengers to use alternative routes including London Underground and [...]
Soon there will be Oyster-style contactless payment technology on all public transport across the UK January 12, 2016 Contactless payments on buses and trains will no longer confined to London, with new plans to install the technology across the country, the UK Cards Association said today. Rail operators have provided funding for joint project between the card and rail industry to see how contacless cards and devices could be associated with long distance train tickets or [...]
Whitechapel station disruption: Weekend closures on 16 and 17 January to make way for Crossrail modernisation January 12, 2016 Whitechapel station will be closed over the coming weekend as work begins on making the station ready for the arrival of Crossrail 2. A new temporary entrance and ticket hall will be set up over the weekend ready for Monday, so the 140-year-old station can be modernised. The surrounding area on Court Street will become pedestrianised. By 2018, [...]
Deutsche Bank buys new FCA headquarters at Stratford’s International Quarter for £370m January 12, 2016 Deutsche Bank has snapped up an office development in Stratford that will house the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) headquarters, in a £370m deal. The German bank's asset management arm has agreed to forward fund the 515,000 sq ft building, which forms part of a major £2.3bn development next to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park known as the International Quarter. The [...]
Tube strikes: The unions are harming London and the low paid by striking over Night Tube January 12, 2016 When Mike Brown was confirmed as London’s new transport commissioner last September, he might have expected to find a note from his predecessor stating bluntly: “Dear commissioner, I’m afraid there is no money”. While most of the UK economy has adapted to the realities of modern-day austerity, however, the transport unions are apparently yet to [...]
Tube strikes 2016: When are they, how long are they for, who is striking and why? Everything you need to know January 11, 2016 When are the strikes and how long will they last? London will be brought to a halt once again by 24-hour strikes on the Tube, and they're coming pretty soon. The dates to stick in your diary are at the end of January and middle of February. 1. Tuesday 26 January – Wednesday 27 January. 2. Monday [...]
Tube strikes 2016 dates: RMT and Aslef confirm three days of strikes over the Night Tube pay row with TfL January 11, 2016 RMT and Aslef unions have confirmed they will stage three 24-hour strikes in a long running row over driver pay and conditions with the proposed launch of the Night Tube. RMT member drivers will walkout from 6.30pm on the following dates for 24 hours, disrupting thousands of Londoners' journeys. Tuesday 26 January Monday 15 February Wednesday 17 February Other non-driver [...]