Six times London was awesome in 2015: From streets pathed in Rainbows to the Garden Bridge and floating houses on the Thames December 23, 2015 1. Financial centre of the world London was the financial centre of the world in 2015. We would say that, naturally, but researchers made it official, as London knocked New York of the top spot. 2. Most powerful city in the world It's not just finance where the capital trumped the rest of the world. [...]
Christmas comes early for Uber as burdensome regulations look set to be disregarded December 23, 2015 Uber is expected to receive an early Christmas present today as a raft of burdensome regulations that would have effectively shut the firm down in the capital look set to be disregarded after fierce opposition from business groups and consumers. The final responses to a Transport for London (TfL) consultation on how to better regulate [...]
There’s nothing new in the Uber vs Taxi debate December 23, 2015 As the year draws to an end, so too might a raging battle on the capital’s streets inch towards a conclusion with the culmination of a Transport for London consultation on the future of the city’s private hire industry. Elements of the traditional black cab industry have been at war with Uber since the American [...]
Silvertown Tunnel consultation opened by TfL as it seeks public feedback December 22, 2015 Plans for the Silvertown Tunnel, a new river crossing in the east of the London, are being opened up to the public. Transport for London is seeking feedback from locals and other interested parties with a new consultation on the connection between east London's Royal Docks and Greenwich Peninsula. The £750m tunnel, which is expected [...]
Uber UK under threat in London with new “five-minute wait” regulations proposed by Transport for London after black cabbie fury December 22, 2015 Uber users could be forced to wait five minutes for a ride – even if it was immediately available – if new rules proposed by Transport for London get the go ahead. In addition to a minimum wait time, detailed new regulations of taxis and private hire vehicles in the capital could also curb several [...]
Travel nightmare before Christmas as Waterloo & City Line goes down December 22, 2015 The Waterloo & City Line has reopened after being brought down just as rush hour was kicking off. The whole line was suspended at around 7:30am this morning. Transport for London cited "a signalling problem in the Waterloo area", but gave no estimate for when the line would be back up and running. https://twitter.com/wlooandcityline/status/679201130941927424 Commuters coming [...]
Transport for London, Santander and Blaze team up to make cycling on Boris bikes in London safer December 21, 2015 Transport for London (TfL) has introduced a new cycle safety scheme: Blaze Laserlights will be fitted to all Boris bikes, to make them more visible at night and reduce the number of accidents with cyclists in London. After a successful trial in September, all 11,500 Santander Cycles will be fitted with the Blaze lights, starting from early 2016. Cycle sponsor [...]
This London WWII shelter is being brought back to life by Transport for London December 21, 2015 A long-abandoned Tube station bomb shelter used by Londoners during the Second World War will be brought back to life and turned into a new cafe and events space. The grade II listed building connected to Clapham South Tube station and overlooking Clapham Common hides eight deep-level air-raid shelters and connecting tunnels beneath that would have held 8,000 Londoners in the Blitz. The [...]
Customer incident and signal failure causing severe delays on Piccadilly Line December 21, 2015 There was no service on parts of the Piccadilly Line line this morning, with severe delays throughout, because of an earlier customer incident and signal failure. The line between Arnos Grove and King's Cross was shut off early this morning, because of a person on the track. By the start of rush hour, the line was [...]
Treasury says senior civil servant will be chief executive of National Infrastructure Commission December 21, 2015 A senior civil servant has been tapped to lead the government’s efforts to deliver more infrastructure projects. Phil Graham, a longtime civil servant in the department for transport, will be chief executive of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), a new independent body chancellor George Osborne first announced at this year’s Conservative Party Conference. At the [...]