Routemaster bus celebrated in Google doodle for 60-year anniversary September 24, 2014 London’s famous Routemaster bus is being celebrated in the form of a Google doodle after 60 years as an icon of the capital. The first ever Routemaster was unveiled on this day in 1954 at the Earl’s Court Commercial Motor Exhibition to replace the network of trolley buses across the capital ushering in a new [...]
London house prices make it the world’s most expensive city September 23, 2014 London is the world's most expensive city, according to a new report. High property costs (the average price just went over £500,000 according to the ONS), high transports costs and expensive drinks have long been the bane of Londoners, and now a new report from Savills, an estate agent, has calculated London to top its [...]
Uber taxi app could face fresh crackdown under a Labour government September 23, 2014 Taxi app Uber could face a much more hostile regulatory and tax regime if a Labour government is elected in 2015. Speaking at a fringe event hosted by the New Statesman at the Labour conference, shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said her party would not tolerate "tax avoidance on a large scale" adding that Uber's [...]
How Labour will transform politics – and public services – by devolving more powers to London September 22, 2014 ANYONE who campaigned in the Scottish referendum felt the strength of anger directed towards Westminster. And it’s not confined to Scotland. The same anger is felt in London, Manchester and across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. People feel Westminster and Whitehall are completely out of touch with their lives. This is no surprise. Britain is [...]
Could it happen in London? One chart showing how Uber has impacted San Francisco’s taxi industry September 22, 2014 Beloved by punters, hated by rivals, taxi service app Uber has a knack of dividing opinion. The company has been the subject of an outright ban in Germany (which was later overturned), a gridlock protest from black cabbies in London and vociferous complaining from local taxi drivers in just about every one of the 45 [...]
London Underground ghost stations may get new lease of life September 21, 2014 Transport for London is thought to be looking at making the most of disused underground stations by giving companies the chance to convert them for business use. The proposals, believed to be at early stages of consideration, may see around 20 stations transformed. The idea has been promoted by Old London Underground Company founder Ajit [...]
On the right track: KBH On-Train Media’s Ian Reynolds talks train adverts September 21, 2014 If you commute into London on an overground train, chances are you’ll have seen dozens of ads placed by KBH in recent years. The UK’s largest rail media specialist, it claims to reach around 6m consumers a month, 4m of which are in the lucrative commuter bracket. These figures look set to grow. The [...]
The devolution genie is out of the bottle – and London must not be forgotten September 18, 2014 WHEN the UK government ruled out devo-max on the Scottish referendum ballot, few decried it as the strategic mistake it later turned out to be. Forced into an unexpected corner by a surge in nationalist support, the leaders of the three main UK parties promised Scotland the earth, magically transforming the No box into a [...]
London bus strikes: Here are the routes affected September 18, 2014 NB. This article was written in September 2014. If you're searching for info on the January 2015 bus strike, click here As if the travel chaos yesterday wasn't bad enough, Unite has announced strike action affecting around 50 bus routes will take place on Monday. TFL has warned the action is “likely to [...]
Uber’s German ban just got overturned September 16, 2014 A judge in Germany has reversed a country-wide ban on Uber, the taxi app. The service had been told it could no longer operate in the country, but after an appeal Frankfurt Regional Court Judge Frowin Kurth decided the original complainants – other taxi companies in the country – had waited too long before they [...]