Grounding planes means grounding growth: We must act on airports now October 8, 2013 A SOLUTION to London’s airport capacity crisis is a national imperative. After years of indecision and inertia, we have got to act to support growth. Heathrow opened in March 1946, less than a year after the war, and has since grown to become the world’s third busiest airport. Yet in the time it took to [...]
Meander through London on the trail of great Italian food October 8, 2013 London Restaurant Festival’s Ciccheti Trail is a foodie’s dream THE PUB crawl, once a concept that filled my youthful soul with an inordinate degree of excitement, nowadays seems somewhat antiquated. Is this my fault – is it simply that I have grown into a dour 30-something severely lacking any kind of alacrity? Or is the [...]
Nationalised rail company returns £208m to the taxpayer October 8, 2013 Directly Operated Railways has returned £208.7m to the taxpayer after a huge increase in revenues. DOR, a holding company setup by the Department of Transport, took over the running of the London-Scotland route four years ago. Turnover has increased 4.2 per cent to £693.8m, total ticket sales were also up by 4.2 per cent. It [...]
City of London is considering car-free roads around Bank October 7, 2013 RADICAL plans to pedestrianise some roads around the Bank of England are being considered by the City of London Corporation, as it looks to cut traffic in the Square Mile and meet the demands of the area’s growing workforce. The plans, known as the Bank Area Strategy, include increasing the areas for pedestrians, making roads [...]
Elliott Advisors’ earnings rise as firm eyes modest expansion October 3, 2013 LONDON-BASED hedge fund adviser Elliott Advisors UK (EAUK) has said its turnover was steady last year, following several turbulent years in the wake of the financial crisis. EAUK, whose sole client is the activist US hedge fund Elliott Management, said revenues in 2012 fell from £52.6m to £50.7m and profit after tax rose from £1m [...]
First Group wins an extension to its Great Western rail franchise October 3, 2013 FIRST Group has won 23 more months of running the Great Western rail route between London and the south west. The franchise was due to expire this month, and will need to be renewed again before the government awards the long-term contract to start in 2016. Many of Britain’s rail operators have been handed extensions [...]
Why the London Docklands hold the key to tackling the UK housing crisis October 1, 2013 HOW DO we solve Britain’s housing crisis? Ed Miliband has promised to see 200,000 homes built each year by 2020. But his pledge was linked to a misguided initiative to stop developers hoarding land (the Office for Fair Trading couldn’t find any evidence that this actually happens). The Tories, meanwhile, are bringing forward the second [...]
McLoughlin committed to HS2 as superfast rail plans include Wi-Fi September 30, 2013 RAIL travellers will be able to enjoy high-speed mobile internet access from 2015 onwards, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced yesterday. He also insisted that the government remains absolutely committed to the High Speed 2, dismissing critics of the plan as “moaning London commentators”. Under McLoughlin’s plan extra mobile phone masts will be provided along key [...]
Eurostar and Keolis to bid for East Coast line September 30, 2013 TWO COMPANIES backed by France’s national railway have launched a joint bid to run the East Coast main line, which is due be re-privatised by the government before the next general election. Eurostar and Keolis, which are both majority-owned by SNCF, announced yesterday that they intend to compete for the rail franchise – the first [...]
Why the London Docklands hold the key to tackling the UK housing crisis September 30, 2013 HOW DO we solve Britain’s housing crisis? Ed Miliband has promised to see 200,000 homes built each year by 2020. But his pledge was linked to a misguided initiative to stop developers hoarding land (the Office for Fair Trading couldn’t find any evidence that this actually happens). The Tories, meanwhile, are bringing forward the second [...]