Boris Bikes set to get harder to find as staff stage two-day strike August 11, 2013 BORIS Bike workers last night began a 48-hour strike over pay and conditions, in a move that is set to reduce the number of cycles available on London’s streets. Around 150 staff have refused to work until 9pm tomorrow, meaning there will be fewer drivers to move bikes to areas with high demand. “Staff running [...]
Debate heats up over future of London airports August 8, 2013 THE FUTURE of London’s airport capacity will move back into the spotlight this week as Heathrow prepares to make a fresh push to build a third runway, and Boris Johnson moves to distance himself from plans to build an airport in the Thames Estuary. Heathrow is expected to tell the government’s aviation commission that it [...]
What the other papers say this morning for 8 August 2013 August 7, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES High-speed orbital rail for London A new high-speed “rail bagel” encircling London will become a priority for the capital as its population soars to 10m over the next 20 years, Boris Johnson’s transport adviser has said. Isabel Dedring, deputy mayor for transport at City Hall, said new light-rail and tram services – now [...]
Train operators say traffic rising in tandem with UK jobs market August 5, 2013 BRITAIN’S railways carried 344.4m passengers in the three months to the end of June, up five per cent on last year – and train operators credited some of the rise to an uptick in the jobs market. Trains in London and the south east of England took 235.8m people in the quarter, a rise of [...]
Thousands of cyclists take to London streets August 4, 2013 MORE than 15,000 cyclists pedalled their way around an 100-mile route taking in much of central London yesterday, in the spectacular finale to a weekend of cycling events across the capital. The Prudential RideLondon festival – developed by the Mayor of London, London & Partners and Transport for London in partnership with Surrey County Council [...]
Luton Airport snapped up by Aena and Axa August 1, 2013 LUTON Airport is set to expand after the rights to run the airport were snapped up by Spanish infrastructure group Aena and Axa’s private equity arm. Aena has teamed up with Axa to buy the remaining 90 per cent from fellow Spanish firm Abertis in a deal worth £433m. State-owned Aena already held 10 per [...]
Covent Garden portfolio sends Capco property values soaring July 30, 2013 CAPITAL & Counties (Capco) said a strong performance from its bustling Covent Garden estate helped push the total value of its property up by 13 per cent to £2.1bn in the first half of the year. The developer has been sprucing up its Covent Garden portfolio, attracting trendy restaurants and retailers including Dior and the [...]
How awful would the market for cars be if we treated them like houses? July 30, 2013 The market for housing in the UK is perverse. By comparing it with the market for cars, Duncan Stott, affordable housing campaigner for PricedOut, shows just how mad our system is: Imagine if every car that got made had to get planning permission to be manufactured, with the aim of protecting the environment and avoiding [...]
Assembly talks up Crossrail 2 July 29, 2013 BUILDING a second Crossrail route running from south west to north east London will generate up to £49bn for the capital’s economy, a report by the London Assembly’s transport committee claims today. It said a new rail service stretching out to the suburbs would also open up new areas for housing. But it conceded that [...]
London housing begins to price out businesses July 28, 2013 BUSINESSES warned the government today that rising property prices could undermine investment in the capital, as firms struggle to keep up. According to the statement by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and KPMG, the shortage of housing has risen from companies’ third most pressing concern to their second since December, overtaking transport. The number [...]