Public rail is the future: poll by RMT September 13, 2009 RAIL union RMT will today release a poll showing 70 per cent of the public support the renationalisation of the railways, weeks before National Express’ East Coast Main Line franchise is set to be brought back under public control. Only 23 per cent of the 1017 people questioned support continued privatisation in the industry, the [...]
GREYHOUND LEAVES THE STALLS September 13, 2009 GREYHOUND will take off in the UK today, as its first bus, Peggy Sue, embarks on her maiden voyage. The journey, from Southampton to London, will depart at five thirty this morning. Greyhound, part of transport company FirstGroup, will run £1 services between London Victoria and Portsmouth and Southampton, in a bid to compete with [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 8, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SCRUTINY THREATENS SUCCESS OF BAIKAL, SAYS LSERegulatory scrutiny over “dark pools” and the failure of most such platforms in Europe to make money mean that Baikal, the London Stock Exchange’s planned platform, “might not work”, says Xavier Rolet, LSE chief executive. “It’s not impossible that it might not work,” Rolet said. He said [...]
TfL secures 1bn loan from EIB to help fund Crossrail September 7, 2009 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has secured a £1bn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance 40 per cent of its contribution to the Crossrail project, it will say today. “For the EIB to agree to the loan facility provides international recognition of Crossrail’s importance and is a further milestone in the delivery of [...]
Go-Ahead on track despite profit slump September 3, 2009 TRANSPORT group Go-Ahead said yesterday that it does not expect the economy to recover until 2011, but that its business is healthy enough to keep it on track until then. The firm, which operates bus companies and runs three London rail franchises, saw full year pre-tax profit fall 60 per cent from last year, to [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 3, 2009 Pinsent MasonsThe law firm has appointed Raymond Beven as a London-based partner, responsible for leading the transport team within the firm’s projects and international construction group. Beven will be tasked with working across a broad transport portfolio including airports, rail and ports and projects in the Middle East, Caspian region and Europe. He joins from [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTCORP REPORTS FIRST LOSSInvestcorp reported its first annual loss in its history after the London and Bahrain-listed investment group suffered big falls on its hedge fund investments and heavy writedowns at its private equity and real estate arms. The company, which made its name investing in retailers Gucci, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue, [...]
Strike resolved, RMT union says August 19, 2009 The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said yesterday the issue of job cuts on London Underground (LU), which led to a 48-hour strike in June, has been resolved. The RMT said it was a “major victory” as the strike action had saved its members from compulsory redundancies. LU disputed RMT’s claims, saying it had [...]
FirstGroup unveils new Greyhound buses August 19, 2009 FIRSTGROUP yesterday unveiled the iconic Greyhound buses it plans to use for journeys between London, Portsmouth and Southampton. The buses, which are named after women from American songs like “Peggy Sue”, will run hourly from Victoria to the south coast. They offer free Wi-Fi, power sockets for each passenger, air conditioning, free newspapers and leather [...]
TRAIN FARES SET TO DROP NEXT YEAR August 18, 2009 &9632; Rail fares to be cut for first time since privatisation&9632; Cuts come as train firms struggle with franchise payments&9632; Rail companies could hike non-regulated fares to plug gap RAIL fares are set to come down for the first time since privatisation, but there were fears yesterday that commuters might be hit by rising railway [...]