Bulk carrier prices stabilise as world economy improves October 5, 2009 THE cost of chartering bulk carriers to transport commodities worldwide has stabilised but looks unlikely to reach the peak hit during 2008, the International Financial Services London (IFSL) body said yesterday. Duncan McKenzie, director of economics at IFSL, said the Baltic Dry Index (BEDI) – which is based on the average spot price for chartering [...]
Imperial Wharf station opens September 29, 2009 Mayor Boris Johnson opened a new £7.8m Imperial Wharf station yesterday, which will serve Fulham, Chelsea, and West Brompton. The station plan was in limbo for more than 15 years before Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea councils agreed funding with developers St George and Transport for London last year. Boris says the new [...]
PEDAL POWER September 24, 2009 CYCLING nut and London Mayor Boris Johnson is kicking off his Cycle Fridays scheme today with six routes, three of which run to the City. The Friday routes, where you are escorted by safety-conscious marshals, will roll on until 2 October. To get into the City you can leave from Mile End, Finsbury Park and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 23, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES SIEMENS IN BRIBERY ULTIMATUMSiemens yesterday told several former executive board members, including former chief executives Heinrich von Pierer and Klaus Kleinfeld, to agree to pay damages relating to a multibillion euro bribery scandal. The firm, Europe’s largest engineering group, said seven former managers would face legal action if they failed to show willingness [...]
CABLE’S PLANS?FOR 1M HOME TAX SLAMMED September 21, 2009 PROPERTY experts yesterday ridiculed Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable’s pledge to introduce an annual levy on homes worth more than £1m, warning that the measure would lay waste to an already fragile housing market. The so-called “mansion tax”, proposed by Cable at the Lib Dem annual party conference yesterday, would see some 250,000 households [...]
Heathrow boss Brown heads underground September 14, 2009 HEATHROW terminal boss Mike Brown is moving back to London Underground (LU) to take up the managing director position, after leaving in 2008. He first worked for LU in 1989, but left last year to head up Heathrow, after Mark Bullock quit following the messy opening of the new Terminal 5. Under his leadership, service [...]
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 [...]