DEBATE: Is transport secretary Chris Grayling right to blame the unions for rail fare hikes? January 4, 2019 Is transport secretary Chris Grayling right to blame the unions for rail fare hikes? Duncan Simpson, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says YES. This week’s fare rise is, quite understandably, infuriating for many commuters. But passenger outrage is being misdirected. Huge progress has been made since privatisation: passenger numbers and overall satisfaction are up, and [...]
Delays at UK’s busiest airports cost business passengers £500m last year, new data reveals January 3, 2019 UK business passengers lost more than half a million days to delays at Britain's 10 busiest airports last year, at a cost of around more than £500m to their pockets. When combined with delays to leisure passengers the figure rise to 2.5m days lost, costing travellers £1bn. Data from air travel intelligence company OAG shows that delays at Heathrow [...]
Sir Terry Morgan to appear at London Assembly grilling over lead-up to Crossrail delay January 3, 2019 Former Crossrail chairman Sir Terry Morgan will give his account of the events leading up to the announcement of project's delay after Sadiq Khan accused him of "misremembering events". Morgan, who was ousted from his role in December, will appear before the London Assembly's transport committee next Wednesday as it probes his account of events leading [...]
Aviation regulator grants Ryanair UK air operator licence to continue flights in no-deal Brexit January 3, 2019 The aviation regulator has granted budget airline Ryanair with a UK air operator certificate that will allow it to operate flights within the UK and to non-EU routes in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The Irish airline said the risk of a no-deal Brexit was rising and repeated its call for the UK and EU to agree [...]
TfL has the worst gender pay gap of all of City Hall’s agencies, new data reveals January 3, 2019 The gender pay gap at Transport for London (TfL) grew to 21.5 per cent last year – the only City Hall body to have seen an increase in the difference between men and women’s average hourly earnings. Last year the gender pay gap at TfL, which is chaired by London mayor Sadiq Khan, increased by 1.8 [...]
Army withdraws anti-drone equipment from Gatwick following Christmas travel chaos January 3, 2019 Military equipment installed at Gatwick to stop drones disrupting flights has now been removed, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today. The army was deployed to the airport shortly before Christmas to help bring an end to the saga that affected roughly 1,000 flights. Israeli-developed systems designed to jam drone signals were reportedly among the military-grade [...]
Shares up after construction firm Costain’s order book hits a record £4.2bn January 3, 2019 Shares in Costain are up more than five per cent after the construction and engineering company announced today that it finished the year with a record-breaking order book of £4.2bn. In a trading update the firm, which is a major supplier to Network Rail and Highways England, said it had an order book of £4.2bn, up from [...]
Overcrowding on trains close to a record high as commuters warned it will get even worse January 3, 2019 Overcrowding on trains has hit one of its highest ever levels – but is likely to get even worse, according to Labour. The 10 most overcrowded peak train routes are already running at 187 per cent overcapacity, the party’s analysis found, an increase of 25 per cent since 2011. And they are likely to get [...]
Scottish Power goes with the wind as Drax Group completes takeover of portfolio January 2, 2019 Drax Group has completed its £702m takeover of power plants from Scottish Power as the company moves towards ending its coal-based production before 2025. The deal, which was first announced in October, sees Drax take control of the Cruachan pumped storage hydro facility and a plant which turns waste into biomass. The plants have helped [...]
Rail firms have paid out more than £1bn in shareholder dividends over last six years, says TUC union January 2, 2019 Rail firms have paid over £1bn to shareholders in last six years, according to trade union analysis on the same day that a 3.1 per cent hike in fares was announced for passengers. The fare increase, set under the retail price index (RPI), will see many rail season tickets increase by more than £100. According to [...]
