Openreach is hiring 1,500 trainee engineers and trialling a new virtual reality experience March 20, 2017 Openreach is set to expand its workforce with 1,500 new trainee engineers hired over eight months who will work to extend the UK's fibre broadband network and improve customer service. The broadband provider will seek recruits from across Britain to fill new, full-time and permanent roles. Openreach will initially take on 119 recruits in April, followed by around 60 new [...]
Major work on the Westminster Bridge cycle lane revamp will cause travel disruption from next week until 2018 March 20, 2017 Work starts next week to develop two cycle lanes on Westminster Bridge that will cause nearly a year of disturbance, though Transport for London (TfL) has pledged to "minimise disruption". The bridge will become the fourth Thames crossing to get segregated bike lanes, and the south-side junction will be remodelled to make it easier to cross [...]
Southern rail will agree to fresh talks with the RMT if the union suspends all strike action March 20, 2017 Southern owner Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has extended an olive branch to the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union. Well, sort of. The train company has offered to meet the RMT for fresh face-to-face talks if the union suspends industrial action in its year-long dispute over changes to the role of the guard. Read more: Southern [...]
Hundreds of flights cancelled by airlines including EasyJet and Ryanair due to Italian air traffic control strike March 20, 2017 An Italian air traffic control strike today has caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights, as airlines warned of travel disruption throughout the day. Passengers flying to and from Italy will have their travel disrupted due to the industrial action, which is expected to last for four hours this afternoon. Airlines for Europe (A4E) said it [...]
Mkango and Metalysis team up to develop 3D printed earth magnets to power up electric vehicles in the UK March 20, 2017 Two firms have teamed up to develop 3D printed rare earth magnets, components for electric vehicles, in the UK. Aim-listed Mkango Resources and South Yorkshire-based Metalysis have entered into a memorandum of understanding to jointly research, develop and commercialise rare earth metal alloys for use in 3D printed permanent magnets. Read more: Business Committee launches inquiry [...]
New roads increase traffic rather than ease it, says the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) March 20, 2017 Building new roads causes more traffic, according to a study of over 80 road schemes by the Campaign to Protect Rural England. It found that congestion initially falls, but often this doesn't last long as new roads result in people swapping from public transport and making more journeys. Read more: This is how much Londoners will [...]
Rail industry promises 6,400 new passenger trains a week by 2021 to address the railway’s “capacity crunch” March 20, 2017 Britain's rail industry has announced plans to run 6,400 more passenger trains a week by 2021 as around £50bn gets plugged into the network to address a "capacity crunch". Projected timetable improvements for the next four years show 1,283 more trains a day will run from Monday to Friday nationwide, according to analysis by the Rail [...]
Uber president Jeff Jones quits after six months in role March 19, 2017 Uber president Jeff Jones has quit his role after little more than six months in the job, the car hailing giant has confirmed. A spokesperson for the firm said: “We want to thank Jeff for his six months at the company and wish him all the best.” Second in command at the car hailing firm to Travis Kalanick, Jones [...]
From Singapore to London: Here are the cities with the best infrastructure in the world March 18, 2017 It's official: London's not quite at the top when it comes to cities with the best infrastructure. In fact, it's not in the top three globally. First place goes to Singapore, followed by Frankfurt and Munich in joint second, Copenhagen in fourth and Dusseldorf in fifth. The capital does though, rank fairly highly, coming joint sixth with [...]
Not just hot air: Government plugs £23m of funding into accelerating the take-up of hydrogen vehicles March 18, 2017 The government has announced a new £23m fund to accelerate the take-up of hydrogen vehicles and roll-out high-tech infrastructure such as fuel stations. A perceived road bump to wider usage is the availability of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, so the government is launching a competition this summer. Hydrogen fuel providers will be able to bid for funding in [...]