Controlling costs of £55.7bn HS2 project will be “challenging”, admits Department for Transport January 17, 2017 Controlling costs of HS2 will be "challenging", according to the Department for Transport (DfT), and has said cost estimates of the second stage of the project won't be set until 2019. The comments were made in written evidence submitted by the DfT's permanent secretary Philip Rutnam, to support a Public Accounts Committee inquiry on the Great Western [...]
Train drivers’ union Aslef suspends all upcoming Southern rail strikes as train operator agrees to new talks January 17, 2017 Train drivers' union Aslef will suspend industrial action on Southern rail, after the train operator agreed to new talks, starting tomorrow. The union's general secretary Mick Whelan said: "I am today proposing a new process to find a resolution to our industrial dispute with Southern." Whelan added: "Aslef believes that the best way to resolve the dispute at [...]
Abellio agrees to sell 40 per cent of Greater Anglia franchise to Japanese firm Mitsui January 17, 2017 Abellio is selling 40 per cent of its Greater Anglia rail franchise to Japanese firm Mitsui. Managing director Dominic Booth said the company had "fulfilled our long-standing objective" of running the franchise as a 60:40 joint venture and the deal will deliver "significant improvements" for Greater Anglia's customers. Abellio won the Greater Anglia franchise again [...]
MEPs vote to put robots on the agenda to tackle safety and legal concerns January 17, 2017 MEPs have started on a European health and safety standard for robots – before the fracking toasters short circuit and become our overlords. Or before other countries like Japan and the US establish their standards first. A “kill” switch and creating a status for “electronic persons” that would bear legal responsibility are among recommendations that MEPs on [...]
Finnair’s UK ambitions take flight with Flybe codeshare extension January 17, 2017 Finland's flag carrier has bolstered a codesharing deal with Flybe to amp up its UK connectivity. Finnair is extending its UK network with new codeshare services on Flybe flights between several European cities and the UK. The airline's codes will be added to the following Flybe services when a Finnair flight is also included in [...]
Rolls-Royce’s shares spike over seven per cent as company says 2016 profit will trump expectations January 17, 2017 Shares in Rolls-Royce rose as much as 7.7 per cent to 716.7p this morning, after the firm settled bribery claims on three continents and said its profit for 2016 will beat expectations. The engineering giant announced yesterday it had reached, in principle, a £671m deal with regulators to settle allegations of bribery and corruption. The investigations [...]
Global giant Shell helping Edinburgh innovators to harness power of air turbulence January 17, 2017 | City Talk Capture Mobility’s award-winning roadside micro-turbine can generate electricity from the turbulence of passing traffic – enough to supply an average-sized home for 24 hours. Integrated solar panels at the top of the turbine add extra energy to the system during the day and air filters inside the fins of the turbines also help to clean the [...]
Want to skip congestion? Airbus is working on it with its flying car prototype January 17, 2017 Gridlocked roads and congestion might be a signature of busy cities, but Airbus hopes it'll have a way to circumvent that – sooner rather than later. The aerospace giant has said it's got plans to test a prototype of a self-piloted flying car by the end of the year. It got the wheels – or wings [...]
Are you travelling with Britain’s worst train operator? Here’s the definitive list January 17, 2017 Southern's customer satisfaction has plummeted on everything from punctuality to reliability and seat availability. According to Which?'s annual rail survey, the train operator recorded its lowest ever score of 21 per cent customer satisfaction, down from 44 per cent last year. It received one star ratings for seat availability, frequency, punctuality, reliability and value for [...]
Tube talks between RMT, TSSA and London Underground adjourn as threat of further strikes looms over capital January 16, 2017 Negotiations aimed at averting more Tube strikes were adjourned today, leaving the threat of industrial action looming over the capital. Talks will resume on Wednesday between officials from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Transport Salaried Staffs' Association and London Underground representatives, who met today at the conciliation service Acas. Read more: Here's when the [...]