Battle brewing over ‘unreformed and generous’ TfL pension scheme August 4, 2021 Sadiq Khan is gearing up for a battle with Transport for London (TfL) staff after a report on the transport operator’s finances found its pension scheme was “expensive, unreformed and generous”. According to the Telegraph, advisers to London’s Mayor have said that the current scheme is more beneficial for workers than models used by Network [...]
Burned Out? Here Are Great Companies To Move To May 17, 2022 Burnout is nothing new – many of us have experienced it at work at some stage, and it is so real that the World Health Organisation has classified it as an “occupational phenomenon” in its International Classification of Diseases. A term that is a bit newer, but probably still pretty familiar, is the concept of [...]
West Midlands Trains ‘scams’ its own staff with email promising a pandemic bonus May 10, 2021 A rail union has called out West Midlands Trains for emailing 2,500 employees with the empty promise of a pandemic bonus as part of a cybersecurity test. In the email staff were thanked for their efforts under the “huge strain” of the pandemic and that managing director, Julian Edwards, wanted to thank them with a one-off [...]
London to Glasgow train record attempt falls short by… 21 seconds June 17, 2021 An attempt to break the 37-year-old record for London to Glasgow by train ended with the Pendolino 39004 arriving at Glasgow Central Station 21 seconds over time. The previous record was set at 3 hours 52 minutes and 40 seconds in 1984 by a BR Advanced Passenger Train (APT). Pendoli-nope Officials said the attempt missed [...]
TfL funding crisis: Sadiq Khan forced to cut 500 Tube station jobs December 7, 2021 Sadiq Khan is set to make large job cuts at London Tube stations in a bid to save cash as Transport for London’s (TfL) funding crisis starts to bite. Between 500 and 600 jobs at Tube stations across London are set to be axed, with larger central London stations to absorb the largest cuts. City [...]
Older workers in worst job market ‘since 1980s’ April 26, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the largest annual employment fall for older workers since the 1980s, according to a report published today. Older and younger workers have been heavily knocked by the pandemic job market, which has seen a U-shaped employment shock. “While the youngest workers have been hardest hit by the crisis, older workers [...]
RMT pledges to fight Tory plans for ‘minimum service’ during strikes December 17, 2019 The boss of the RMT transport union has hit out at government plans to pass legislation to ensure commuters to can get to work during strikes. Responding to the proposed legislation, general secretary Mick Cash said: “It hasn’t taken long for the true colours of this new Tory government to emerge. Read more: South Western [...]
Rail reforms: the Fat Controller, new fares, and a ‘farewell’ to franchising May 20, 2021 After years of anticipation, and not a few false starts, the government today announced its much-lauded plan to reform the UK’s railways. Complete with pledges to “fix the broken system” and deliver a better service “for the passenger”, the white paper presents a vision of the country’s rail network that is a clear break from [...]
Train services cut by a quarter during national lockdown January 14, 2021 UK train services will be cut down to below three-quarters of normal levels amid a sharp decline in passenger numbers during the third national lockdown. Brits have been urged to check before they travel as some services will be cancelled and others will change times while tougher restrictions are in place. The fresh cuts mean [...]
Review: Football: Designing the Beautiful Game at the Design Museum April 10, 2022 A photo emerged last summer of beaming England footballer Bukayo Saka leaping into a swimming pool astride an inflatable unicorn. Such was the pure joy captured by the image that it quickly attained cult status and, as these things do, spawned a thousand memes. Well, anyone who quipped on social media to “Hang it in [...]