State could be landed with £8bn rail pension deficit March 29, 2020 Taxpayers could be on the hook for £8bn of railway pensions after the government effectively nationalised a portion of the rail system after coronavirus hit demand. The Telegraph reported that the massive government intervention could shift the pension deficit of franchises from the private sector to the public sector. The Department for Transport (DfT) last [...]
Coronavirus: Government poised to unveil rescue deal for bus industry March 31, 2020 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has said that a sector-specific deal for the UK’s bus operators will be announced shortly after passenger numbers collapsed nearly 80 per cent. Speaking to Sky, Shapps said that he was “working very hard on a package” for buses, having announced a set of emergency measures to protect the UK’s struggling [...]
Editorial: A week that offers good news for the capital November 10, 2020 It’s hardly a 200 watt halogen bulb, but word of a potential vaccine does at least provide a flicker of light at the end of this interminable 2020 tunnel. After a year of unrelentingly negative headlines, it counted as unalloyed good news. Not just for our fight against the virus, but for the capital too. [...]
Stagecoach and Go-Ahead scrap dividends over coronavirus March 23, 2020 Stagecoach has issued a coronavirus profit warning today as both it and Go-Ahead scrapped their dividends as travel restrictions bite. The operator warned it will now miss its target for adjusted earnings per share for the 12 months to the start of May. “The quickly developing Covid-19 situation means we no longer expect to achieve [...]
Railways introduce crowd control measures to help stop coronavirus spread May 18, 2020 Rail and Tube chiefs today put in place crowd control measures at stations around the UK and added more train services amid fears overcrowding could help spread coronavirus. Last Sunday Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged those who could not work from home to go back to work in an easing of the coronavirus lockdown. Network [...]
Shaun Bailey London mayor election manifesto: Everything you need to know April 19, 2021 Conservative mayor of London candidate Shaun Bailey today launched his election manifesto, with polling day on 6 May now just weeks away. The 56-page document outlined policies on areas such as the economy, the environment, transport, crime, housing and transport. City A.M. went through the manifesto with a fine tooth comb to bring you a snapshot of the [...]
City workers slowly beginning to return to office after lockdown September 2, 2020 Commuters are slowly starting to return to London’s business districts after the coronavirus lockdowns, new data from Transport for London has shown. As of last Friday, 17,852 passengers entered and exited Bank tube station in the City, ten times more than the 1,800 who did so at the height of the pandemic. The figure is [...]
Transport for London ‘in line for Tube bailout’ April 22, 2020 Urban transport operators including Tube operator Transport for London are in line for government bailout as the complete collapse in passenger numbers due to coronavirus raised questions over their survival. The Financial Times reported that Whitehall officials said that emergency funding could be released by the end of the week following negotiations. Passenger numbers have [...]
Liberty Steel snaps up British Steel’s former French rail assets August 14, 2020 Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel has acquired the French plant that had threatened to derail Chinese firm Jingye’s £50m rescue deal for embattled British Steel back in March. Hayange, in northern France, used to be owned by British Steel is considered a strategic asset by the French government because it manufactures steel rails for high speed [...]
Railway industry in talks with government over emergency coronavirus measures March 15, 2020 The government is in talks with the rail industry over a range of steps to protect franchises against falling passenger numbers due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to the BBC, at a meeting of industry figures last week it was revealed that numbers had fallen by up to 18 per cent on certain lines, although [...]