Mind the expectation gap: Sadiq Khan is a disappointment to London May 29, 2019 When Sadiq Khan was elected as London mayor just over three years ago, it was off the back of some big promises. The new mayor reassured us that he was going to make our city a “safe and secure place”. He pledged that we wouldn’t pay a penny more to travel around the capital, although this [...]
TfL delays investment to ‘future years’ as debt climbs to £11bn May 22, 2019 Transport for London (TfL) delayed nearly half a billion pounds in capital spending during its latest financial year, while its debts climbed past £11bn. Borrowing, which is one of TfL's core funding streams, increased by £728m over the year to a total of £11.2bn, according to TfL board papers filed today. Last year a London [...]
Canary Wharf Group in spat with Crossrail over station’s £80m safety bill May 16, 2019 The Canary Wharf Group has hit back at Crossrail over claims that an extra £80m has been spent to make the Elizabeth Line station comply with TfL safety standards. The group, which built the station and contributed £150m to the total cost, said it "categorically dismissed" comments made by Crossrail boss Mark Wild yesterday, in which he [...]
Crossrail is paying drivers £13m a year to practise while they wait for Elizabeth Line to open May 15, 2019 Crossrail is spending nearly £13m a year on drivers who are spending their time practising as they wait for the delayed railway to open in two years' time. Read more: Crossrail bosses blasted for 'driving up costs' on London's £17.6bn project The numbers were revealed after Gareth Bacon, the Tory leader in the London Assembly, asked [...]
Crossrail: Watchdog blasts bosses for ‘driving up costs’ on London’s £17.6bn delayed Elizabeth Line May 3, 2019 Crossrail bosses took decisions that drove unnecessary cost into the troubled £17.6bn railway, a report by Whitehall's spending watchdog has found. A catalogue of errors including a "failure to change course" when it was clear the project was de-railing, as well as flaws in its own commercial strategy, led to cost increases and the current uncertainty [...]
London mayor Sadiq Khan’s approval rating goes negative for first time since election May 2, 2019 London mayor Sadiq Khan’s popularity has dropped into negative figures for the first time. Data from a You Gov poll for December showed Khan had a net approval rating of minus one. The poll of 1,000 people, commissioned by City Hall, showed 32 per cent said they were satisfied and 33 per cent dissatisfied. Read [...]
It’s time to stop arguing about expanding Heathrow – and get building May 2, 2019 Thankfully for the UK economy, the High Court yesterday quashed a challenge brought against the government’s decision to expand Heathrow Airport. No one questions the need for scrutiny. Indeed, detailed consideration for how to manage the impact of the expansion on local people – which for some will be significant – lies ahead through the [...]
Crossrail’s 2021 delay to cost TfL an extra £1bn in lost revenue, says Moody’s May 1, 2019 The delay to Crossrail until 2021 will cost Transport for London (TfL) £1bn in lost revenue, according to influential rating agency Moody's. The £1bn figure is between £300m-£400m more than TfL had forecasted in its 2018 business plan, published after the announcement in the summer that the £17.6bn railway would not open that December as planned. Read [...]
A pro-business mayor? Khan is less so than Livingstone April 29, 2019 Before he was elected, Sadiq Khan promised – in this newspaper and elsewhere – to be the “most pro-business mayor yet”. In a literal sense, that pledge was already a bit limited, because Khan has only had two predecessors: Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson. The first one was an apologist for assorted Communist regimes. In [...]
Crossrail sets opening date between October 2020 and March 2021 April 25, 2019 Crossrail will open to passengers between October 2020 and March 2021, about two years later than originally planned, its board revealed today. Read more: TfL boss Mike Brown says he will not stand down over Crossrail criticism The central section of Crossrail – which will be known as the Elizabeth line – will open between Paddington and Abbey [...]