Crossrail bosses to advise Israel on building £33bn Tel Aviv metro August 24, 2022 Bosses of Crossrail are to advise on a new state-of-the-art £33bn metro system for the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Transport secretary Grant Shapps is in Israel this week and has met his counterpart, agreeing the deal as part of a post-Brexit memorandum of understanding signed earlier in the summer. This comes after the completion [...]
As UK faces three days of crippling train strikes Grant Shapps reveals 16-point plan August 18, 2022 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has unveiled a 16-point plan in a bid to tackle ‘Luddite’ unions, as industrial action brings the UK to a standstill. The announcement comes as 40,000 rail workers in the RMT and TSSA unions walk out on Thursday bringing much of the UK rail network to a grinding halt. A second [...]
Tory leadership: Shapps and Raab back Rishi Sunak to be next PM July 12, 2022 Transport secretary Grant Shapps and deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab have backed Rishi Sunak to be the next Tory party leader, with the former chancellor today vowing “a return to traditional conservative economic values” if he becomes Prime Minister. Shapps’ endorsement comes after he decided to call off his faltering campaign and throw his lot [...]
Transport secretary Grant Shapps launches Tory leadership bid July 9, 2022 Transport secretary Grant Shapps has launched his bid for the Tory leadership. “It is easy to criticise Boris after keeping one’s head down for years while being happy to benefit from his patronage,” he told the Sunday Times. “I am glad that I did not do that. “I have not spent the last few turbulent [...]
Government modernising railways despite ‘unions’ best efforts’, says Shapps June 29, 2022 The UK Government is modernising the railway network “despite the best efforts of unions,” Grant Shapps said today. The transport secretary’s comments came as he announced £1bn worth of funding to replace the Victorian signalling system along the East Coast Main Line (ECML) – which connects London to Edinburgh – with a digital one. “We’re [...]
Shapps warns RMT the country ‘coped’ with three strikes due to ‘collapse of commuting’ June 27, 2022 Grant Shapps has warned most of the country “coped” during last week’s strikes due to the “collapse of commuting” and increasingly hybrid working culture. Commenting after the third day of industrial action by tens-of-thousands of RMT union members, he said they had struck to “ defend indefensible working practices” which needed an update. Writing in [...]
Mayor pleads with DfT to hold urgent talks over TfL long-term funding June 10, 2022 London mayor Sadiq Khan has pleaded with the Department for Transport (DfT) to hold talks over reaching a long-term funding for the battered Transport for London (TfL). The latest funding round amounted to £200m and is set to expire on 24 June. “While we are grateful for the support you have provided to date, its [...]
Furious row erupts between Sadiq Khan and Grant Shapps over Crossrail announcement May 4, 2022 A furious row has broken out between the Mayor of London and the transport secretary over today’s announcement that Crossrail will open on 24 May. Grant Shapps MP referred Sadiq Khan to the Electoral Commission accusing him of “breathtaking political cynicism”, according to the Telegraph. This comes after it was announced this morning the Elizabeth [...]
Grant Shapps gave private ‘assurance’ to top Tory about scrapping of £3bn HS2 branch from bill April 7, 2022 A proposed £3bn branch of HS2 linking Crew and Manchester with the west coast may be scrapped, the transport secretary reportedly told a senior Tory MP. The government insists no decisions have been made about the Golborne Link element of the project, despite claims Grant Shapps privately promised the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir [...]
UK to level up local transport with £7bn investment April 4, 2022 The UK Government announced today it will invest £7bn to level up the country’s local transport system. Transport secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that the funding will be use “to roll out cheaper, better bus services outside of London”, providing upgrade to tram, cycling and rail networks too. Under the scheme, 31 counties, city regions and [...]