July Budget 2015: Transport for the North promises shorter train journey times and cheaper fares as high speed rail will drive Northern Powerhouse July 9, 2015 Slashed travel times between northern cities will cheer commuters, as new transport body Transport for the North gives a boost to George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse project. But how exactly will the new and improved transport system work? And how much time will you save? This handy map and the charts below show how much shorter [...]
Budget for a greater Britain: What the City needs from the chancellor July 7, 2015 Amid the deluge of news about EU reform and the Greek debt crisis, you could be forgiven for forgetting there’s a Budget today. But that would be to overlook an opportunity for the City. This is George Osborne’s first Budget since the Conservatives were elected to govern alone and we’ll get a clear sense of [...]
HS2 is “cannibalising” the rest of the transport budget, TaxPayers’ Alliance claims June 25, 2015 The High Speed 2 rail link connecting Birmingham to London is “cannibalising” the rest of the UK's transport budget, Jonathan Isaby, head of the TaxPayers' Alliance, has claimed. Read more: High Speed 2 to lose a link from North to Europe In a statement, Isaby said promises had been made “time and time again” [...]
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin: HS2 fight “has been won” – work to start in next two years June 2, 2015 The £50bn battle over HS2 has been won and work on the project will begin in two years, according to transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin. During a speech in Leeds, McLoughlin said the controversial high speed trainline will be built in full, as the government had received a “massive vote of confidence” when it won the [...]
What was in the 2015 Queen’s Speech, bill-by-bill May 28, 2015 A full employment and welfare benefits bill aiming to create 2m more jobs and 3m more apprenticeships An enterprise bill to cut red tape and help small and medium-sized businesses resolve late payment disputes A personal tax allowance bill raising the personal allowance to £12,500 and linking future increases to the minimum wage A finance bill [...]
Institute of Directors calls for HS2 rail line to go to Scotland as planned May 25, 2015 Britain’s directors want the new high speed rail line to go to Scotland, as was originally planned. A Institute of Directors (IoD) spokesperson told City A.M. yesterday: “Our members across the country still feel that intercity connectivity and improvements to existing lines – including in Scotland – should be the priority.” The comments come after [...]
The Japanese maglev train just broke a world speed record by hitting 377mph – over 100mph faster than HS2 April 21, 2015 Japan’s super-fast magnetic levitation (maglev) train smashed the world speed record for a train today, clocking a huge 603kmph (377mph) in a test run. The train hovers four inches above the rails to decrease friction and increase speed, and was able to maintain that phenomenally high velocity for 11 seconds, beating the Chinese high speed [...]
As HS2 is lambasted by a Lords report, is there “no convincing case” for the project? March 25, 2015 John O’Connell, director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, says Yes HS2 should be scrapped. It is based on a bad business case that unravelled as soon as it was presented, and the Lords report should be the final nail in its coffin. The initial business case assumed average passenger income of around £70,000. Were that to [...]
Lords: Government sums still don’t add up for HS2 March 25, 2015 Another day, another government report on HS2 – and things aren't looking good for the embattled £50bn project. A report by a House of Lords committee published this morning says the cost per mile of the high-speed rail project, which is supposed to cut the journey time between London and Manchester by 45 minutes, will [...]
Boris Johnson’s mini-Manhattan in Old Oak Common: Why we must speak up for local housing needs February 11, 2015 London’s population is at an all-time high. By 2020, we will have over 9m people living in our city; 10m by 2030. So it is essential that we plan for the growing needs of the capital. London needs a transport system fit for the 21st century. We need a thriving jobs market built on secure, [...]