Aslef union announces industrial action on 26 and 28 July to coincide with tube strike by RMT members
London Underground drivers will strike on Wednesday 26 July and Friday 28 July in a dispute over pensions and working conditions, the Aslef union has announced.
The latest industrial action will coincide with previously announced strikes by RMT members who work on the capital’s tube network, causing more disruption for commuters and tourists.
Continue reading...‘Rolling action’ by RMT members between 23 and 28 July likely to cause widespread disruption across capital
London Underground staff will take industrial action over a week at the end of July, spelling widespread transport disruption in the capital.
Members of the RMT union will take “rolling action” between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July. The RMT said there would be no strike on Monday 24, with staff in different sections and grades halting work on different shifts on each of the other days.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Data shows huge jump in promotion and an 80% increase in sales of larger and more polluting vehicles, leading to calls for ban on ads
Carmakers have doubled how much they spend advertising SUVs and utes to Australians over the past decade, which has coincided with surging uptake of larger cars, triggering calls for a ban on advertising the highest polluting vehicles.
Advertising spends for SUVs and light commercial vehicles – a category which includes four-wheel drive utes – jumped from about $100m in 2010 to about $197m in 2022, according to analysis of digital, television, outdoor, radio, cinema and print advertising compiled by climate advocacy group Comms Declare.
Continue reading...Chief medical officer says move to electric cars can reduce impact of exhausts, but may bring different problem to the fore
Ministers need to start looking seriously at the health risks from vehicle tyre wear as the impact of pollutants from car exhausts gradually reduces, Sir Chris Whitty has told MPs.
Giving evidence to the environmental audit committee, England’s chief medical officer said improvements in emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles, and a shift towards electric cars, were reducing the extent of dangerous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides.
Continue reading...Five Tory-led councils seeking to block mayor’s plans to extend ultra-low emission zone to whole of capital
A legal challenge to plans to expand London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to the whole of the capital will be heard in the high court on Tuesday as five Conservative-led councils seek to block the proposals.
The Ulez is due to expand at the end of August from the boundary of the north and south circular roads to throughout Greater London, requiring drivers of the most polluting vehicles to pay a fee when using them in the area.
Continue reading...Despite the Climate Change Committee’s warnings to stop growing capacity, Gatwick is gearing up for another try at a second runway
So what bit of “no new airport capacity” did airports not understand? The Climate Change Committee (CCC) spelled it out again on Wednesday: flying accounted for 7% of UK carbon emissions last year, the trend is upwards, and more airport capacity is “incompatible” with national net zero targets.
Of course, they’ve said it before: but as the committee noted in its 2023 progress report, airports have since have been racing to expand. This time, hammering it home, the CCC says that no expansion at all should go ahead until the government sorts out a proper way to manage it.
Continue reading...Airlines warn of disruptions as Sydney airport braces for single runway operations for a second day due to worsening conditions
Strong winds in Sydney continued to cause chaos for holiday travel plans around Australia on Saturday, while passengers have been hospitalised after “severe turbulence” on a flight arriving from Honolulu.
Airlines were warning of flight disruptions on Saturday morning, as they braced for one of Sydney airport’s runways to be closed for the second time in as many days after a warning from air traffic controllers of worsening winds.
Continue reading...LGA says services being put at risk by huge cost and calls way Whitehall funds scheme not fit for purpose
Councils in England are being hit by a “completely unsustainable” annual bill of more than £450m to prop up the free bus pass scheme, according to an analysis.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which calculated the figure, said the enormous cost was putting services at risk.
Continue reading...Family calls for more restrictions on underage access to electric scooters after Mustafa Nadeem was killed last December
A 12-year-old boy was killed while riding a hired Voi e-scooter unlocked by a 14-year-old friend using their father’s account, an inquest has heard, as his family called for stricter measures to prevent children using loopholes to access them.
Mustafa Nadeem suffered fatal injuries when he rode an e-scooter along the pavement and accidentally collided with a pedestrian causing him to fall on the road into the path of a bus in Birmingham on 6 December last year.
Continue reading...Modelling along planned flight paths suggest zones will be subject to noise pollution in excess of 70db, or washing machine-level
A 20km stretch of land surrounding the future western Sydney airport will be subjected to noise levels similar to or louder than a washing machine or vacuum cleaner more than 100 times a day by 2040, preliminary flight path analysis shows.
Proposed flight paths released on Tuesday have been designed to avoid areas either currently or projected to be densely populated in coming decades, ahead of the airport beginning operations in late 2026.
Continue reading...Latest vehicle from Build Your Dreams, which in less than a year has become the counry’s second-biggest electric vehicle seller, has a starting price of $38,890
Many Australians haven’t heard of BYD, the Chinese brand now selling the country’s cheapest new electric car.
BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is the biggest threat to Tesla globally and has garnered a cult-like following that’s translating to sales success locally.
Continue reading...A 58-year-old man from Maitland is due to appear in court in Cessnock charged with 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving. Follow the day’s news live
After Sunday night’s tragic wedding bus crash in the Hunter Valley, stunned locals are still anxiously waiting for details of how the accident occurred and official confirmation of who was among the victims.
The driver of the bus, a 58-year-old man from Maitland, will appear in court in Cessnock this morning charged with 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving. The Guardian will be in court and will have the details as they emerge.
Continue reading...Chris Minns acknowledges ‘unimaginable despair’ after bus rolled on Wine Country Drive near Hunter Expressway offramp. Follow the latest updates
We are hearing reports that NSW Police are planning to hold a press conference in the next couple of hours to provide an update on the crash.
Plibersek sends condolences
A day of celebration ending in tragedy. Just terrible.
Continue reading...Police say 25 others were taken to hospital by helicopter and road after the coach rolled on Wine Country Drive just after 11.30pm on Sunday
Ten people returning from a “fairytale” wedding in Australia’s Hunter Valley wine region in New South Wales have been killed in a devastating bus crash. More than 20 others have been taken to hospital with various injuries after the bus overturned late on Sunday night.
The 58-year-old driver has been arrested and charges are pending, while a crime scene has been declared at the site of the crash.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
‘We shouldn’t run a running commentary on the cases,’ says Hume
Opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume, appearing alongside Marles on the program, said she believed clarification was still needed:
There is inconsistencies between the reports that we are getting from those text messages and what we are hearing from Labor ministers, and what happened when.
And I think unfolding that, unpacking that, making sure there is some clarification is really important here. Because misleading parliament, misleading the Senate is a big deal, particularly when you rely on the honesty and integrity of ministers and senators, and so there are some questions to be answered here.
Katy has made her position very clear earlier in the week, and she has made clear that she is very comfortable with the statements that she’s made, and that’s the end of the matter in terms of Katy’s position.
Katy is a person of enormous integrity. It is one of my great honours to work alongside her in this government. She does a great job as the finance minister.
Continue reading...Government defends processes and the US company that won the tender, saying it has ‘reputation for delivering successful projects’
A losing bidder for the contract to overhaul Victoria’s Myki system has written to the state’s premier, Daniel Andrews, to claim his government ran a “flawed” tender process and questioned whether the chosen company will be able to provide the technology it has promised.
Senior executives at Cubic wrote to Daniel Andrews last week, detailing their “serious concerns about possible errors in the tender process” for the public transport ticketing system.
Continue reading...Nationals pair say they were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail corridor without ministerial permission
Nationals MP Mark Coulton and senator Bridget McKenzie have angrily rejected suggestions they may have trespassed by visiting the inland rail project near Narromine after permission to do so was denied.
Coulton told Guardian Australia that the issue, pursued by Labor in Senate estimates, was “absolute complete bullshit”, backing McKenzie’s account the pair were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail without the minister’s permission.
Continue reading...The man was on his way to work when he crashed into the escaped animals in Livingstone, police say
A school bus driver has been killed after he crashed into two escaped camels in central Queensland.
Both camels were also killed in the crash on Emu Park Road in Livingstone, east of Rockhampton, shortly after 5am on Monday, police said.
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Continue reading...About 40% of services expected to run on Saturday as 12,000 Aslef members hold second day of industrial action this week
Rail services across England have again come to a halt as 12,000 train drivers strike for the second time this week amid a long-running dispute with the operating companies over pay and conditions.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef are walking out for 24 hours on the majority of lines in England and some cross-border routes into Scotland and Wales, leaving only 40% of services running.
Continue reading...Unite says it will serve notice to airport of fresh round of strikes in long-running pay dispute
Fresh strikes by security guards at Heathrow airport are expected to be announced next week.
Members of Unite are embroiled in a long-running dispute over pay which has led to previous industrial action.
Continue reading...