In letter to TfL boss, Khan says plans ‘will not include new pay-per-mile road user charging scheme’
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has pledged not to expand the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) scheme if he returns to the role after May’s election.
In a letter to London’s transport commissioner, Andy Lord, Khan wrote that he had “categorically” ruled out the introduction of a pay-per-mile scheme as well as any tightening of Ulez emissions standards.
Continue reading...Mayor Sadiq Khan thinks his new line names for the capital’s ever-expanding rail network bring clarity, but not everyone agrees
The ancient Egyptians saw names as magical. It was said that Isis tricked Ra, the sun god, into telling her his true name, to give her power over him and put her son Horus on the throne.
Londoners have a different take. The Northern line was nearly named TootanCamden in the 1920s, the historian Robert Graves wrote – a pun on the Tutankhamun craze of the time and the line’s route through Tooting and Camden.
Continue reading...Web of orange on tube map revamped to celebrate city’s unique local history and culture, says mayor
The London Overground is to be rebranded into six lines with names inspired by the capital’s and the country’s diverse modern history, from Windrush to the Lionesses.
The web of orange on the tube map will be replaced by six colours and routes in August to help make the capital’s public transport network easier to navigate.
Continue reading...Italy’s data protection body investigates claims police shared names and addresses with firm collecting penalties for TfL
The names and addresses of thousands of EU drivers were unlawfully accessed by Italian police and shared with the company that collects Ulez penalties on behalf of Transport for London (TfL), investigators believe.
The Italian data protection authority is investigating claims by Belgium’s government that an unnamed police department misused official powers to pass the personal details of Belgian drivers to Euro Parking Collections, which is employed by TfL to issue fines to enforce London’s low emission zone (Lez) and ultra-low emission zone.
Continue reading...Exclusive: EU states accuse TfL of huge data breach over clean air zone penalties, with many given to compliant vehicles
Hundreds of thousands of EU citizens were wrongly fined for driving in London’s Ulez clean air zone, according to European governments, in what has been described as “possibly one of the largest data breaches in EU history”.
The Guardian can reveal Transport for London (TfL) has been accused by five EU countries of illegally obtaining the names and addresses of their citizens in order to issue the fines, with more than 320,000 penalties, some totalling thousands of euros, sent out since 2021.
Continue reading...Driver was unaware he had to register French hire car with TfL’s collection agent even though it was emissions compliant
Christian Ducarre received three fines totalling nearly £11,000 after driving his French hire car to London to attend his son’s wedding. The car, which was fully compliant with ultra-low emission zone emissions rules, was mistakenly classed as a heavy goods vehicle and deemed to be in breach of the separate low emissions zone (Lez) and well as Ulez. Lez covers lorries, vans, buses and coaches, and fines are between £500 and £2,000 a day depending on the vehicle’s weight.
“I had checked that the car’s emissions standard was Euro 06 and so was not liable for the Ulez charge,” he said.
Continue reading...TfL says GoAhead temporarily replacing route 200 fleet while investigating doubledecker fire on Wimbledon Hill Road
A fleet of electric buses has been taken out of service after a doubledecker caught fire in south London this week.
Transport for London (TfL) said the electric buses had been “temporarily withdrawn” by operator GoAhead.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan says cardboard steering wheels could bring to life driverless train experience for children
It is already the most in-demand spot on the London transport network, but plans to install stickers and cardboard steering wheels in driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) trains could intensify the scramble for its front seats.
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has said the trains, in which tens of thousands of Londoners have sat pretending to be the driver, could now include a steering wheel and stickers mimicking control panels to make the experience more realistic.
Continue reading...Video footage posted online appeared to show a driver using the PA system to lead a chant with passengers
A tube driver who appeared to lead a chant of “free, free Palestine” on a train has been suspended while Transport for London investigates the incident.
TfL said it had identified the driver responsible for the incident on a central London service on Saturday, as about 100,000 protesters took part in a pro-Palestine demonstration and demanded an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
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...Belgium and Dutch vehicle licensing agency say citizens’ details obtained unlawfully to issue driving fines
Two EU countries have accused Transport for London’s debt collection agency of breaching data protection laws to obtain the names and addresses of citizens in order to issue fines for driving in the capital.
Motorists from across Europe have been hit with penalties, some totalling thousands of pounds, for driving in London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (Ulez). Penalty notices are being sent to foreign motorists who enter the capital without pre-registering their vehicle, and the Guardian has revealed hundreds of drivers have been fined despite driving emissions-compliant cars.
Continue reading...London fire brigade suggest smoke probably caused by train’s brakes and police say nobody hurt in incident
Passengers climbed out of the smashed windows of a tube train at Clapham Common station in London on Friday evening amid a fire alert.
A video posted on social media shows a man with a hammer cracking one of the Northern Line tube windows to allow travellers trapped inside to get out, while other videos show smashed windows.
Continue reading...Ban linked to World Cup hosts’ human rights record taken as message ‘Qatari business not welcome in London’, source tells FT
Qatar is reviewing its investments in London after the city’s transport authority banned the country’s adverts on buses, taxis and underground trains, it was reported.
The move by Transport for London (TfL) is understood to be linked to concerns about the World Cup hosts’ human rights record, stance on homosexuality and treatment of migrant workers.
Continue reading...RMT’s 24-hour walkout will slow capital to a crawl, with buses expected to be extremely busy and roads congested
A strike on London Underground will halt virtually all tube services and slow much of the capital to a crawl on Thursday, in the ongoing dispute over jobs and pensions.
Some London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services may also be affected by the 24-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union, while buses are expected to be extremely busy and roads congested. Elizabeth Line trains will run as normal.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan accepts ‘far from ideal’ settlement but says it secures long-term future for transport network
Tube fares will rise and more bus services will be cut in the capital, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, warned, after Transport for London agreed to accept a £1.2bn funding settlement from the government.
The deal, slightly improved from a “final offer” made in July by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was welcomed by TfL as allowing it to avert the “managed decline” of its transport network.
Continue reading...Denial comes as language toughens on both sides and head of RMT again warns of de facto general strike
Downing Street has denied that ministers are deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides toughened their language further and the head of the RMT warned the impasse could continue “indefinitely”.
Just 20% of rail services ran on Thursday, in a sixth day of strike action since June involving the RMT and TSSA unions, with further disruption taking place on Saturday, which is likely to affect trains throughout the weekend.
Continue reading...Newly completed Crossrail project has also seen more than 2m journeys across the entire network, Transport for London says
More than 1m journeys have been made on the central section of London’s Elizabeth line in the first five days of its opening.
Across the entire railway – which spans from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east – more than 2m trips have been made, Transport for London said.
Continue reading...RMT calls out 4,000 members in protest at TfL plans to cut 600 posts to reduce costs
London Underground station staff will stage a 24-hour strike on Monday 6 June, the day after the platinum jubilee holiday weekend, in a dispute over job cuts.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has called 4,000 members out on strike in protest at Transport for London’s plans to cut 600 posts to reduce costs.
Continue reading...Monarch and Prince Edward attend event at London’s Paddington station before public opening of line named in her honour
The Queen has marked the completion of London’s Crossrail project by attending the opening ceremony of the Elizabeth line.
Accompanied by the Earl of Wessex, she was welcomed by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the commissioner of Transport for London, Andy Byford, at Paddington station.
Continue reading...Tunnelled section of £19bn project through centre of London finally ready for passengers
London’s Elizabeth line is to open on 24 May, it has been announced, with the long-delayed tunnelled central section of the £19bn Crossrail project now ready for passengers.
Transport for London (TfL) said the line would open, subject to final safety approvals, the week prior to the Queen’s jubilee celebrations.
Continue reading...