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...Stolen London hire-scheme bicycles sighted in unlikely destinations as annual thefts rise
They have been a feature of London’s streets for nearly 12 years: the docked public bikes for sharing that are billed as one of the easiest and quickest ways for people to make shorter journeys. Or in some cases, it seems, considerably longer ones.
Among the hundreds of bikes that go permanently missing from the 14,000-plus fleet every year, a handful have been tracked down to distinctly non-London locations, including Australia, the Gambia and Turkey, a freedom of information request has disclosed.
Continue reading...Easing of restrictions comes as legal requirements for masks and NHS passes are dropped
Care home residents in England will be able to receive unlimited visitors from Monday as the restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant are eased, the Department of Health has said.
Self-isolation periods will be reduced from 14 days to 10 days for those residents who test positive, with further reductions if they test negative on days five and six.
Continue reading...Volunteer passengers will be aboard central TfL section of Elizabeth line as part of final testing phase
Hopes that Crossrail will open in central London in early 2022 – this time on schedule – have been boosted as the troubled £19bn scheme moved into its final phase of testing at the weekend.
The start of months of trial operations, which will involve thousands of volunteer passengers to test how the system will function, including in emergencies, was described as a “significant milestone” by Transport for London and the mayor.
Continue reading...Exclusive: record low level of London journeys during Covid crisis drives down commercial income
Transport for London (TfL) has recorded a £100m plunge in advertising revenue across its network of tube stations, trains and buses after Covid-19 pandemic restrictions kept commuters away from travelling to work.
TfL’s advertising estate – which comprises more than 100,000 billboards, posters and panels throughout the capital’s tube and rail network, in trains and on buses and shelters – is one of the largest and most valuable in the world.
Continue reading...London Underground cleaning staff are on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus, but are among the lowest paid workers, writes Mike Cash, RMT general secretary
Sean Smith has done a great service to your readers by bringing into the daylight the hidden labour of those who have worked every day to keep the London underground clean through the pandemic (‘Unsung heroes’: cleaners keeping London’s transport Covid-safe – photo essay, 10 December).
He is right to spot that they are among the lowest-paid workers. London underground cleaning is outsourced to a company called ABM. The cleaners do not receive the same pension provision as their Transport for London counterparts and they are not entitled to free travel on the network they clean. Their workloads have soared as the company has cut back their numbers every year since the contract began, leaving them desperately overstretched during the pandemic.
Continue reading...Capital’s mayor asks TfL to begin feasibility study for plan to raise £500m a year
Drivers could face a £3.50 daily charge to enter Greater London under proposals from the mayor of London to address the capital’s funding crisis.
Sadiq Khan has asked Transport for London to start feasibility studies for the plan to raise £500m a year.
Continue reading...Government backs down on demands for fare increases in significant win for Sadiq Khan
Transport for London (TfL) has secured a bailout from the government worth about £1.8bn just a fortnight after Boris Johnson said Sadiq Khan had “effectively bankrupted” the tube and bus service in the capital.
In a significant win for the London mayor, the government has backed down on demands for fare increases, an extension of the congestion zone to cover the entire city and the scrapping of free fares for children and over-60s.
Continue reading...Leaders condemn ‘complete shambles’ on London network that is ‘fraught with danger’
Train unions have said they could take industrial action and stop trains if drivers and passengers are not protected from coronavirus, after photos emerged of packed London Underground services as many people returned to work following seven weeks of lockdown.
Transport for London indicated that the number of commuters remained relatively low, at 63,000 on Wednesday morning, up 7% on the previous day.
Continue reading...Carriages and stations appeared crowded in footage shared on social media on Tuesday morning as Transport for London closed a number of stations and reduced trains despite thousands of key workers, including NHS staff, still relying on the tube to get to work.
On Monday, Boris Johnson announced that people should stay at home and only travel to and from work where 'absolutely necessary' as the UK tries to prevent the spread of coronavirus
Continue reading...Train and bus services are to be limited as travel is restricted, raising questions for both passengers and operators
More draconian restrictions may be needed in London to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with guidance to avoid non-essential travel and stay home being ignored by some, while confirmed cases of sickness escalate rapidly. The prime minister, Boris Johnson, told his Wednesday press conference that he was prepared to take “further and faster measures” to tackle the disease.
Transport for London (TfL) is now moving to cut the number of trains and buses running throughout the week, most likely to the level of weekend schedules. On Wednesday night it announced it was closing up to 40 stations with no interchange from Thursday onwards. But what are the key issues transport chiefs need to consider when limiting services?
Continue reading...TfL says aim is for the London rail link to open ‘as soon as practically possible in 2021’
Crossrail will not open until 2021 and has incurred a further cost overrun that will take the total price of the London rail link to more than £18bn, Transport for London (TfL) has announced.
The latest assessment for the opening of the central section has ruled out late 2020 and the aim is for Crossrail to open “as soon as practically possible in 2021”, the capital’s transport authority said. TfL had previously said the Elizabeth line, as the service will be called, was unlikely to start running before 2021 but had kept an autumn 2020 opening in its plans.
Continue reading...Transport for London again rejects ride-hailing firm’s application for a full licence
Uber’s application to renew its private hire operating licence in London has been rebuffed again by regulators.
Transport for London has instead given the ride-hailing firm only a two-month extension to its licence, which is due to expire on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Fire alarm was set off during fight at Bank station, sparking false rumours of terror attack and causing scenes of panic
Commuters stampeded out of an underground station in the City of London on Friday after a fire alarm was set off during a fight and false rumours circulated that somebody had a bomb.
Passengers have described terrifying scenes at Bank station in the heart of the capital’s financial district during the Friday morning rush hour, when hundreds of people ran for their lives and dropped their luggage following an altercation.
Continue reading...Lesbian couple assaulted by group of young males blame rise of rightwing populism for growth in hate crime
The two women left needing hospital treatment after they were attacked on a bus in a homophobic assault have blamed a rise in rightwing populism for growing hate crime and called on people to stand up for each other.
Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend, Chris, 29, defiantly announced they would not be intimidated into hiding their sexuality, days after they said they were attacked by several young men when they refused to kiss upon demand.
Continue reading...Ride-hailing company hopes to expand to other London boroughs if local trial goes well
Uber is to launch its electric bike hire scheme in the UK, trialling Jump bikes in London through its app.
The global ride-hailing firm will be battling with Lime for the e-bike market, after the retreat of dockless bicycle firms from the UK.
Continue reading...