Newslinks | Green Solutions for London

Sian Berry, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of London, has a typically thoughtful article on the roll of advertising in funding the Underground in the New Statesman:
Advertising revenue goes towards making it possible to pay for things like reduced fares and service improvements. And there is certainly something to be said for this kind [...]

Newslinks | MP Launches Tube Complaint Hotline

Putney MP Justine Greening has launched her own complaint line for delayed and canceled trains on the Underground, reports the Wimbledon Guardian.
Ms Greening is quoted in the article as stating that TfL were simply unconcerned by her own complaints, so she has started this service for her constituents.

Newslinks | Tube Safety Upgrades Online

The Harrow Times carries an article regarding the new vehicles which are to be introduced to work with incidents on the underground:
The ten cars, were given to the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), this month and have more space to carry specialist equipment.
The ERU is run by Tube Lines, who together with Metronet, have invested £1.4 [...]

Newslinks | 28th September 2007

Safety Dispute Delays Tube Lines
The Evening Standard carries the full story of the safety dispute which caused severe delays on the Circle, Hammersmith & City and District lines yesterday, and promises to do so again today.
From the article:
“…the unions had acted after a driver reported a fault with the dead man’s handle.
Union officials said that [...]

Newslinks | 24th September 2007

Commuters Favour Cars
The BBC leads this morning with the news that a RAC Foundation study suggests that “as many as 71% of British workers travel to work by car”.
There are many interesting figures in the report, notably that London commuters face the highest Co2 levels, and that the average commute is 86 minutes, compared to [...]

Newslinks | 14th September 2007

Good morning. We’re back after a short haitus – thanks for sticking with us.
Crossrail vs Tube Improvements?
The Times carries an interesting article debating the idea that if Crossrail is given the green flag, it will eat into the budget for the Tube:
The Government is concerned that rescuing Metronet and funding Crossrail at the same time [...]

Newslinks | 10th September 2007

More Tube Strikes?
Despite it being widely reported that last week’s tube strikes accomplished nothing, Bob Crow, RMT Leader, is threatening further industrial action. Reports the AFP:

Crow said on Sunday that the issue of RMT workers being transferred to other employers after the collapse of private firm Metronet had not yet been settled.
“The strike will certainly [...]

Newslinks | 4th September 2007

Boris Johnson Launches Mayoral Bid
Boris Johnson successfully launched his mayoral bid yesterday. His campaign speech is reported, in full, below:
“If you want to know why I am campaigning to be Mayor of London, it is because I love this city and I want it to be greater still.
“It is the direct result of London’s success [...]

Newslinks | 31st August 2007

DLR turns 20 today
TfL has issued a press release to let us know that the Docklands Light Railway is twenty years old today.
The article goes on to note some incredible statistics about the service:

“…the DLR is carrying 60 million people a year… more than 150,000 jobs and 200,000 homes have been attracted to areas where [...]

Newslinks | 24th August 2007

Metronet
New York based magazine, City Journal, carries an expertly written account of the Metronet debacle:
The failure of the Tube deal highlights the immutable fact that the public sector can never rid itself of the risks that taxpayers assume on infrastructure projects. A private-sector firm is only as resourceful as its shareholders and lenders allow it [...]