Tag archive for ‘Tube’
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Boris Johnson’s policies blamed for bus and tube disputes
Last week I wrote that industrial relations on London’s transport system were being allowed to drift. Bus workers in East London (members of the Unite union) were on strike, whilst talks aimed at resolving the longstanding tube pay dispute appeared to be unravelling, with the TSSA union withdrawing its acceptance of London Underground’s offer – a very unusual development.
Events today suggest that the prognosis was right, with Unite warning that the mayor’s transport policies are worsening the situation across public [...] -
Tube talks founder and busworkers strike
Though industrial relations on London’s public transport system may seem quieter than the summer, when the RMT took strike action on the Tube (and it was revealed that no steps had been taken to implement a fantasy no-strike agreement) the reality is somewhat different.
The Standard’s transport correspondent Dick Murray reports that bus workers are on strike today in a dispute affecting fifty-eight routes. The routes are provided by the East London Bus Group but the strike will have a greater [...] -
Boris Johnson’s BA Tube ads
The question of London government’s close relationship with British Airways has been covered in the past but a comment on this thread drew me back to it.
As is pointed out, you can now find official mayoral posters on the Tube system advertising British Airways. Here’s the ad [left].
In addition to being mayoral ads, one assumes that these are Transport for London/London Underground poster sites, rather than commercial poster sites. TfL sites are given over to main transport messages to passengers, [...] -
Former Tube MD Tim O’Toole’s tribute to Redmond O’Neill
The former Managing Director of London Underground, Tim O’Toole, posted a comment earlier today paying tribute to Redmond O’Neill, Ken Livingstone’s former director of transport, who died last week.
He said:
“I join with you and everyone who was lucky enough to know Redmond in the profound sense of loss and sadness at his death. How I admired his kindness, his gentle soul and his rigorous mind. You are right that any attempt to sum up his life will be an injustice, [...] -
Should some fares be cut?
Despite the fact that there is a clear alternative path to hitting fare payers, such as retaining the western extension of the congestion charge, introducing a CO2 charge on gas guzzlers, and abandoning wasteful policies like the removal of bendy buses, it is Londoners who are going to be forced to pay for Boris Johnson’s misleadership of London.
Over the next few weeks those who support public transport and want to keep it affordable will need to press the case for [...] -
Preparing the media terrain for an above-inflation fare increase
The release of tube ridership figures today, showing journeys down, is an attempt to shape the debate about the forthcoming announcement of next January’s fares package, in such a way as to justify a big increase.
The mayor is trying to soften the blow – not financially to Londoners, but to his reputation.
Boris Johnson already announced last year that he is committed to above-inflation fare increases year-on-year.
This January Boris Johnson whacked up fares by six per cent overall, despite Londoners feeling [...] -
Tim O’Toole on the problems and lessons of the tube PPP
The former Managing Director of London Underground, Tim O’Toole, has written an article well worth reading on the weaknesses of the public-private partnership for the Tube.
Tim writes:
The infamous PPP, the Public Private Partnership, for the maintenance and rebuilding of London Underground is a well-intentioned mess…
…The problem is, that improvement has cost an outrageous premium and is less than what it should have been. Indeed, the premium may be so high that it could become an excuse to curtail the rebuilding [...] -
Tube map fiasco and the dysfunctional mayor’s office
The row this week over the removal of the Thames from the Tube map shows the dysfunction of the mayor’s office in its relationship to Transport for London.
Boris Johnson was said to be “furious” at the deletion of the Thames and has ordered it to be reinstated. If it is true that he was clueless, it merely raises why he and his staff did not know about it.
It is inevitable that any bureaucracy as enormous as Transport for London will [...] -
Jubilee Line – extra closures this year or overrun to 2010 on the cards
Several weeks ago I raised that the engineering works on the Jubilee Line were in trouble and that there was a danger that they would overrun.
This blog said on 1st August:
In addition to the problem now and for the rest of 2009 as the line experiences regular closures is the nagging question of whether the Jubilee work will be completed in time. From the start one of London Underground’s complaints has been the lack of transparency from the contractors [...] -
Jubilee Line – “economic climate” given as reason to not open tube stations
London Undergound has told local politicians that the reason two stations are not opened for passengers to use for alternative tube services during engineering works is that in the “current economic climate, this is not justifiable.”
I previously raised the question of whether London Underground could open up either or both of Neasden and Willesden Green tube stations and allow Metropolitan Line services to stop there when the Jubilee Line is down for planned engineering works. Both stations have unused Metropolitan [...]
