Transport
Rush for the pumps, no rush for public transport
Submitted by Mark Pack on 30-03-2012
People rushing to the petrol station to fill up their cars. Government press officers running round in circles trying to untangle the latest ministerial comment. Newspaper headline writers displaying their craft at its technical best.
The cost of motoring - or more precisely the cost of fuel, as the costs of insurance and the vehicles themselves rarely gets mentioned - has been one of the big issues this week.
Careful what you wish for....
Submitted by Gavin Devine on 19-01-2012
The Government's sudden jolt of enthusiasm for an estuary airport is interesting for a whole host of reasons. First, the coming consultation exercise will pit an array of vested interests against one another, and the ebb and flow of the arguments they make will tell us whether this country is fundamentally business-focused or environmentally-friendly. That process alone will be fascinating.
Who is Justine Greening?
Submitted by Clare Shaw on 17-10-2011
Justine Greening shot to prominence on being elected to Parliament in 2005, for the marginal seat of Putney. A hard-working, committed and photogenic young woman, she positioned herself very much as a Cameroon moderniser, although many Conservative insiders will tell you that her actual politics are somewhere to the right of her leader.
The Tony Soprano of British politics
Submitted by Nick Laitner on 18-05-2011
As m’colleague Gavin set out in a post yesterday, there are many reasons for those of us in the UK to be grateful for the politics that we have. Gavin’s point, in a nutshell, is that we may have Ministers who (allegedly) commit minor motoring offences, but thank heavens we’re not France or Italy.
One day getting the 8.10 to Kettering may be as easy as flying to New York
Submitted by Nick Laitner on 12-04-2011
I went to a meeting in Kettering yesterday with three colleagues. While the journey was as easy as ever (well done East Midlands Trains), we spent a surprising amount of the journey bemoaning an antiquated rail ticketing system that that turns four return tickets from London to Kettering into 13 seemingly identical pieces of paper.
The UK Transport Sector: next stop growth?
Submitted by James White on 17-03-2011
70 per cent. That is the rise recorded by the FTSE100 index in the last two years since touching a nadir of 3460 on March 9 2009. During that period we have seen the panic induced by the financial crisis recede and, despite the bailouts of Greece and Ireland and ongoing concern over the solvency of other European peripherals, markets around the world continued their rise throughout 2010.
Won’t get fuelled again
Submitted by Nick Laitner on 16-03-2011
When George Osborne opens his battered red box next week and delivers his second budget, one thing will become abundantly clear: in transport policy, and indeed across Government, the motorist must be obeyed.
A spending spree on the nation's railways
Submitted by Joshua Peck on 25-11-2010
Today’s announcement of a £14billion spending spree on the nation’s railway marks a surprising turn-around for Philip Hammond, the man who once promised to be the face of a thousand dartboards for the cuts he would make.
Qantas falls foul of the Eurostar problem
Submitted by Mark Pack on 09-11-2010
In many respects, Qantas's handling of the explosion in an A380's engine last week has been exemplary. Passengers have commended the way their staff behaved, Qantas has been in regular and clear contact with the media and the wider possible responsibilities for the problem (such as possibly a problem with the engine's design) have been explained without it sounding like Qantas trying to shift the buck.