Latest news with #LondonTransport
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ranking boroughs most desperate for the London Underground Bakerloo line extension
Residents and businesses across London have thrown their support behind the proposed Bakerloo line extension, with 76 per cent of locals in boroughs along the proposed new route backing the scheme. The data comes from a set of surveys commissioned by Central London Forward, working alongside alongside Southwark Council, Lewisham Council and Business for Bakerloo, to understand the level of support behind the Tube line upgrade. The scheme would see the service extending to serve Lewisham via Southwark, as well as the opportunity to extend the service further to Hayes and Beckenham Junction. The survey saw 1,014 residents across seven London boroughs being questioned on the scheme. Brent was listed as showing the greatest support for the extension, with 81 per cent of residents backing the scheme. This was closely followed by Lewisham and Southwark, with 79 and 78 per cent respectively. READ MORE: The old London Underground route we wish still existed that went all the way to the seaside READ MORE: Britain's 'most woke' £2m roundabout due to open next week Harrow, Westminster and Lambeth residents all demonstrated a similar level of support, with approximately 75 per cent of those surveyed approving of the upgrade. Bromley respondents were more unsure, as 69 per cent backed the scheme while 24 per cent said they might support it. Regarding local businesses, 95 per cent of businesses surveyed in Brent expressed support for the scheme, while 90 per cent of Bromley businesses backed the proposal. Overall, 88 per cent of the 446 businesses in the area of the extension support the scheme, while 90 per cent of the 459 businesses which were not within the area also approved of it. Labour Councillor Claire Holland, leader of Lambeth Council said: "London needs to invest in its transport infrastructure to drive job creation and increase housing delivery. The Bakerloo line Upgrade and Extension is expected to support the creation of 150,000 good jobs and the delivery of 107,000 new homes across its length. Nearly 80 per cent of residents in Lambeth support the proposals." She added: "As a council we are keenly focussed on growth opportunities that benefit Lambeth residents. The extension would be a major boost for growth in Waterloo, better connecting the area's world-class arts & cultural institutions, thriving hospitality sector and major employers to the rest of South East London." Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in February this year that the route for the proposed extension had been safeguarded by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander. The comments came during the launch of the London Growth Plan, detailing ambitions for local leaders to work alongside the government to deliver transport projects such as the Bakerloo extension. Sir Sadiq told MyLondon at the launch event on February 27 : "We've safeguarded the route [this week] with the transport secretary, putting the case to her about the importance of the Bakerloo line extension. We're also keen to get government green light for the DLR extension to Thamesmead." He added: "Here's the point, the government rightly wants more homes. The government rightly wants more jobs, wealth, prosperity. Well giving the green light to these pieces of transport infrastructure does just that. More homes, better public transport, more jobs, more growth, more prosperity." Have a story you want to share? Email Don't miss out on the biggest local stories. Sign up to our MySouthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS London Congestion Charge to increase 20% to £18 a day next year
Transport for London is raising the Congestion Charge in the capital by 20 per cent from next year, it revealed today. Drivers in Central London will be required to fork out £18 per day from January 2026, up from the £15 charge currently in place. TfL says the increase will 'help keep London moving, encourage the uptake of electric vehicles and promote sustainable travel across the capital'. However, many drivers in the capital will view it as another effort by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to profit off the back of motorists while attempting to force them off the road entirely. The rise means the daily cost of driving an older car in the capital - when combined with the £12.50 Ultra-Low Emission Zone charge - will amount to an eye-watering £30.50. TfL claims - referencing an Inrix report published earlier this year - that in 2024 alone, congestion in London cost the capital £3.85billion is lost earnings as drivers spent an average of 101 hours stuck at a standstill in jams or in slow-moving traffic. TfL says the increase will 'help keep London moving, encourage the uptake of EVs and promote sustainable travel across the capital' London's transport department said congestion in the capital continues to 'heavily impacts businesses, bus customers and other essential services,' as it outlined its reasons to enforce an increase in the Congestion Charge, which was last hiked during the pandemic in 2020. It went on to defend the move by saying the 20 per cent rise is below the inflation increase for the period since the charge was last hiked. When the charge was previous raised in June 2020 it jumped by 30 per cent from £11.50. And the cost could rise annually, TfL revealed. Its plans unveiled on Tuesday morning also include a proposal to increasing the price of the Congestion Charge annually in line with Tube fares, which is currently inflation plus 1 per cent or a lower amount. These increases would only apply to the Congestion Charge and not the ULEZ. TfL says that without the increase from next year, an additional 2,200 vehicles would use the Charge Charge on average per day, which would increase financial losses and impact the city's air pollution targets. The public consultation - which ends on 4 August - said the rise in the cost of the charge will help achieve the 'Mayor's long-term vision for a cleaner, greener London, through increased uptake in electric vehicles and more journeys taken by public transport'. The price increase will take effect from 2 January 2026. If the charge is not paid within 48 hours, drivers face a penalty of £180, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days. Drivers of electric cars, who currently travel free in the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ), were due to start paying the full charge from December. However, the consultation includes a 25 per cent discount for EV owners (down to £13.50 per day), provided they are registered for auto pay. HGVs receive a 50 per cent discount. From 2030, both discounts will be halved, with a 12.5 per cent saving for electric car drivers and 25 per cent discount for HGV operators. The consultation also includes scrapping the 90 per cent Residents' discount for those living within the CCZ boundary and driving petrol and diesel cars. Instead, eligibility for the discount will only be available to new applicants who own an electric vehicle. 'This will help to incentivise the shift to the cleanest possible vehicles and give people moving into the zone time to plan ahead,' TfL said. It added: 'Those who are already registered for the discount ahead of this date will not see any changes, reflecting that they might be reliant on their current form of transport' Drivers of electric cars, who currently travel free in the Congestion Charge Zone, were due to start paying the full charge from December. However, the consultation includes a 25% discount for these motorists from 2 January 2026 Seb Dance, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: 'Keeping London moving by reducing congestion is vital for our city and for our economy. 'The congestion charge has been a huge success since its introduction, but we must ensure it is fit for purpose. 'Sticking to the status quo would see around 2,200 more vehicles using the congestion charging zone on an average weekday next year. 'At the same time we must support Londoners and businesses to use greener and more sustainable travel. That's why I'm pleased we're proposing that substantial incentives remain in place for Londoners who switch to cleaner vehicles. 'We encourage everyone to have their say and respond to the public consultation.' Christina Calderato, TfL's Director of Strategy, added: 'Since it was introduced in 2003, the Congestion Charge has been hugely successful in supporting the move to more walking, cycling and public transport and encouraging the uptake of the cleanest vehicles. 'With these proposed changes we want to make sure it continues to be effective in managing traffic and congestion in central London while providing ongoing support to those who need to drive in the zone to make the switch to an electric vehicle.' The CCZ was originally introduced on 17 February 2023 under Ken Livingstone and cost £5. The Zone covers approximately the area from Kings Cross in the north to Vauxhall in the south, and Paddington in the west to Whitechapel in the east. All roads around the perimeter of the zone are enforced by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras. The charge was doubled to £10 in 2010 and rose again in 2014 to £11.50. During the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020, TfL implemented a 'temporary' price increase to £15. However, by June the same year, the increase was made permanent as part of a funding agreement between the Government and TfL. The charge applies seven days a week between 7:00am and 18:00pm Monday to Friday; and 12:00 to 18:00 Saturday to Sunday (and bank holidays). There is no charge on Christmas Day or New Year's Day.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Me, My Mom, and Paddington
When passengers first arrive on a train into central London, many are greeted by the ornate, towering clock face of St. Pancras International or the abstract modern dome of King's Cross. Paddington Station, three miles down the road, however, shares little of its bigger sisters' pomp. Its large iron and glass roof was probably impressive in the 1850s when it was first built, but today the station feels largely utilitarian, a forgotten relic of the city's industrial past. Despite its humble design, though, Paddington Station is a special place for me. If you wind across its tile floors, past the waiting trains, and through the hurried crowds towards its westernmost platform, you'll find, hanging on the wall, a large three-faced clock. Beneath it, sitting atop a rectangular suitcase, is a small bronze statue of a bear. Paddington Bear. Along with being Britain's most famous mammal, Paddington has, over the years, become an important part of my relationship with my mom. For the uninitiated, Paddington is an iconic figure in British culture and the main character in 29 children's books and three movies. The stories follow the small, orphaned bear as he travels from 'Darkest Peru' to London—sent there by his guardian, Aunt Lucy, when she moves into the Home for Retired Bears and can no longer care for him. After arriving at Paddington Station alone and in need of help, he is rescued by the Browns, a typical British family who bring him into their home and teach him the ins and outs of life in England. Paddington's experience in London isn't easy; the city isn't as sunny and the people aren't as welcoming as they sounded in the stories he was told as a cub. 'It's not easy being somewhere new,' Paddington tells Lucy, the Brown family's daughter, in the first Paddington film. 'Things can be very different from how you imagined.' But over time, Paddington finds a family in the Browns and a home away from home in London. The love my mom and I share for Paddington began in 2018 when, on the eve of my own departure to London for a college semester abroad, we watched both films—the first at home, and the second at a theater on opening night. By the time the credits rolled, my mom was crying. It had been a difficult time for our family—first, my sister and I had left for college, then a year after that, my father had died of cancer. And now, I was leaving again, even further away. For both of us, the films were a picture of the new friends and experiences that, even after hardship, an adventure in England could bring. But it was several years later when I returned to London—this time with a one-way ticket—that Paddington took on a deeper meaning. During my five months as an exchange student in London, I had become enamored with the city and promised myself that, one day, I'd make it a home. Three years later, that promise would be fulfilled. After two unsatisfying years working for a bank in the United States, I was accepted into a political economy master's program at King's College London. The program offered me a chance to pursue a career I found more meaningful, and—more importantly—would let me live and work in London. However, like Paddington, my move to London was not what I imagined. Only three weeks before my move, I had been diagnosed with a chronic pain condition that had quickly taken over every aspect of my life. I struggled to eat, could barely sleep, and found it almost impossible to spend more than an hour at a time outside of my home. While the condition was not life-threatening, it was poorly understood, difficult to treat, and, for many people, completely disabling. Despite the pain, the thought of abandoning my move to London was out of the question. I would find some way to get through it, my mom assured me, even though we weren't entirely sure how. But, by the time I boarded my one-way flight to England, I was at the lowest point in my life—both physically and mentally. I needed support more than ever, and I was on my way to a country where not a single person even knew my name. When I arrived at Paddington Station, like the small bear from Darkest Peru, I arrived alone and in desperate need of a family. By then, I didn't think it would be possible for me to stay in London for long, let alone excel in school, make friends, or engage with the city. Physically, I felt hopeless. My pain was worsening day after day, and I was pouring what little energy I had into navigating a new and inept medical system that seemed determined to give me as few treatment options as possible. The mental side was even worse. Anyone who has experienced chronic illness or a life-altering accident has likely felt something similar. We all have a vision of what we hope our lives will look like—building a career, getting married, and raising a family. But in an instant, that paradigm can shift. Your foundational assumptions about who you are and what you value shatter, and the future becomes a very murky and uncertain space. It's an uncomfortable, and lonely, place to be. The experience was also harrowing for my mom. She was sending her kid across the ocean, not knowing what awaited me on the other side, and for the first time in her life, she was helpless to give me the support I needed. She felt, she said when I asked her, a bit like how Aunt Lucy felt when she hid Paddington on a ship destined for England, hoping that someone would be there to take care of him on the other side. In the stories, when Aunt Lucy says goodbye to Paddington, she hangs a small paper tag around his neck, scrawled with the words 'Please look after this bear.' The tag is inspired by those given to the thousands of British children who, during the Second World War, were evacuated from London into small towns and villages where they would be better protected from the falling bombs of the Luftwaffe. 'Long ago, people in England sent their children by train with labels around their necks, so they could be taken care of by complete strangers in the countryside where it was safe,' Aunt Lucy tells Paddington. 'They will not have forgotten how to treat strangers.' Those words, 'Please look after this bear,' took on a special meaning for my mom as I crossed the ocean to start my own life in London. There were things that I would need—support, care, a family—that she could no longer give me. Instead, she was sending me off with faith that someone would do what she could not. 'That little tag was like my prayer,' my mom told me later. 'God, please look after this bear. I'm sending this kid off to this far away place where I can't reach him.' On her first trip to visit me in London, my mom bought two Paddington Bears: a small stuffed bear and a keychain. The stuffed bear she placed on the long wooden mantel in my bedroom, and the keychain she kept for herself. The symbolism was unspoken—but we both understood it. During the many nights when my pain kept me from sleep, I would stare at that bear as a reminder that, even though I was far from home, not a second went by that my mom wasn't thinking of me 4,000 miles away. If the worst came to worst—if I had to leave London, return home, even go on disability—she would be there for me. But worst didn't come to worst, and eventually, my mom's prayers were answered. Paddington's family came in the form of the Browns, and mine came in the form of a church. One Sunday morning, I wandered through the doors of a brown-bricked schoolhouse in the South London neighborhood of Waterloo, where a small nondenominational congregation met each week. The room was full of young Londoners from every corner of the world—American and Canadian runaways, a pack of adventurous Singaporeans, and more South Africans than anyone could count. I couldn't predict it at the time, but over the following two and a half years, those people would become my family. They took me in as one of their own and walked with me through the ups and downs of illness and recovery. They prayed with me, cried with me, celebrated with me, and changed me. They became close lifelong friends. They, at least, had not forgotten how to treat strangers. When I arrived at Paddington Station, the first moments of my time in London, I was at my lowest—wrecked by illness and anxious about my future. But when I stepped on the same platform several years later to leave the city—once again, with a one-way ticket—I did so with a master's degree in hand, dozens of new friends, and some of the best memories of my life. None of that would have been possible without my mom and without the foundation of love she provided me. It was because I knew she was there for me that I even had it in me to build a new family in a new country. It was her love—not just during that period, but for the 23 years leading up to it—that carried me through that time. Last month, my mom flew to Washington, D.C., for a weekend visit. It's been a year and a half since I left London to start a new adventure with The Dispatch, and almost two years since my illness went into a miraculous remission. While she was in town, we had dinner at Amazonia, a wonderful Peruvian restaurant. And then we went to see the latest Paddington movie, Paddington in Peru. In the film, Paddington returns to South America—with the Browns in tow—in search of Aunt Lucy, who has mysteriously disappeared from the Home for Retired Bears. Paddington and the Browns trek through the Peruvian rainforest, following Aunt Lucy's trail all the way to the gates of El Dorado. The mythical lost city turns out to be Paddington's long-lost home—full of oranges, not gold—and there he reconnects with the community of bears he was separated from as a cub. The movie was bittersweet for my mom. Paddington, after all, doesn't choose to stay in Peru with Aunt Lucy and his given family. Instead, he sets back off to England. London is his home now, and the Browns are the family he's chosen. That's a tension, my mom tells me, that every parent feels. You want nothing more than for your kid to never grow up, to live in your house forever, and to be somewhere you can always take care of them. But at the same time, you want them to go out into the world to build a family of their own, to build a home away from home, supported by the foundation that you gave them. Paddington's experience, like mine and my mom's, may have been unique in its intensity, but it wasn't unique in its direction. Every mother and her child will, at some point, face something similar. You raise your kid, prepare them for the world, and then send them out to make their own way, trusting that others will love and care for them just like you have. In some way, every kid eventually gets on a boat to somewhere—and each one of us has a little tag, a little prayer, hanging around our neck, tied there by our mom: 'Please look after this bear.' Happy Mother's Day.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
I'm surrounded by people at parties fascinated by my job, says transport minister
Rail minister Lord Peter Hendy has said he is surrounded by fascinated guests at parties whenever he mentions that he works in transport. The minister said he is the centre of attention at social occasions, with party-goers desperate to know how the London Underground works. 'What you and I know is that once you admit that you work in a transport industry, you're never on your own at a party, are you?' said Lord Hendy, who joined the then London Transport as a graduate trainee in 1975. 'You know, you're surrounded by people who say 'why does the Northern line run the way it does? Why doesn't the Piccadilly line stop at Turnham Green except in the evenings and on Sundays?' 'If you can say a bit about it, they're even more interested because these are big, complex systems. 'We don't make as much of that as we should. The people who work in transport are absolutely fascinating,' he told the Lunch with Leon podcast, which is run by former Transport for London bigwig Leon Daniels. Later in the podcast, Lord Hendy said 'I'm a bit on the spectrum' while speaking about the recruitment of railway timetable planners. Describing a conversation between himself and Phil Swallow, a fellow London Transport Museum trustee, the minister said people who are 'neurologically diverse' are actively sought out by transport companies for specialised jobs. '[Mr Swallow] said to me, 'why do you assess people who are going to compile railway timetables in the same way as you assess people who work in an office?' And I said I don't know. 'The result is that we look for people to compile railway timetables who are neurologically diverse, but who have minds that can cope with numbers,' the peer said. 'I can just about do it because I'm, you know, I'm a bit on the spectrum – and you might be too, but not in the way that you can get somebody who can compile the West Coast Main Line timetable. 'And that needs a degree of human intervention in it, and it needs people whose brains will make that work. I think it's so fascinating to find an industry that can embrace all those things,' he added. The rail minister's career has given rise to several eyebrow-raising moments over the years. Last year, a former City Hall source who worked with Lord Hendy described him to The Telegraph as 'an iron fist… without any of the velvet glove' and as someone who 'knows how to handle senior political figures'. The peer was also involved in controversy last year over the sacking of Gareth Dennis, a rail engineer who publicly commented on overcrowding and safety concerns at the Network Rail-run Euston station. Lord Hendy was accused of threatening to withhold lucrative contracts from Systra, the engineering firm which employed Mr Dennis until its bosses agreed to 'deal with' the engineer. Around a decade ago, he described train ticket inspectors as being 'like the Gestapo' who 'fine everyone they can', later apologising for the unflattering comparison. Before that, it also emerged that the former TfL Commissioner had been having an affair with a sex worker who he showered with pre-loaded Oyster travel passes. The 71-year-old owns and drives a classic red Routemaster bus which is rumoured to be seen parked outside the Department for Transport's Westminster headquarters on special occasions. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
