Topic: Travel & Transport

Tim Worstall has challenged, in a recent post, the logic of the DfT's suggestion that Air Passenger Duty (APD) needs to be increased further to take full account of the contribution of aviation to carbon-emissions. By Tim's calculations…

The Department for Transport is to publish a consultation report it commissioned on cutting the death toll amongst younger drivers in the autumn. The major proposal is increasing the age limit for gaining a full driving licence to by a year…

Last Friday, the LibDems launched "new transport polices to create a zero carbon transport system by 2050." And no one noticed. Not even their website, which carried the press release, but doesn't seem to carry the document, -Towards Carbon…

Once again, yesterday's rail white paper has left me asking - what exactly is this government's policy on climate change, carbon emissions and transport?  In order to increase capacity of the railways, commuters will be forced to pay yet…

The Department for Transport (DfT) announced this morning that "Yorkshire commuters [are] at [the] heart of strategy for rail growth". Cleethorpes and Northallerton stations will be refurbished, bottlenecks around Leeds and Manchester will…

The unrelenting attack on the motorist continues and it is TfL that is leading the way.  Soon they will be charged £50 for even the briefest of swerves in to cycle lanes - and the cameras are watching be warned.  Now given the streets of…

So TfL are going to pile in £750m worth of public money to the tube network to stop it grinding to halt as a result of the collapse of Metronet.  Tim O’Toole (MD of LUL) has said he expected the taxpayer to plug any financial gaps left by…

If you want to drive fast, stay out of Wales and London and head to Surrey. The Department for Transport has released figures on the amount of money it has raised from speeding tickets over the last year. Surprisingly, there were fewer…

Like most men, I do like a good list. I could real off my top 3 greatest footballers, my top 3 meals, my top 3 films, my top 3 just about anything. Alas this is a political blog and not a Nick Hornby novel so I will save you from the…

It looks like the government have been caught out over plans for a third runway at Heathrow airport.  Incredibly, the Times is reporting that The Department for Transport has secretly passed key information supporting the expansion of…

It seems that people are not entirely happy with the way the railways are run in this country and over 50% of you wanted to see them privatised. An underwhelming 12% wanted to see them renationalised. 35% were happy with them the way they…

Blair Force One is ready for launch. In fact, both of them are. Our outgoing PM has finally sanctioned the purchase of over £100m worth of aircrafts so that his best buddy Gordon and the Queen don't have to mix with the hoi polloi when…

Metronet, the consortium who are currently cocking up the upgrade of much of the London Underground system, are looking to take £600m of public money to cover their over-running costs.  The extremely complicated PPP contract that was signed…

A slender majority of people wanted to see the NHS retain political control by the government. Maybe a poll asking whether the NHS should be taken away from nationalisation completely would have produced a different result? One for the…

One of the worst pieces of privatisation ever embarked on by a government was the Railways Act 1993 under John Major. It was a complex piece of legislation and opposed by just about everyone - including the Labour party. They disliked it so…

Traffic Wardens. They have to be, rightly or wrongly, in the top ten least liked people on planet earth. Right up there with estate agents, lawyers and well, MPs probably. I personally can not stand them, though I'm sure as individuals out…

Following on from yesterday's post about the Iron Chancellor's historic decisions coming back to bite us all, it appears (though this has been no secret) that the PPP investment in to the London Underground has been as disaster. Gordon…

So the government are going to offer incentives to get a few motorists to try out their road pricing scheme. Motorists who become guinea pigs for the governments tax raising plot will be given a discount on fuel duty in return for strapping…

So the government wants us all to ditch our cars and get on public transport? And why should I, you ask? Well, it's a nice little earner for the government for a start. The Office for National Statistics has revealed another spectacular…

The Independent led yesterday with a report on Greenpeace's attempts to prevent BA opening a service from Gatwick to Newquay. Their strap-line in the print version read: -"The battle of Newquay. British Airways faces a showdown with the…

Who are these people in Government who simply can not make a decent estimate? It seems every single Government major investment project runs vastly over budget. Where on Earth do they find them - it's not like it's one department or the odd…

Good news from the Energy Saving Trust's website: "A new carbon reduction method for diesel vehicles is set to be demonstrated on Ford's fleet of vehicles in the near future....To be trialed on Ford's Power Stroke diesel vehicles, the…

I've added a link to the Not Proud of Britain (But Would Like To Be) blog, simply for this comment on the Bloggers4Labour blog. It is one of the most intelligent observations that I have seen on the false economics of the Government's road…

The production of ethanol from corn as a replacement/supplement for petrol is coming under increased attack from environmentalists. This month's Ecologist and today's Independent both led with a destructive assessment of its merits. I do…

Is there anything more insignificant than a local non government department? Of course - it's the nonsense these jobsworths come out with. And the Kent Highway Services are no exception! If you've ever wondered what those black and white…

The Independent is never shy of calling for more government money to be spent on one thing or another. Now we know why. Apparently taxation is not a drain on the economy, but a means to create wealth. They report today that the Department…

"Doing nothing is not an option." So says the Government's spokesman, as an explanation for why they will press ahead with road pricing against strong public antipathy. The culture of doing something because "something must be done" is what…

The Tories are trying to work out the best way to develop our transport network, including consideration of the installation of a magnetic levitation (MagLev) railway line, or the extension of the Channel Tunnel rail link as a British…

The government asked the Office of the Rail Regulator (ORR) to investigate lack of competition for train rolling stock this June. The report, published yesterday (29 Nov) found that the industry is inefficient but a number of the problems…

The release of the important transport review has been delayed and it is now expected to be published with the pre budget report. The delay has not stopped the chief of the review to move to Australia and take up several high positions…

Yet another effort by the Government to "go commercial" is failing. £10m was spent on an internet accommodation service which produced just over 400 hotel bookings this summer, reports the Telegraph. What a surprise. When I book a holiday…