A rail industry report says that removing carriages outside rush hour would conserve energy and reinforce rail’s reputation as one of the greenest modes of transport. Network Rail and the (AOTLS)Association of Train Operating Companies argue they can help reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020 by running shorter trains off-peak. (more…)
Parents awoke to a shocking bill after their three-year-old’s nocturnal internet toy hunt. A couple in New Zealand were nearly left in financial difficulties after their three-year-old daughter bought a digger in an internet auction.
Unbeknown to her parents, who were asleep in bed, Pipi Quinaln decided to practice her online skills after her mother Sarah, left the computer logged on. (more…)
Train operators have warned of an urgent need to build extra lines to cope with a forecast passenger boom. British railways must double their capacity over the next 30 years if they are to cope with demand from passengers, train operators have warned. (more…)
Industry figures have slammed the Office of Government Commerce’s continued endorsement of only one type of construction contract for public procurement. Trade bodies described the existing system as “uncompetitive and wholly inappropriate”. (more…)
This month we are focusing on Health and Safety roles and whether organisations can really afford to compromise on reducing their Health and Safety staff in order to cut costs.
Over the last three months around 1,250 professional health and safety experts have been made redundant and are now actively looking for work. Has the Health and Safety profession become oversubscribed in recent years, or are companies short-sightedly sacrificing the welfare of their workforce to provide a short term solution to financial woes and the credit crunch? (more…)
The Government is inviting some of England’s largest urban areas to bid for up to £29 million and the chance to become the country’s first ‘sustainable travel city’.
There are nine areas eligible to bid for the funding – all identified by the DfT as congestion hot-spots. They are: Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, West of England (Bristol), Nottingham and Leicester. (more…)
THE wind industry has accused the government of “sabotage” over a proposed fourfold tax increase that could lead to the scrapping of up to half Britain’s 150 onshore projects.
The hike has infuriated energy groups, which are warning of a wholesale retreat from the struggling sector just weeks after the government unveiled a package of aid measures designed to support it. (more…)
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Rail Minister Lord Adonis and London Mayor Boris Johnson recently gathered at Canary Wharf, in London Docklands, as the first foundations for a new Crossrail station were laid.
Gordon Brown welcomed the start of the £16 billion cross-London rail scheme, saying: “Many people said it would never be built, but today we are celebrating a defining moment for London as Crossrail’s construction gets under way.” (more…)
One in three government buildings has the lowest possible rating for energy efficiency according to official figures seen by the Guardian, which show the Department for Energy and Climate Change is one of the worst offenders. (more…)
The world’s largest offshore wind farm will be built in the Thames Estuary in time to generate electricity for the London Olympic Games in 2012, its developers said yesterday.
DONG Energy, E.ON and Masdar announced yesterday that they will invest €2.2bn in building the first 630MW phase of the London Array offshore wind farm in the Thames Estuary.
Construction of the London Array will be phased over 2 stages. The first stage will include 175 turbines spread across 90 square miles, 12 miles off the Kent and Essex coasts. At full capacity the wind farm, which will cost €2.2 billion (£2 billion) to build, will be capable of generating 630MW of electricity, enough to supply power to more than 470,000 homes, according to its backers. (more…)
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