Business

Costain has snapped up Jonathan Willcock, former MD of Skanska UK’s Infrastructure Division, to become the managing director of its transportation division.

Costain has been reappointed as Bradford Council’s strategic delivery partner, in a contract worth up to £5m with an initial run of two years.

Comedian and actor Kerry Godliman has been announced as the host of the Highways Awards for 2023.

Kier has agreed to acquire the rail business of the collapsed Buckingham Group but administrators have been unable to save the rest of the construction business and nearly 450 people have been made redundant.

Ministers have announced plans for seafarers regularly entering UK ports to be paid the national minimum wage while in UK waters but the proposals have immediately been criticised as inadequate and ‘potentially unworkable’.

The Government has announced ‘new measures to protect seafarers’, including banning ferries that don’t pay the National Minimum Wage (NMW) from docking at British ports, but the organisations representing ports said plans for its members to enforce the NMW ‘could be unworkable’.

The CEO of P&O Ferries has told MPs that the company knowingly and deliberately broke employment law when it sacked 800 employees without consultation.

Boris Johnson has pledged to take legal action against P&O after it fired 800 workers without notice, warning that the company could face fines ‘running into millions of pounds’

Improving transport links between towns and cities is key to the post-COVID recovery and could save the UK’s ailing high streets, local leaders argued yesterday.

Tilbury Douglas has appointed Catherine Brookes as highways sector director for its infrastructure business.

Balfour Beatty has said it anticipates strong growth in key markets, including transport infrastructure and services.

A new industry-wide system is ‘set to transform’ the pre-qualification process within the construction industry, its backers have said.

Brittany Ferries has announced three new weekly freight-only sailings between Ireland and France, aimed at hauliers seeking to bypass the UK 'due to increased customs checks and paperwork'.

New car registrations fell by 30% in 2020, but it was ‘a bumper year’ for battery and plug-in hybrid electric cars.

Kensington and Chelsea council is to remove a temporary cycle lane after bowing to pressure from local businesses.

Carbon-intensive industries receiving financial support for the post-COVID recovery should have to commit to tough targets to reduce emissions, top engineers have said.

The Construction Leadership Council has published guidance for companies in the sector on how to manage the movement of people and workers into the UK from 1 January.

Authorities in Scotland will spend more than £16m to reinstate Scotland’s only funicular railway, as part of a £20.5m package to make Cairn Gorm a year-round attraction.

Ministers have come under fire after council-owned Manchester Airports Group announced plans for nearly 900 job losses, citing the end of the Government’s furlough scheme.

South Western Railway has announced the name for its new £1bn fleet of trains but has given no firm date for their introduction on its network.

Localis chief executive, Jonathan Werran, takes lessons from history, politics and devolution to find insights into what place directors can do to promote prosperity in the COVID-19 recovery.

Airbus is the latest giant of the aerospace sector to announce plans for thousands of job losses, with up to 1,700 staff facing redundancies in the UK.

British Airways has said it could cut up to 12,000 jobs as a result of the collapse in business from the coronavirus pandemic.

Highways England has named three contractor partners to deliver the future smart motorway programme worth up to £4.5bn.

The construction industry’s leading procurement contract suite, NEC, has issued guidance for navigating its contracts during the coronavirus.

The Cabinet Office has released construction-specific guidance on its recently published Procurement Policy Note 2/20, which outlined how public sector clients can support the supply chain during the coronavirus crisis.

Ministers have confirmed reviews of Air Passenger Duty (APD) and regional connectivity but have not given further details of government action to rescue struggling airline Flybe.

Ministers are reportedly considering a cut to Air Passenger Duty to help rescue regional airline Flybe.

The firm behind South Western Railway has warned that it could be stripped of its franchise after forecasting losses of up to £146m during the remainder of its contract.

New car registrations fell for the third consecutive year in 2019, with a major drop in the number of new diesel cars but a rise in electric vehicle sales.

Hochtief UK Construction Ltd has announced a loss of £21.5m for 2018.

Procurement body YORhub has appointed eight firms to a framework for major civil engineering and highways works in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Siemens Mobility has announced a partnership to deliver a series of new charging hubs and more than 120 new electric vehicle (EV) connections across the West of England.

Amey has appointed Amanda Fisher as acting CEO after showing the door to incumbent Andy Milner.

Council-owned Stansted Airport is rethinking its plans for a new arrivals building in the face of fluctuating travel demand and political and economic uncertainty.

Construction giant Balfour Beatty is heading for flat profits growth but has expanded its order book, according to a trading update.

Amey is putting its environment and waste and utilities businesses up for sale, according to reports.

Kier’s chief operating officer, Claudio Veritiero, has left the business with immediate effect, after only being appointed in August 2018.

Scape Group has added ‘Place Shaping’ to its upcoming £1bn National Consultancy frameworks.

Interserve has announced its chief executive will step down at the end of the year with her responsibilities devolved to the company’s three main divisions.

The sale of outsourcing contractor Amey is taking longer than expected, its parent company has admitted.

Costain has appointed former army officer Nathan Marsh as its first ever chief digital officer and a member of its executive board.

Kier Group has announced losses of £245m following what its chief executive conceded was a ‘difficult’ year.

To address the digital skills gap, firms in the infrastructure sector should develop new career paths and competencies for their future workforce, according to a new report.

Three West Midlands councils are seeking contractors for a new construction framework that could be worth up to £1.4bn over four years.

The 'trading floor of transport' as Traffex is known has once again provided a massive economic boost for the sector, with delegates doing deals worth many millions over the three days this spring.

The Government has invited ports and airports across the UK to bid to become one of 10 new free trade areas, in a move it argues will boost post-Brexit trade.

Mott MacDonald has made a series of new appointments to the top positions of the multi-billion company.

Influential MPs have warned the UK could be set for another Seaborne Freight disaster as the nation gears up for the delayed Brexit date of 31 October.

The owner of British Airways has pledged to 'defend the airline’s position vigorously' against a proposed record-breaking £183m fine for breaches of data protection law.

The US aviation regulator has uncovered another fault with Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft that is likely to delay further the model’s return to passenger service.

Kier topped the construction contractors league table in May, having been awarded 12 contracts that month with a total value of £397m.

FirstGroup has announced plans to sell off its bus operations in the UK and Greyhound buses in America as it seeks a restructure to keep investors happy.

Europe’s first horizontal launch Spaceport could be based in Cornwall, after nearly £8m was secured for the project from the UK Space Agency.

Boeing has notified airlines of another problem with its 737 model, following two fatal crashes involving one variant.

The prolonged Brexit crisis is wreaking 'untold' damage on the UK car industry manufacturers have said, as April saw a huge fall in production - the 11th consecutive month of decline.

Galliford Try is set to axe 350 jobs as it seeks to 'refocus on key strengths in markets including building, water and highways'.

International engineering and underground construction experts have joined forces to publish a new form of contract for tunnelling and underground works.

Bombardier is putting its Belfast operation up for sale, putting thousands of jobs at risk at a time of Brexit uncertainty.

Reports suggest a final decision may be close in the ongoing disputes between Amey and Birmingham City Council over its PFI debacle.

The Apprenticeship Levy should be retained locally as part of moves to support 'local productivity deals' between councils and key businesses, a leading think tank has suggested.

Dominic Browne looks at how Waze is becoming a key tool for highway and transport authorities as well as drivers.

Andrew Lupton, sales director at Econ Engineering Ltd, the UK’s largest manufacturer of gritters and salt spreading vehicles, takes the temperature of the Scottish winter service market with Transport Network.

Kier Group plc has announced the appointment of Andrew Davies as its chief executive from 15 April 2019.

Data on the price of new cars across Britain shows variations of up to £7,000 on the cost of popular models.

The UK construction industry has called for an agreement with government on how to maintain access to migrant workers to give the sector ‘the breathing space to adapt’ post Brexit.

Traffex19 at the NEC in Birmingham is all about the future: of mobility and the road space; of the way transport is funded and operated; and of the people who will lead those changes.

Honda has announced that it will close its car plant in Swindon in 2021 with the loss of at least 3,500 jobs, in a move it linked to the growth of electric cars.

PayByPhone’s UK CEO, Jonny Combe, looks at the evolution of parking technology.

A senior MP has criticised Chris Grayling for failing to provide any further explanation for bypassing procurement rules in awarding three contracts for shipping services in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

In early April, more than 10,000 movers and shakers in the world of highways and transport will converge at the NEC for Traffex 2019 and Parkex 2019, where 350 exhibitors will showcase the latest products, concepts and services.

A major union has warned of a future energy crisis after Japanese firm Hitachi shelved plans for two new nuclear power stations in the UK because it could not make the first project stack up financially.

Diesel, Brexit, and a sales slump in China, mean Jaguar Land Rover is set to cut £2.5bn in costs.

French firm VINCI Airports has secured a majority stake in Gatwick Airport after taking advantage of Brexit uncertainty.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has defended the award of a contract to a ferry company with no boats on the grounds that the Government is supporting new British business.

Roads and services contractor Amey is set to be sold to a private equity firm in the New Year, it has been reported.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has officially opened London Luton Airport’s newly-upgraded terminal after a three-year, £160m transformation project.

Aggregate Industries UK has announced that Guy Edwards will take over as its CEO from January.

The award of a new public sector contract to Interserve has attracted controversy just days after the infrastructure and services firm announced a recovery plan that would seek to pay its debts by issuing new shares.

Ministers have announced a new £72m innovation hub to back their call for new techniques to be used in the construction industry.

Kier Group plc has announced a rights issue aimed at raising approximately £264m as it seeks to clear its debt in the face of market reluctance to lend to the construction sector.

Too many frameworks are putting firms through unnecessary extra bids but failing to deliver the expected work, civils contractors have said.

New technology and innovation needs real-world application to succeed, writes Steve Birdsall, chief executive of Gaist.

Business rates for small high street retailers in England will be cut by one third over the next two years, chancellor Philip Hammond has announced in his Budget.

The Department for Transport has provided some clarification as to how its £2m funding will encourage the take up of e-cargo delivery bikes.

The Government will launch an ‘independent’ review of the railways this week, but looks set to rule out renationalisation, according to reports.

Network Rail is to sell its commercial estate – including railway arches and other property – for nearly £1.5bn resulting in a loss of £81m a year in revenue.

A leading MP has called for fundamental reform of the railways after her committee found that ministers and the franchise holders shared the blame for the East Coast mainline debacle.

Theresa May has announced a £106m package for projects developing 'green' battery, vehicle and refuelling technology.

London’s boroughs are seeking suppliers for a major works framework that includes highway and public realm works and is worth up to £7bn.

Transport for London is to award a contract worth up to £380m to maintain and upgrade a key communications system for the London Underground without competition after admitting that it has ‘no reasonable alternative’.

MPs have criticised the Government’s approach to outsourcing, accusing it of having a ‘preoccupation with cost’ while being unable to show it provides better services for less money.

More than two thirds of the pre-liquidation workforce at Carillion have been found work, although over 2,400 people have been made redundant.

BP has agreed to purchase Chargemaster, the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging company.

International infrastructure firm Ferrovial, which runs Heathrow Airport and owns engineering company Amey, has announced that it is to move its overseas holding companies out of the UK as a direct result of Brexit.

The liquidation of Carillion will cost UK taxpayers an estimated £148m, the National Audit Office (NAO) has said, excluding around £2.6bn pension liabilities and losses by the firm’s non-government creditors.

Wales’ first minister has called on the UK Government to work more closely with his administration on plans to build a new nuclear power station in Anglesey after it revealed that ministers were considering funding the project.

The GMB union has hailed what it called ‘a hard-fought victory’ after Uber agreed to give drivers insurance cover providing benefits such as sick pay and parental leave.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling has announced that the failed Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) rail franchise will once again come under government control, albeit temporarily.

MPs have accused the Government of lacking ‘the decisiveness or bravery’ to address the failures in corporate regulation that allowed Carillion to collapse as a result of the ‘recklessness, hubris and greed’ of its directors.

MPs investigating the Carillion insolvency have blasted the Government for putting public services at risk.

MPs have accused Carillion of displaying ‘utter contempt’ for its suppliers by using them as a line of credit to shore up its balance sheet while concealing the scale of its debt.

Workers in the construction industry are vulnerable to exploitation and slavery, including the cover-up of serious accidents, according to two new reports.

The total number of people made redundant through the liquidation of outsourcing and infrastructure giant Carillion has reached 2,221, although 11,093 jobs have been saved.

A further 337 former employees of collapsed infrastructure and outsourcing giant Carillion will be made redundant this week.

The Government has launched a review of consumer protection in the event of future airline failures that could dwarf the recent collapse of Monarch.

Ministers have launched a package of measures designed to ‘level the playing field’ for smaller businesses bidding to win a share of billions of pounds worth of government contracts.

Over a third of businesses do not believe that the UK’s transport networks meet their needs, according to new research.

Ministers have brought forward an exemption to the luxury car tax after black cab drivers were deterred from switching to electric taxis.

In the age of the 'flat white economy', a new report has challenged the ‘monolithic’ view that business primarily needs large infrastructure schemes to help move goods and services around the country.

New research argues that the UK rail network has a significantly higher economic value than previously thought at more than £36bn annually and provides more jobs than the entire workforce of Birmingham.

MPs have promised to get to the bottom of ‘who knew what when’ in advance of the collapse of Carillion as another 152 former employees of the firm lost their jobs.

Network Rail has begun its advance procurement for the next five-year funding period, promising that thousands of UK companies will benefit from the multi-billion pound investment programme.

Transport for London has insisted that it remains in a sound financial position, with savings making up for falling passenger revenue, despite a forecast deficit of nearly £1bn next year.

Close to 1,000 people have lost their jobs since the collapse of Carillion.

MPs have described the former bosses of failed infrastructure and outsourcing giant Carillion as ‘delusional characters’ who ‘built a giant company on sand’.

Ministers are considering taking the struggling East Coast rail franchise back under public control in the next few months after the existing franchise holder ‘got its sums wrong’.

A further 452 job losses have been announced as a result of the collapse of British construction giant Carillion, on top of the 377 announced last week.

Shares in struggling infrastructure firm Carillion fell sharply on Friday following reports that lenders had rejected its survival plan and that it had lined up a possible administrator.

Troubled infrastructure group Carillion is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in connection with statements it made over a seven-month period leading up to the removal of its then chief executive last year.

Transport Scotland has expanded its winter fleet for the nation’s trunk roads, adding two Mercedes-Benz Unimog vehicles to help tackle flooding issues.

The Government has launched its Industrial Strategy to tackle the country’s poor productivity, featuring local industrial plans, funding for infrastructure, and four ‘Sector Deals’ including in the construction and automotive sectors.

London local government will be able to keep all its business rates growth next year as part of a 100% retention pilot.

The Government is considering breaking up the huge franchise that includes Southern rail when it expires and trying to make new franchises more attractive.

Britain’s railway industry has launched a plan for a ‘partnership railway’ that it says will transform services in the next 18 months, while providing almost £85bn of economic benefits in the long term.

The Government’s commitment to improving the UK’s infrastructure is not translating into optimism, with transport firms dissatisfied with the pace of delivery and not confident that things will improve in the near future.

The 14th Highways Awards (formerly the Highways Magazine Excellence Awards) took place on Wednesday (18 October) in the jubilant atmosphere of the Nine Kings Suite at the Lancaster London.

A host of contractors have landed places on Manchester City Council’s £200m Highways and Infrastructure Construction Works framework.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched enforcement action against Ryanair for ‘persistently misleading passengers with inaccurate information regarding their rights in respect of its recent cancellations’.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said it will bring home more than 100,000 passengers currently abroad after Monarch Airlines became the UK's largest ever airline to enter administration.

Kier Highways has won a highways contract with Shropshire Council that could be worth £210m over 10 years.

The prime minister has promised to protect jobs at the Northern Ireland factory of aerospace firm Bombardier in an escalating trade dispute that has also seen ministers hint that US firm Boeing could lose out on future UK Government contracts.

A new accelerator programme is encouraging start-ups with innovative solutions to current transport challenges to apply for support and help with funding.

Ministers are set to backtrack on changes to personal injury payouts, including those for road incidents, following a storm of criticism earlier this year.

East Yorkshire-based Local Transport Projects (LTP) has won a place on the exclusive £968m Scotland Excel Engineering and Technical Consultancy Framework Contract.

NEC, which produces model contracts for engineering and construction projects, has announced that Dr David Hancock of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) has joined its users’ group as chair.

A report to councillors has set out the issues and failings that led to Cumbria County Council having to pay legal costs of £16m following a disastrous dispute with its former highways contractor, Amey.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has confirmed that Transport for London (TfL) is setting up a commercial trading arm to sell its technical and operational expertise to cities around the world.

Global infrastructure firm Jacobs Engineering is to buy CH2M for around £2.1bn in an attempt to grow its infrastructure and government services business.

NEC has released the consultation draft of the new NEC4 Alliance Contract (ALC), one of four additions to the NEC suite.

International infrastructure company Skanska has announced a profit warning including writedowns of about £33m from its UK operations.

Carillion chief executive Richard Howson has been replaced ‘with immediate effect’ as the outsourcing giant reported worsening cash flows, increasing debt and a £845m writedown.

A new £60m research facility aims to make the West of England the world leader in ultra-low emission vehicles.

A £77m loss from its highways business saw infrastructure giant Amey post a pre-tax loss of nearly £44m for the last year.

Kier has said its underlying profit for the past year is forecast to be in line with expectations but has booked a charge of £73m from ‘portfolio simplification’ and other non-underlying items, such as health and safety fines.

Mouchel has secured a £4.5m contract extension to provide highways and transportation professional engineering services for Lincolnshire County Council.

Passengers on the new South Western rail franchise have been promised a better travelling experience after new operators FirstGroup and MTR signed an £895m order for 90 new trains.

The Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) industry is unique and faces a shortage of recruits embarking on technical careers, armed with the precise skills required. ITS companies need to address this issue, not just for their own benefit, but for that of the sector as a whole, as it strives to help make the UK road infrastructure safer and more efficient.

Solutions such as urban consolidation centres (UCCs) and using robots for last mile deliveries can address the problems of urban freight distribution but need support from local authorities, according to a new report.

Colas has acquired Allied Infrastructure with the aim of extending the range of products and service solutions it provides.

Liverpool City Council has appointed AECOM to manage and supervise the site investigation works for a new £50m cruise liner terminal on the river Mersey.

Two women have been promoted to senior positions in large infrastructure firms after working their way up in their respective companies.

Four men including Liverpool City Council chief executive Ged Fitzgerald have been arrested as part of an investigation into alleged financial irregularities in the tendering of council contracts to BT.

Leading building materials and construction firm Tarmac has announced the acquisition of civil engineering and highways maintenance contractor JB Riney, strengthening its presence in London.

Global professional services consultancy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has simplified its name to just WSP and introduced a new brand and logo to mark its 'growth and transformation’.

Hundreds of new rapid charge points are to be installed across the UK following a partnership between InstaVolt and the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

Infrastructure firm Galliford Try has announced an extra £98m in costs after reappraising its construction contracts, tarnishing what it describes as an otherwise ‘strong trading performance’.

Canadian firm SNC-Lavalin has agreed a takeover of WS Atkins in a deal that values the British firm at £2.1bn.

A new report has called for ‘small town England’ to be given new devolved powers over transport and other issues to help it deliver the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has returned to profit following two years of losses.

Chancellor Philip Hammond's first and final Spring Budget gives a £2bn cash boost for social care in a bid to rescue councils from the care crisis.

General Motors has agreed to sell its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary to French carmaker PSA Group for around £1.9bn.

Council chiefs have seized on a potential new role in infrastructure following the publication of the Industrial Strategy, and called for a 'regional aid fund' and streamlined local cash.

New ‘sector deals’ are at the heart of the prime minister’s ‘modern Industrial Strategy’, aimed at driving growth across the country through a more active role for government.

Ministers have given details of £556m Local Growth funding for the Northern Powerhouse, including cash for an intermodal terminal at Goole and flood resilience measures in Yorkshire.

Following Theresa May’s speech on her Government’s Brexit plans, civil engineering contractors have again warned that shortages of skilled labour could derail the delivery of vital infrastructure.

Dr Lee Chapman is a fine example of an academic that is putting applied science to good use in the industry.

Chancellor Philip Hammond will announce more than £1bn spending to support digital infrastructure in Wednesday’s Autumn statement, including speeding up the roll-out of ‘gold standard’ broadband.

A new £400m container port capable of handling the biggest cargo ships in the world has opened in Liverpool, with the potential to take the pressure off the country’s road network.

Two of the UK‘s leading publishing and event organising businesses serving the traffic management, road safety, and highways maintenance sectors, have merged - bringing the top titles of Highways Magazine and Surveyor under one house.

Ministers have decided to back the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station but will impose a new legal framework covering future foreign investment in Britain’s critical infrastructure.

Councils in the Midlands have set out their plans to boost local economies on the back of the HS2 rail project – with backing from the prime minister.

A trial using longer semi-trailers to transport goods between warehouses and depots has saved up to 10.6 million vehicle kilometres over four years, ministers have said.

Revamping freight and logistics across the North of England can play a vital role in rebalancing the economy and contribute to the sustainability agenda, Transport for the North (TfN) has said.

Network Rail cannot continue to rely on public funding to invest in rail improvements that drive regeneration, the organisation’s chief executive has warned.

Industry and government need to attract more drivers into the road haulage sector to tackle a decade-long decline that has led to a potential shortfall of 60,000 skilled drivers, MPs have said.

Postponing a decision on a new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset will create great uncertainty in the construction sector and across business, contractors have said.

MPs have highlighted the ‘great potential’ for developing nuclear power in Wales but have said the Government ‘has more work to do’ to prove the financial viability of two proposed projects.

Large hauliers and small local delivery firms can bid for a share of £19m of government cash to help cut their vehicle emissions.

The operators of the East Coast rail franchise, which has been reported to be struggling financially, are planning cuts as they face ‘on-rail’ competition from other companies.

More than 30 construction firms have agreed to pay out a further £10m in compensation over allegations of blacklisting after reaching a deal with union Unite.

There are now more than four million vans on Britain’s roads, an all-time high that reflects a ‘phenomenal’ rise in online shopping.

Ministers have announced a new programme to develop railway stations and surrounding land, which they said will deliver thousands of new homes and jobs and significantly boost local growth

People who live in flood-risk areas are set to benefit from a national scheme launched today aimed at providing them with affordable home insurance.

The Government has announced the extension of guidance that it says produces a 'level playing field' for British steel suppliers competing for public sector infrastructure contracts.

The vice chairman of the Shadow West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has written to the transport secretary suggesting a partnership to take over the M6 toll road.

Highways England is to hold a briefing day for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands looking to provide technical services under its new asset-led delivery model.

Atkins has appointed David Brewer as its new market director for strategic rail.

The Unite union says 5,000 taxi drivers will protest in London tomorrow over ‘threats to passenger safety and deregulation’.

Major new research suggests an ambivalence towards in-car technology and a lack of commercial incentive for manufacturers, with many in the public raising safety fears and citing a lack of improvement to the driving experience.

London and Southampton this year will be at the heart of two EU-funded projects aimed at achieving more efficient in-city freight deliveries.

Jon Masters talks to former transport minister, Stephen Ladyman, about the challenges in the new traffic technology sector.

The trade union-backed campaign Action for Rail has organised protests today at 200 railway stations across the UK over New Year fare increases.

The Isle of Wight Council is in a contractual dispute with its PFI highways service provider, Island Roads, over what is reported to be a ‘significant’ amount of money.

Transport minister Andrew Jones has sought to reassure private sector suppliers after rumours suggested Highways England's delivery programme is already suffering from delays and overspending.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the National Infrastructure Commission senior team today, as he pledged £100bn in infrastructure spending by 2020.

Almost three quarters (72%) of businesses are ‘open to the idea of road charging’ and 70% of infrastructure firms are prepared to pay higher fees for quicker planning decisions, a major new survey from the CBI has revealed.

Scottish councils could have the power to cut business rates by the end of the month, under plans announced today.

The Government will not step in to tighten Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) governance structures despite fears of a ‘democratic deficit’ within the key bodies, it has emerged.

New data suggests Transport for London (TfL) are losing over £60m a year through fare dodging, with Labour revealing that ticket barriers at some stations are left open more than 60% of the time.

Transport for London (TfL) will release 300 acres of land for 10,000 homes as a part of plans to raise over £3.4bn in non-fare commercial revenues by 2023.

The head of the civil service, Sir Jeremy Heywood, has written to government ministers advising them to keep quiet over the issue of Heathrow expansion, it has emerged.

The taxi app, Uber, does not break the law the High Court has found, after it ruled that smartphones are not taximeters.

Business members of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are the right people to decide on the planned new infrastructure levy, the central support body for the 39 partnerships has said.

A £40-£50m contract for dualling work on the A96 in Scotland has been published, covering around 29 miles of the western section of the highway east of Auldearn to east of Fochabers.

Transport interchange and station operators are being invited to save potentially millions of pounds by testing the passenger impacts of planned schemes in a new visualisation laboratory from industry innovation hub the Transport Systems Catapult.

Heathrow Airports Holdings Ltd has begun preparing for the third runway with an initial tendering process for the £17.6bn expansion despite not having been given the green light yet.

Local highways and transport services in England saw a second year of solid growth in capital expenditure, although councils’ debt levels are also on the rise.

Councils will retain all local taxes including the total £26bn from business rates, while areas with elected mayors will be able to set an additional infrastructure levy, under plans announced by chancellor George Osborne today.

A leading union has offered the Government a compromise over controversial plans to introduce tough new thresholds for strike action for transport workers.

Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to boost infrastructure investment by £5bn through selling off national assets.

Union bosses have warned against the chancellor's plans to encourage council pension funds to invest in British infrastructure, calling them too risky without government guarantees.

Transport for London (TfL) has outlined further plans to reform the regulations around taxi drivers in the capital, proposing an English language test for drivers.

Ministers promote plans to make compensation easier for rail passengers suffering delays, while fares are set to rise by 1% next year.

A £292m package of work on Highways England’s A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon improvement project has been awarded to a Balfour Beatty Carillion joint venture.

Mike Burton gives black cab drivers some comfort in times of Uber.

In an exclusive interview with Transport Network, interim mayor of Greater Manchester Tony Lloyd talks about highways alliances, bus franchising and what London can learn from Manchester.

The Government has launched its latest transport-related asset sale, flogging its stake in the King’s Cross Central redevelopment with all the proceeds to go back to the Treasury.

Capita has scooped a 15-month £4m contract with Highways England to replace its asset management system for roadside technology maintenance teams.

Barnsley Council’s environment and transport department has set up an ebay account to flog its surplus stock.

Transport Scotland is investigating allegations from whistleblowers that Bear Scotland has ripped off the taxpayer to the tune of millions by carrying out unnecessary highways works.

Two Scottish councils have jointly awarded a £15m traffic signal contract to industry heavyweight Siemens.

Licensing controls on ‘novelty’ vehicles including rickshaws, limousines and party buses are endangering public users and must be modernised, according to council leaders.

Mott MacDonald has secured a £2.5m technology software systems (TSS) contract from Highways England.

A 15-year contract worth more than £300m is up for grabs on the strategic road network in the East Midlands, Highways England has announced.

Bristol City Council has made £10m selling off a freehold on land occupied by the city’s port, which had been valued by accountants at less than half the price just three years ago.

Cities around the world are attempting to recreate the commercial successes of Transport for London. Yet the rest of the UK missing out on these multi-billion pound innovations, Thomas Bridge reports.

Transport bosses in west Yorkshire have signed a three-year research deal with Leeds University that could help the region unlock further funding.

A £3.3bn investment strategy to maximise the benefits of HS2 when it arrives in Birmingham in 2026 has been outlined by the city’s local business and council leaders.

The Government has launched a £20m competitive fund for collaborative research and development into driverless vehicles as well as a code of practice for testing.

Thanet DC has agreed to seek legal and financial advice over issuing a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the Manston airport site, reversing a decision taken last December.

David Cameron called for market towns to offer free parking and for more deregulation of planning rules as he reiterated calls made on the election trail in prime minister's questions this week.

Talks have broken down between the Government and Stagecoach over the direct award renewal of the South West Trains rail franchise, leaving the contract open to the market.

There has been widespread support for the recommendation of the Airports Commission that a third runway should be built at Heathrow, although there remains major opposition from within the top ranks of the Conservative Party.

French ferry workers have suspended a strike action at the port of Calais, which caused a huge queue of lorries on the M20 estimated to have cost the UK at least £250m a day.

Architects Foster and Partners is set to win a design contract for a new £150m Cardiff city-centre complex which will incorporate a modern bus station and transport interchange.

A growing number of firms are considering joining forces on joint ventures designed to maximise their chances of winning work on HS2, it has emerged.

Jaguar Land Rover has revealed it has produced an off-road vehicle that can be remote controlled using a smartphone.

Google has formed a new start-up company to tackle urban transport problems and improve infrastructure through technology.

Leading transport operator FirstGroup has announced a 13% rise in profits, buoyed by improvements in its US and UK bus services.

Engineering giant Atkins has announced an increase in revenue and operating profits however it ended 11% down on last year for profit after tax (£85.7m), with a 6.6% fall in pre-tax profits (£106.7m).

The first contract awards on the £1.5bn A14 improvement in East Anglia have been announced, however the process has led Highways England to signal principal contractors must rethink their approach to win work on major projects.

The secretary of state for Wales is holding a summit for council leaders in the Cardiff capital region to help thrash out a City Deal plan.

A £1bn ten-year transformation plan for Manchester Airport has been unveiled, designed to double capacity and provide a direct linkage between Terminals 2 and 3 without expanding the size of the site.

The procurement process at Highways England is in disarray and major trade bodies should stand up for the industry and help tackle the problem according to tier one suppliers.

Gatwick could be set to benefit from divisions in the cabinet over Heathrow expansion, as a Conservative MP has claimed senior members of his party are so divided over the proposals the schism could badly damage the government.

Senior traffic commissioner for Great Britain, Beverley Bell, has become the new president of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT).

Highways England has abandoned plans to bring in a new Asset Support Contract (ASC) for the East Midlands, and intends to move forward with a set up that will bring control of maintenance arrangements in-house.

The Airports Commission led by Sir Howard Davies has decided to launch a fresh consultation on the question of airport expansion in relation to air quality, it has emerged.

The North West ports operator, Peel Ports, is calling on the UK freight and logistics industry to switch more goods from South East landings to the Port of Liverpool to cut costs and bring down the carbon footprint of inland transportation to the North.

Transport for London (TfL) has invited media companies to bid for one of the world’s largest advertising contracts, thought to be worth around £1bn over eight years.

Newly released urban design guidance will be promoted by leading professional body the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) at Traffex 2015, along with a new membership offer for apprentices.

Kier has agreed to buy Mouchel for £265m, creating a highways infrastructure superpower and expanding the number of services the combined firm can offer to local authorities.

A landmark sponsorship deal will see a London Underground station renamed after a bottled water product for 24 hours to coincide with the London Marathon.

The Labour Party has been accused of U-turning on a key plank of its devolution agenda, with new manifesto proposals that could provide less guaranteed cash for local transport.

Passengers involved in disputes with airlines over issues such as delayed flights and lost luggage will soon be able to take their complaints to an independent ombudsman for the first time.

Potential revolutions in transport appear to be everywhere nowadays – flying drones in the skies, driverless cars on the ground, and now a Cambridgeshire based company plans to take things underground.

Almost two thirds of the 10,000 vans stopped by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) at the roadside each year have a serious mechanical defect, according to a leading trade body.

The freight industry has released a logistics manifesto with its top ten asks of government.

HS2 bosses are expected to spend at least a £450m on outsourced consultancy work in the coming years it has emerged.

The skills shortage runs through every level of the highways industry and we need a collaborative and holistic response if we’re going to bring in new talent.

Transport for London (TfL) has applied to the High Court for a binding determination on whether smart phones comply with the current law on 'taximeters', which can only be used in London by taxis.

Transport technology group ITS (UK) is calling for the Department for Transport (DfT) to aim for total payment interoperability when implementing free flow tolling technology on planned strategic river crossings.

The Government has revealed plans to introduce 20 new housing zones, which could provide up to 45,000 homes on brownfield sites across the country.

Local authorities have a provisional agreement to keep the full yield of additional business rates growth, chancellor George Osborne announced in today’s Budget.

A repeat of the West Coast Mainline debacle, which cost the taxpayer up to £45m, is ‘unavoidable’ unless civil service skills shortages are addressed, MPs have warned.

Kent CC has been taken to task by an influential group of MPs for not supporting Thanet District Council enough over the compulsory purchase of Manston airport.

Plans to devolve Air Passenger Duty (APD) to Scotland could ‘severely disadvantage’ smaller airports in the north of England, a group of influential MPs has warned.

Road workers at Amey have called off a six-day consecutive strike after receiving an improved two-year pay deal.

Fewer traffic lights and parking spaces, less congestion and more shared space schemes could be among the local impacts of driverless cars according to one senior member of a British consortium trialling the new technology.

Urban transport leaders have called for freight to be moved off city centre roads at ‘every opportunity’ to improve safety, reduce congestion and develop more enjoyable streets.

An end to ticket price regulation on the rail network would help tackle train overcrowding and reduce costs for the taxpayer, according to a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA).

The Highways Agency is re-launching the tendering process for five major regional contracts thought to be worth more than £1.5bn, and will be reviewing the process to allow 'more ownership of investment decisions' in future.

Newham Council has granted planning permission for a £200m expansion of the London City Airport, in a move that could see the airport triple in size by 2023.

Three city region leaders have presented their major transport regeneration projects in a Downing Street ‘beauty parade’ to 50 UK and international investors with millions of pounds to spend in the UK.

Council chiefs and transport bosses have locked horns with one of the country’s major bus operators in a row about rising fares.

Two of the UK’s largest local authority pension funds have teamed up to create a £500m infrastructure investment platform.

The Government is offering tens of millions in ‘start up’ cash to regional airports in attempts to develop new routes.

Balfour Beatty has wiped £70m off the expected profits of its UK construction arm for 2014 after an extensive review by accountants KPMG.

Balfour Beatty has been appointed to the sole contractor to a new £1.5bn UK-wide civil engineering framework – covering public works including road repairs and major road projects, new bridges coastal defences to light rail schemes.

New figures from Network Rail suggest Christmas retail trading at the group’s 18 managed stations was the busiest on record in 2014, growing 15.8% in stark contrast to wider retail trends.

Manchester City Council’s leader has defended plans to establish an elected mayor for the city region without a public vote, after facing a public backlash over the proposal with a campaign already launched against it.

The Treasury has written to five major bus companies in a bid to see falling crude oil prices translate into cheaper fares.

Close to 30,000 bus workers in the capital are to stage a one-day strike on 13 January over union demands for a single London-wide agreement covering pay, terms and conditions.

Regulated rail fares rise by 2.5% today across England and Wales prompting anger from the unions and renewed calls from Labour for customers to be given a legal right to the lowest fares.

The Highways Agency has suspended the tender process for its asset support contracts in areas 4 and 12 following concerns over the spending on bids.

Infrastructure giant Balfour Beatty has rejected a £1bn offer from John Laing Infrastructure Fund for its PPP (public-private partnership) portfolio.

Kier Group plc have confirmed an interest in acquiring Mouchel, which maintains a large share of the UK highways network.

Bus and rail fares will not be reduced to reflect falling fuel prices for motorists, operators have told Transport Network.

One contractor working hard to drive innovation and efficiency through its highway projects is Colas. Adrian Tatum went to meet its chief executive, Lee Rushbrooke.

Traffic commissioner for Wales and the West Midlands, Nick Jones, has acknowledged local authorities’ use of e-auctions for school transport could impact the quality of service provided.

Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH) has sold Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports to a foreign consortium in a £1bn deal.

The Government has started seeking buyers for its 40% stake in Eurostar, the cross-Channel train operator, with interested parties given until the end of the month to notify the Treasury.

A shortlist of bidders for two controversial council-backed rail franchises has been released by the DfT.

British construction giant Carillion has given up the ghost on its proposed merger with Balfour Beatty after three attempts to entice the engineering firm.

Balfour Beatty has rejected a third merger offer from Carillion and has said it will not ask for an extension to tomorrow’s deadline for merger talks to be concluded.

Balfour Beatty and Carillion are still locked in merger wranglings, with a dispute over the potential savings of the deal threatening to derail discussions with just three days left until the City’s deadline.

A £75m Highways Authority contract for A63 improvements in Hull has been awarded to construction giant Balfour Beatty.

Infrastructure firm Carillion is in preliminary talks with Balfour Beatty over a possible merger that would create a giant group, with highways maintenance interests, estimated to be worth around £3bn.

The Government’s replacement for the beleaguered Private Finance Initiative (PFI) funding model for major public infrastructure works, including highways schemes, has no test to ensure taxpayers get value for money influential MPs have warned.

Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced the direct award of the West Coast Main Line franchise agreement with Virgin in a deal set to be worth £430m.

The Canadian owners of the Channel Tunnel rail link are interested in bidding for the HS2 line - which has a construction budget of £50bn including contingencies and rolling stock - it has emerged.

The Midlands Highways Alliance (MHA) has revealed the contractors appointed for its £261m transport infrastructure framework.

Thousands of black cab drivers are expected to bring areas of central London to a standstill from 2pm on Wednesday 11 June as they protest against a new app to hire taxis, in action that some suggest could cost the capital’s economy £125m.

Councils should be given greater powers over taxis and private hire vehicles to help create higher standards and improve safety, according to the Law Commission.

The growing demand for greater devolution of infrastructure funding has received a boost from new analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research North (IPPR), showing strong public support for the principle.

On average three pedestrians a day were killed or seriously injured (KSI) on London’s roads in 2012, according to a report from the London Assembly transport committee.

A recent study looked into the distances that commuters travel to work and whether the area that they lived in had a vital part to play.

Heathrow's bid for expansion has received a boost after a transport think tank claimed the UK needs a three-runway hub airport in order to continue to compete with international rivals.

The Government has put itself on a collision course with local authorities over parking policy, following the release of a damning report that calls for fines to be reduced.

A series of top-tier changes have occurred at contractor Ringway with Bill Taylor taking on the role of new managing director for its infrastructure services business.

The UK’s new car market recorded its best performance since 2007 last year, recording a 10% rise on 2012, according to industry figures.

Maintenance of major roads in the West Midlands will be passed to EM Highway Services from July this year, the Highways Agency (HA) has announced.

Local government is expected to freeze council tax in return for protection from additional £2bn cuts to Whitehall budgets over the next two years, chancellor George Osborne warned in today’s Autumn Statement.

The chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, has outlined his plans to invest in infrastructure as a key part of the coalition government’s strategy for economic growth.

Chancellor George Osborne announced an increase in the Housing Revenue Account borrowing limit in today’s Autumn Statement.

Bucks Thames Valley LEP chair Alex Pratt speaks exclusively to Transport Network revealing the direction of travel for these key local bodies.

Plans to build a third runway at Heathrow are 'toxic', the mayor of London, Boris Johnson has told business leaders.

Council-led campaigns against the controversial High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) scheme could be endangered by coalition legislation before parliament, lawyers commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) have warned.

The Government has awarded £165m for a new relief road between the M56 and the A6, to improve access to Manchester airport.

The former vice president of the Geological Society of London has been appointed as a development director at Mott MacDonald.

Leading highways contractor Ringway has pledged to create 21 local job opportunities in road worker positions for its client Cheshire West and Chester Council.

New technology has been implemented by West Midlands transport authority Centro to make planning journeys easier, it has been claimed.

Local and public law specialist Dr. Nicholas Dobson gives his expert opinion on the recent landmark legal case over Barnet LBC's parking charges.

Some of the country’s busiest commuter rail routes are due to be served with new carriages following a £180m deal between operator Southern and manufacturer Bombardier.

Transport chiefs in the North East of England are set for a crucial vote this Friday to decide whether to bring services back under council control in the face of potential swingeing cuts.

The Tyne Tunnels' charging system is set for a major overhaul from 2014 with plans to reclassify vehicles by height rather than weight.

Westminster City Council has backed plans to expand airport capacity in the South East and labelled potential environmental impacts from air pollution 'negligible'.

Capacity will be boosted and UK manufacturing set to profit from a new deal for trains on the East Coast mainline, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced.

With little in the way of new spending to announce, inevitably much of the focus around the Spending Round has been on presentation and framing of the debate by the Coalition.

The Department for Transport has abandoned plans to abolish the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) but a ‘restructuring’ is still on the cards, ministers revealed today.

The Government is set to roll out a £100m fund for transport and infrastructure investment in Local Enterprise Zones, communities secretary Eric Pickles announced today.

Sponsorship of London’s public transport network should be used to raise hundreds of millions pounds to support fare freezes - in deals that could see Underground lines renamed - London’s Conservatives have urged.

The potential benefits of switching to biogas over traditional transport fuels are ‘huge’, local transport minister Norman Baker said at the launch of the new Gas Vehicle Hub.

The key to increasing cycling levels is to focus on the younger generation and getting more children to ride to school, according to Denmark’s transport minister.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) has claimed the UK should invest more in infrastructure for growth.

Former WS Atkins Group chief executive, Mike Jeffries, has joined the board of Mouchel as a non-executive director.

Suppliers of transport infrastructure to London are benefiting commercially from the capital’s lack of long-term funding certainty, London Mayor Boris Johnson has complained.

Electric cars could become five times more efficient than conventional petrol-powered vehicles across their lifecycle by 2030, the Government’s climate change watchdog has claimed.

Excluding councillors from the management of the Forth Road Bridges in Scotland is the right decision, influential MSPs have said.

The chancellor will deliver his 2013 Budget on 20th March - but what will it mean for local government?

This week news has spread of some unusual road safety practices at one school crossing.

Five councils in West Yorkshire are set to launch a £1bn 'congestion busting' transport fund for the region, following the approval of their City Deal last summer.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is open to bespoke ‘transport deals’ to devolve more power over local networks to individual councils, transport minister Norman Baker has revealed.

New winter service guidance was published this week, setting out a clear salt-stock benchmark for local authorities.

The Met Office’s new, route-based forecast service goes operational this year, following trials over the past three winters.

Local winter service teams have been praised for playing a vital part in boosting the resilience of the nation’s transport network last year.

An influential group of MPs has called for the Met Office to be given new supercomputers to produce more accurate long-term forecasts

Greater investment is needed to keep Britain moving during severe winter weather, the transport committee has stated.

Surrey CC has prepared for the next winter season by stockpiling double the amount of salt needed for an average winter – and enough to cover a similar event to 2010-11.

A scheme to encourage parish and district councils in Cumbria to grit roads in their areas has been deemed a success by highways bosses.

Network kept open but highways staff prepare for further severe weather disruption.

Road traffic has been allowed onto a stretch of railway at Stromeferry in Wester Ross, following the closure of the A890 due to rock falls.

The Highways Agency is installing snow gates on a major road which passes through the Pennines and is particularly prone to severe winter weather.

Emergency funding is needed to repair local roads damaged by winter weather, according to councillors in a survey published this week. More than half the participating councillors said the £200m from central government early this year had allowed some additional short term repair work to be done, but more money

Leicestershire CC started stocking up on grit for the forthcoming winter service season this week. The council revealed it had begun taking orders from supplier, Salt Union, in order to replenish the county’s grit barns. It will receive a total of 10,000t in order to bolster its supplies to 15,000t for the seas

Severe weather has seen an increase in the amount of salt we put on the highways, but what if we could use less – and achieve more? There is increasing pressure on winter maintenance managers to keep roads open, free of snow and ice, 24 hours a day. This is no mean feat, given that winter maintenance is not an exact science, and op

Record amounts of salt have been ordered by councils this year, but questions remain over the tactics deployed by some winter service teams and the supply chain’s ability to cope with demand. The Local Government Association (LGA) has published new research indicating councils have ordered an extra 1,500t of salt each for th

Network kept open but highways staff prepare for further severe weather disruption. Winter service teams are braced for further severe weather, after local road networks were kept open last weekend, despite the late cold snap testing resilience plans. As Surveyor went to press, forecasters suggested an imminent retu

Council leaders this week urged resident to ignore ‘urban myths’ about the legalities of applying grit to roads and footways outside their homes. As a period of cold weather gripped the UK, the Local Government Association reiterated that no law existed which prevented people clearing pavements or public spaces.

In late November 2010, as the first snowdrops began to hit road surfaces across Britain, the transport network began to take the first steps towards new methods of working, based on the previous winter’s severe weather. By the spring of this year, a whole set of questions was being asked about whether these new

Efforts to increase stocks of road salt for the coming winter are already earning positive headlines. Last week, for example, north-east England media reported on Durham CC’s 46,000t stockpile, 6,000t bigger than last year, while the Highways Agency gave journalists a tour of a salt barn and highlighted a 25% i

Vale of Glamorgan CBC’s three-year plan for highway resurfacing has failed to keep pace with the rate of deterioration, officers admitted this week. The authority has now earmarked an extra £750,000 for resurfacing, coinciding with the start of the Welsh Government’s (WG) highways borrowing initiati

Maintaining the UK's 246,000 miles of roads is a herculean task, and one that has been rendered far more challenging by damage caused from a series of harsh winters, and severe disruption to maintenance works created by one of the wettest summers on record. Many councils are struggling to cope with the repair backlog, particularly