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The Government has agreed a £1.6 billion deal with Transport for London after Sadiq Khan threatened to cut Tube and bus services without a government bailout.
The article features in several of today’s national newspapers, with The Daily Telegraph saying the money is on the condition that the London Mayor reinstates a full Tube service and commits to a review of the transport body’s finance and structure.
Government officials will be required to sit on TfL’s board and ‘Stay Alert’ advertising will be displayed on the network as part of the agreement.
The announcement comes a day after the Government announced a multi-billion pound infrastructure package to make journeys on local roads, railways and motorways smoother.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said hundreds of millions of pounds worth of upgrades had already been made during the lockdown period, with more planned over the coming weeks and months.
Rail passengers are being warned they may be prevented from boarding intercity trains without a reservation as part of social distancing measures.
That’s according to an article in the Belfast Telegraph which says Avanti West Coast, which operates Anglo-Scottish services on the West Coast Main Line, said capacity of its trains will be limited to around a quarter of normal levels.
This means passengers who have bought a ticket without a reservation may not be allowed to travel on the next train that arrives.
Finally, and HS2 has launched a national vote to pick the names of the first of 10 giant tunnel boring machines that will excavate more than 35 miles of tunnel.
The work is part of the first phase of the UK’s new high speed railway between London and the West Midlands.
The choices are either Cecilia, after Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin; Florence, after Florence Nightingale; and Marie, after Marie Curie.
Photo credit: Tupungato / Shutterstock.com
