London transport round-up: Tube strikes and Heathrow Airport

We look at all the recent transport updates from across London.

Transcript

00:00Planned strikes by train drivers on London's Elizabeth line on Thursday, the 27th of February

00:07and Saturday the 1st of March have been called off following a new pay offer. Members of

00:13Aslef were due to stage a series of walkouts that would have caused travel disruption in

00:19the capital. Aslef said its executive would consider a revised offer from the line's operations

00:25MTR on Wednesday. Although the strikes planned for Thursday and Saturday have been suspended,

00:31no announcement has been made about further strikes that were due to take place on the 8th

00:36and 10th of March. Proposals to build apartments on a tube station car park in north London

00:42has faced opposition from some residents. The plans by Barrett London could see 300 apartments

00:49on a TfL car park at High Barnet tube station and a site used for self-storage units.

00:56The car park has spaces for 160 cars and local residents have expressed concerns that the

01:02development could lead to commuters parking on residential streets instead. Increased penalty

01:09fines for fare dodging are having a positive impact and the measure is working as an effective

01:15deterrent, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said. In March last year penalty fares increased

01:22from £80 to £100 with discounted penalty fares for early payments. Sir Sadiq Khan added the

01:30evasion of London's transport network remains lower than many comparable cities in Europe and

01:36North America according to the local democracy reporting service. However city hall conservatives

01:43have said Sir Sadiq Khan and his team were in denial about the scale of the issue. Now transport

01:51for London is being forced to find more than £20 million in savings over the coming year

01:56due to the government's increase in national insurance contributions. It emerged at a city

02:03hall meeting on Thursday that despite ministers providing significant support to public bodies

02:09to help them cover the national insurance hike, TfL is facing a shortfall of £23 million.

02:18Now it's not just Heathrow's expansion that is causing up a stir, London's second biggest

02:22airport Gatwick Airport could see an expansion too. Gatwick Airport's expansion has received

02:28the backing of the UK's aviation regulator which argued it would bring benefit to consumers

02:34even with the prospect of a third runway at Heathrow. The civil aviation authority announced

02:41its support for the West Sussex's airport proposed new commitments for the next four years saying

02:47they would increase choice for passengers. Heidi Alexander the transport secretary has a deadline

02:54for Thursday for her decision to approve Gatwick's emergency runway routine use.