Nicholas Hellen

London

Transport Editor at The Sunday Times

Transport Editor, Sunday Times. Himalayan first ascensionist. Cycling, history. Contact me in confidence w/ story tips [email protected]

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Articles

London to Edinburgh train will be faster than flying

Nov 30, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

Travelling from London to Edinburgh could be faster by rail than air for the first time next year, as 20 minutes is shaved off the train journey. The breakthrough, which will bring the time down to just over four hours and is due to be announced this month by the transport secretary, is likely to unleash fierce competition as LNER and Lumo seek to coax passengers from airlines including British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair.
Birmingham wants to be a 20mph city. Is your town next?

Nov 30, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

The speed limit in Birmingham could be cut to 20mph under plans which would make it easier for any local authority across the country to impose lower limits in built-up areas. A proposal to turn the whole city, with a population of 1.1 million, into a 20mph zone will be considered by Birmingham city council on Tuesday.
Dijon-style trams could finally rid UK cities of the traffic jam

Nov 23, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen |Peter Conradi |Jeremy Harding |in Djon

It was the morning after the first heavy snowfall of the season but the trams of Dijon were running every three to four minutes regardless. During Friday’s rush hour, the purple carriages glided effortlessly through the historic capital of Burgundy, eastern France. “The tram just works. Personally, I have never come across any problems due to bad weather,” said Eric Florence, who takes the T2, the second of the city’s two tram lines, from his home for the four-mile journey to work at a bank.
Winchester College ‘cover-up’ left abuser John Smyth at large

Nov 16, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen |Harry Yorke |Caroline Wheeler

A damning report on the worst abuse scandal in Church of England history shows that a “cover-up” by Winchester College left the attacker at large for more than 30 years after he was unmasked. Last week Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, resigned after the Makin review found he had mishandled abuse allegations against John Smyth, an acquaintance and barrister who has been called the “most prolific serial abuser” in church history.
Electric car prices slashed by a third to meet net-zero sales targets

Nov 9, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

Car makers are selling electric vehicles at record discounts of up to a third as they come under pressure to reach end-of-year targets. Firms are fined £15,000 for each car by which they fall short of a mandatory government quota, so are cutting prices by similar amounts to shift more stock.
How dozens of hidden cameras are catching Britain’s fly-tippers

Nov 2, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

If Britain’s roadsides could speak they would tell sordid tales of drug deals and illicit affairs, but mostly of clandestine dumping of van-loads of rubbish. Now a group of volunteers on a mission to clean up highways and lanes has set about installing 100 hidden cameras at fly-tipping hotspots across the country. They aim to use the images they capture to track down perpetrators and report them to the authorities.
Lost at the station? Follow the blind inventor’s navigation app

Oct 26, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

It is, admittedly, one of life’s more trivial annoyances, but one that exasperates many. Why are smartphone navigation apps not accurate enough to show us which way to turn when getting off a bus, or leaving the train or Tube? Despite their vast wealth and technical resources, Apple and Google leave users to pace back and forth until the blue locator dot on the phone gives a clue by moving decisively one way or the other.
Britain to axe up to 1.5m lampposts - see how it would look

Oct 26, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

Around 1.5 million of Britain’s 7.2 million lampposts could be removed to save money and reduce carbon emissions and replaced with lighting that will make it safer for pedestrians. Under existing rules, there is no requirement to light pavements for pedestrians. They are only lit because light spills over from lampposts, which were principally installed to make it safer for motorists.
The Home Office high-flyer cultivated by Soviet spies

Oct 19, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

‘I was Russian spy, says MI5 man’s wife,” ran the headline in The Sunday Times on July 17, 1983. In the accompanying piece, Jenifer Hart was recorded as saying: “I never felt much loyalty to my country, but don’t say that.”The article was published on the eve of an interview Hart had given to Timewatch, the BBC history programme.
I lost my son to a car crash. Teen driving laws must get tough

Oct 19, 2024 | thetimes.com | Nicholas Hellen

In the 11 months since her only son, Harvey, 17, died in a car crash, Crystal Owen has found herself obsessively returning to one question: what more could she have done to stop him accepting a lift from another teenager? The driver, Hugo Morris, 18, had held his driving licence for only six months and 16 days when he drove three school friends, Harvey and Jevon Hirst, 16, and Wilfred Fitchett, 17, to Snowdonia. The silver Ford Fiesta plunged into a drainage ditch and overturned.