Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Thursday, 09 May 2024

BBC News

• All Northern Trains services cancelled for one dayNorthern Trains services across Yorkshire will not run on Thursday due to strikes.
• Completing A9 dualling 'matter of honour' - SalmondThe former first minister says the SNP government he led wanted to improve safety on the road.
• London Underground criticised over Tube panicA rail safety body reports on why passengers smashed windows to escape a Clapham Common Tube train.
• TfL pays out thousands in device clash refundsWatchdog London Travelwatch brands the figures from Transport for London
• E-gate outage lessons 'must be learnt'The airport technology failure means the government has to
• Whistleblower: Boeing supplier sent faulty partsA former quality inspector for Spirit AeroSystems claims he found many defects on parts due for shipping.

Financial Times

• Europe's legacy airlines are still struggling to take offMost carriers are trading at a discount to historic multiples
• Uber's results hit by legal costs after decade of regulatory battlesFirst-quarter operating profit sharply misses analysts expectations after payouts related to driver lawsuits
• Alstom starts to repair its financial train wreckBefore investors give the French group much more credit, they will want to see evidence that it can avoid nasty shocks
• Air India Express cancels flights after hundreds of crew call in sickDisruption comes as Tata Sons works to overhaul the airline it purchased in 2022

The Guardian

• Struggling train maker Alstom plans to cut debt with €1bn rights issueDelayed orders from clients hit French manufacturer, including at Derby site where 1,300 jobs are at risk
• What went wrong with the electronic passport gates at UK airports?Passengers waited more than three hours for passport checks on Tuesday, as the country’s 270 e-gates malfunctionedThousands of passengers were left waiting in queues for more than three hours at airports, on Tuesday evening, after a nationwide failure of the electronic passport gate technology system.Nearly all major British airports were affected as the country’s 270 e-gates, the automated facial recognition systems at the border, were closed for more than four hours. Continue reading...

Times Online

• The Times view on railways: Red Signal. [subscription]Labour’s regressive renationalisation plan is a gift to the industry’s unions. Starved of private sector input, the proposed state behemoth will surely atrophy
• Alstom taps shareholders for €1bn. [subscription]The French-owned trainmaker is launching a rights issue as part of a refinancing package aimed at avoiding a downgrade in its credit rating
• Ford refuses to shift into electric gear. [subscription]ritain was a different country when Ford could command as much as a fifth of the new car sales market. The latest data shows that so far this year Ford sales have plummeted 20 per cent. It now has less than 8 per cent of the market. Nevertheless, the US motor giant is still responsible for the single best-selling model, the Ford Puma, spiritual heir to the vastly popular Fiesta.
• John Swinney will examine permanent end to peak rail fares. [subscription]The trial, which started in October of last year, has been ‘effective’ but ‘needs to be paid for’

Daily Record

• Return of peak ScotRail fares slammed as 'short-sighted, irresponsible folly'The return of eye-watering peak-time fares around double the cost of normal train tickets is expected this summer despite anger from unions and campaigners.

The Mirror

• EXCLUSIVE: British railway bosses 'leech' taxpayers of £1.5billion in dividends in just seven yearsRailway bosses who own the UK's 'rolling stock' have existed since the Tories' controversial privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s – but is this system really working for every day Brits?

Birmingham Post

• Aviation maintenance firm chaired by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden expands to Cardiff AirportCaerdav has invested in a dedicated line maintenance station

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Why MP Kim Leadbeater wants restrictions on new driversAn MP has introduced a bill in Parliament calling for restrictions on young drivers - after meeting with a bereaved Bradford dad.

Rail Business Daily

• Decisions needed now to deliver a better more sustainable railway in the futureThe Railway Industry Association’s (RIA) Technical Director has presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group (APPRG), explaining how vital it is that the Government makes decisions on infrastructure and rolling stock which will help the sector deliver a better and more sustainable railway for passengers and taxpayers in the future.

Other News Sources

• Ministry of Defence wagon to become part of weedkilling trainThe Rail Trolley Trust and locomotive collector Andrew Briddon have jointly bought a former Ministry of Defence (MoD) standard gauge trailer and will fit it with weedkiller spraying equipment.
• Free bus travel between Winchester and Romsey on SundaysStagecoach will be offering free travel later this month and Sundays next month to celebrate the launch of frequency buses along a major route in Hampshire.
• Changes to Surrey bus timetables this May with Guildford, Redhill and Heathrow affectedMetrobus and Stagecoach services will be impacted