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

Wednesday, 02 January 2019

Cogitamus

• 🚄 ⛴ 🚛 🚗 Happy New Year ! 🚋 🚲 ✈️ 🚌Everyone at Cogitamus Limited would like to wish all our TransportInfo readers a very happy and prosperous 2019.

BBC News

• Bikes for disabilities in Cardiff Nextbike share scheme planPeople with disabilities will be able to hire adapted bikes as a share scheme expands across Cardiff.
• Prestwick Airport's government debt rises to £38.4mThe amount owed to the Scottish government by the publicly-owned facility went up from £30m last year to £38.4m.
• Brexit ferry firm Seaborne Freight 'will get no money upfront'Seaborne Freight will not receive cash unless it runs a ferry service, the Department for Transport says.
• Rail fares rise by 3.1% in England and WalesThe price hike comes into force on Wednesday despite a 13-year low in punctuality across the network.

The Guardian

• Rail users to mount 'national day of action' over 3.1% fare risePassengers will protest at stations across UK after year of strikes and falling punctuality
• Four reasons why Guardian readers hate taking the train1. They are expensive

The Scotsman

• Rail fare rise: Paying more for poor service – leader comment Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/rail-fare-rise-paying-more-for-poor-service-leader-comment-1-4850832 Rail fares have soared in recent years and commuters may respond by taking to the roads, causing increased congestion and air pollution.

Times Online

• Fifth of foreign hauliers don’t pay Dartford Crossing toll [subscription]Tens of thousands of foreign lorry drivers are failing to pay tolls on Britain’s busiest motorway as the number of fines hits a record high.
• Green bus grant for Glasgow low emission zone [Subscription]Ministers have announced more than £1 million in funding for green buses as Scotland’s first low emission zone comes into force in Glasgow.
• Dreams of extending state control are about to run into the buffers [Subscription]So another year ends. I’m not one for reflecting on each passing year’s highlights or lowlights, nor for trying to predict what the next one might bring.
• Times Letters: Improving the privatised railway network [Subscription]Sir, You suggest that rail tickets in the UK are expensive compared with the high level of public subsidy for networks in Europe (“Believe it or not our trains are on the right track”, Comment, Dec 28).
• Commuters hit hard as train fares rise three times faster than wages [Subscription]Train fares have risen almost three times faster than wages since the start of the decade despite anger about delays, overcrowding and strikes.
• Novice ferry operator ’not ready for a no‑deal Brexit’ [Subscription]Concern has been raised that a British company would be unable to run extra ferries in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Mail Online

• Hidden design secrets of an airport revealed: From an undulating roof that aids navigation to colours that reassure – how Heathrow Terminal 2's looks were VERY carefully worked outTerminal 2’s 540,000-square-foot wavy roof is eye-catching – but it serves a purpose, too. It helps passengers navigate their way through the building.

Bolton News

• Diamond Buses announces prise rises across its serviceONE of the companies which took over abandoned bus routes in February has announced price rises.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Fare cheats' could be behind rise in passengers using Frizinghall stationTHE number of people using a Bradford rail station rose by 17 per cent in the past year, but it is thought the reason could partly be down to passenger dishonesty.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Anger at great train ’rip-off’ as punctuality falls and passengers face fares hike Passengers are being “ripped off” by an increase in rail fares as punctuality across the network plummets to a 13-year low, it has been claimed.

London Evening Standard

• 26-30 railcard: Millennial pass to go on general sale TODAYThe Millennial Railcard will go on general sale at noon today allowing people aged between 26 and 30 discounted train fares.
• Rail passengers stage 'national day of action' in protest at fare increasesRail passengers are staging a 'national day of action' today in protest at fare increases.

Northern Echo

• Middlesbrough MP criticises rail fare hike as train punctuality fallsAndy McDonald, Middlesbrough MP and Labour's shadow transport secretary claimed the latest increases are "an affront to everyone who has had to endure years of chaos on Britain's railways" after the cost of many rail season tickets rose by more than £100.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Bus services to launch on AWPR within weeksBus users will soon be able to benefit from speedier journeys with the launch of the first services on the long-awaited AWPR later this month.

Wales Online

• Rail fares are going up again from today and this is what it means for the cost of your journeyMore passengers in Wales will have to pay £1,000-plus to travel to work by train

Yorkshire Post

• ’Kick in the wallet’ for hard-pressed rail users in Yorkshire as fares go up Yorkshire’s long-suffering rail users will get a punishing “kick in the wallet” today as controversial fare rises take effect after a year blighted by timetable chaos and strike action.

Other Regional Press

• Glasgow’s biggest bus firm given cash to buy low emission vehiclesGlasgow’s biggest bus firm has been awarded cash to help buy more low emission buses.
• Station links to East Lancashire must be improved says reportIMPROVING passenger access to trains travelling to Blackburn, Accrington, Burnley, Nelson and Colne has been identified as a priority in a report on the future development of Preston railway station for the Lancashire Enterprise partnership.

Rail Magazine

• "Passengers won’t believe this is not fake news!" - Transport Focus Chief on fare increasesTransport Focus has criticised today’s fare rises. Chief Executive Anthony Smith said: “Passengers won’t believe this is not fake news! Rail fares are going up in January after a year blighted by timetable chaos, poor performance and strikes. Until day-to-day reliability returns, with fewer significant delays and cancellations, passenger trust won’t begin to recover.
• Campaign for Better Transport criticises fare risesCampaign for Better Transport has criticised the Government’s decision to press ahead with a rail fare rise of 3.2% today (January 2).
• Greenwood: rail fares rise “a real kick in the teeth”Rail fares are to rise by an average of 3.1% on January 2 2019, with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) claiming that it’s the fourth time in the past six years that fares have been held below the previous July’s Retail Price Index (RPI) rate.

Aviation Industry

• ATW’s 2019 Airline Industry Market ForecastThe world’s airlines are expected to post a collective net profit of $32.3 billion in 2018 and to follow that with a $35.5 billion net profit in 2019, which will be the industry’s 10th consecutive year of profitability. But maintaining that positive trend will be no breeze. read more
• Lufthansa criticizes Fraport for long holiday security linesLufthansa has called on Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport and German border police to urgently address system problems that led to some 3,000 passengers missing their flights in the days leading to Christmas. read more
• Gatwick owners sell majority stake to French companyUS-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and its co-shareholders have passed control of London Gatwick Airport to French company Vinci Airports. read more
• Lion Air co-pilot’s family sues Boeing over MAX crashLawyers for the family of the co-pilot killed in the crash of the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 have filed a lawsuit against Boeing alleging the aircraft was “unreasonably dangerous” and that the manufacturer failed to provide proper instruction on how to handle the new narrowbody’s anti-stall system. read more
• Former FAA safety chief Tony Broderick dies, aged 75Anthony Broderick, former top safety official at FAA and aviation safety consultant, died Dec. 30 in Bealeton, Virginia, following a long illness. He was 75. read more

Other News Sources

• Brighton and Hove Buses reveals new ticket pricesBrighton and Hove Buses insists it has tried to keep price increases as low as possible.