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

Sunday, 18 August 2019

BBC News

• Dutch firm Abellio takes over East Midlands rail franchiseAbellio, which will run the rail franchise for the next eight years, promises £600m of investment.
• New board to oversee completion of Ferguson ferriesThe new board will try to secure the cheapest delivery of two CalMac ferries at the now nationalised shipyard.

ITV News

• Car parking charges introduced at railway stations across the West Midlands Railway networkCar parking charges will come into force at Coleshill Parkway station on Sunday, with a daily rate of £3. Charges are being introduced at a number of stations across the West Midlands Railway network.

The Guardian

• Travellers pay price as rail policy runs out of controlAs fares rise again, it would be nice to see some coherent decisions in Whitehall. any commuters will have been on holiday, and off the railways, when large parts of the network were shut down in a power blackout nine days ago. But they were in the dark, or powerless, in other matters too. Last week the government announced a perplexing decision for Britain’s major intercity route, the west coast mainline, on the same day passengers were digesting news of another rise in fare prices.
• Hands off our treasured railway, say locals in Sóller, MallorcaAnonymous investors have launched a hostile €25m bid for Sóller’s locally owned heritage train link to Palma
• May I have a word about… commuter woesBosses can use all the technology they like to monitor our journeys, but what we really want is a bit of human interaction

Times Online

• Channel ports: up to 85% of lorries travelling to France will not be ready for new customs rules [subscription]Chaos at the border could last for up to three months after a no-deal before it eases slightly — but the flow of lorries may still be half of its current level by January.
• Flights for sale on ‘deathtrap’ 737s [subscription]Thousands of passengers are being sold tickets for flights on Boeing aircraft that are still officially grounded after two crashes took the lives of 346 people.
• No-deal Brexit preparations: the leaked Operation Yellowhammer document [subscription]When the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union in October 2019, all rights and reciprocal arrangements with the EU end.

The National

• Scotrail U-turn over toilets will cause real distressA RECENT study from Edinburgh University showed that Scotland may have some of the highest known rates of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in the world – with an urgent need to use a toilet one of the most common and debilitating symptoms of the conditions.

Birmingham Mail

• £20m Sutton Coldfield bus station plan 'creates one too many' and 'splits' town centre say Eco Sutton groupTransport for West Midlands is consulting on a new bus 'interchange' by the railway station funded by Government HS2 cash

London Evening Standard

• Meet the man wowing commuters with 'boxing-style' train announcementsA Transport for London announcer who has become an online sensation with his energetic boxing-style train introductions says he loves being able to brighten up people's journeys to work.
• Airport security worker sacked after handing passenger note which said 'you ugly'An airport security guard at a New York airport has been fired after she handed a

Northern Echo

• Calls for developer to get on with Yarm railway car park extensionA HOUSING developer is hopeful a long-awaited extension for a railway station car park will come this autumn.

The York Press

• Bus firm apologises as A64 again hit by long traffic queuesMOTORISTS and bus passengers have again faced congestion and delays on the A64 near York today, with long queues developing on the eastbound carriageway near the Grimston Bar roundabout.
• Coastliner apologises for cancelled services on Scarborough-York routeA BUS company has apologised after scores of passengers heading back from the coast were stranded at Malton and then left to stand all the way to York and Leeds.

Yorkshire Post

• Could the Harrogate to Ripon railway line really re-open?A campaign group has raised the possibility of a 50-year-old rail link between Harrogate and Ripon being reinstated - but could it actually happen?

North Wales Live

• Beluga XL's giant size sees Airbus Broughton plan hangar extension The company wants to expand the Beluga Line Station at Hawarden Airport in Flintshire

Other Regional Press

• Campaigners say Airport bus services should not be dependent on expansion plansThe 24 hour 'on-demand' bus services will run from Nailsea and Backwell train station while another service will start in Clevedon, stopping at Yatton train station and Cleeve en route to the airport.
• Ely-Norwich Train Fares To Be Capped After Monopoly ProbeTrain passengers travelling between Ely and Norwich will see their fares capped following a CMA investigation.
• Cambrian Railway Line chosen as 'one of world's most scenic'The Cambrian Line has been selected to feature in two national TV documentaries which showcase the world’s most scenic railway journeys, Transport for Wales has announced.
• Hove neighbours furious as Network Rail cuts down treesANGRY neighbours have confronted chainsaw-wielding workmen in a last-ditch attempt to save dozens of acacias being felled by Network Rail.
• Exclusive: Only three out of ten Yorkshire people have faith in Boris Johnson's transport promises for the NorthFewer than three out of ten people in Yorkshire have faith in Boris Johnson’s promise to deliver improved transport links in the North, new polling has revealed.

Train Operators

• First new Greater Anglia trains for Norwich to Cambridge line Greater Anglia’s brand-new trains are now in passenger service on the Norwich to Cambridge line. The first new train in passenger service on the route was Tuesday’s 6.33 Norwich-Cambridge service, served by a Stadler bi-mode train, which can switch between diesel and electric power.

Rail Advent

• c2c apologise for Smartcard issuesc2c has apologised and thanked its passsengers after a bumpy year regarding its Smartcards.
• Extra trains for Cromer Carnival from Greater AngliaGreater Anglia has announced it is running additional train services to coincide with this year’s Cromer Carnival.

Railway Gazette

• Road-rail shunter deliveredBELARUS: A scrap metal processing company has taken delivery of a TMV-2 road-rail shunter developed by Russian manufacturer Uralvagonzavod. The contract includes commissioning, staff training and maintenance.

Other News Sources

• More frequent trains and a new station for the London OvergroundThe government has approved transport upgrade funding along the London Overground for more frequent trains and a new station at Surrey Canal Road, to unlock additional housing developments.
• Train fares from Maidenhead and Slough to London to increase by up to £89Rail fares could go up by almost three per cent in 2020. The increase is based on the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation measure for July of 2.8 per cent, published yesterday (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics.
• Japan's past and future trains float and roll at SCMaglev and Railway ParkCheck out the Maglevs, bullet trains, steam locomotives, and more at Nagoya's incredible train museum.