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

Thursday, 26 September 2019

BBC News

• Scotland's public transport firms face legal action over access for allScotland's human rights watchdog vows to tackle discrimination against disabled and older passengers.
• Heaton Park Heritage tramway closed after cable theftA tramway dating back to 1903 is closed
• Wrightbus: 1,200 job losses confirmed as firm enters administrationAbout 50 posts will be kept after the firm, best known for the
• Thomas Cook holidaymakers and crew 'can leave' Cuba, says CAAThe Civil Aviation Authority says flights have been arranged to get Thomas Cook holidaymakers back.

ITV News

• Merseyrail launches WhatsApp customer service channelMerseyrail has launched a new WhatsApp service for passengers as part of its commitment to real-time customer service.

Financial Times

• Unions denounce Thomas Cook collapse as ‘national scandal’UK government’s loan refusal under scrutiny after Berlin rescues group’s Condor airline
• Northern Ireland’s Wrightbus collapsesFailure of company behind London’s double-decker ‘Boris Bus’ leaves 1,200 workers redundant
• Virgin and Wizz Air eye Thomas Cook’s Gatwick slotsTake-off and landing assets likely to fuel bidding war as airlines seek extra capacity

The Guardian

• Thomas Cook directors could have bonuses seized, suggests ShappsTransport secretary outlines available options for penalising bosses of collapsed travel firmThe transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has suggested that Thomas Cook directors could have some of their bonuses seized or be disqualified from serving as directors after the tour operator’s implosion.Speaking in the House of Commons, Shapps outlined options for penalising directors available to the official receiver, a government employee overseeing Thomas Cook’s liquidation. He said the official receiver could “seek to overturn a range of transactions made prior to the liquidation, which includes thi...
• Ryanair urge UK pilots to transfer overseas or face job lossesAirline says numbers must be reduced at bases such as Stansted and ManchesterRyanair has written to UK pilots asking them to take unpaid leave or transfer to other bases abroad, saying they could otherwise join the 9,000 job losses at Thomas Cook.The airline, which reported profits of €1bn (£886m) in May, told its pilots that a “significant surplus of pilots must be reducedâ€� at UK bases including Stansted and Manchester, and that it was encouraging them to take up to 12 months of unpaid leave. Continue reading...
• Thomas Cook had £3.1bn hole in balance sheet before collapseChief executive tells high court company also rejected seven offers for parts of its businessThomas Cook’s chief executive has revealed the travel company had a balance sheet black hole of more than £3.1bn before its collapse on Monday.In a witness statement to the high court, Peter Fankhauser also said the company had received seven non-binding offers for parts of its business under a strategic review, all of which were rejected by Thomas Cook’s board and lenders. Continue reading...
• Grant Shapps lifts sections of speech from Chris GraylingExclusive: minister’s speech on Thomas Cook collapse follows text of predecessor’s 2017 statement on Monarch AirlinesIf there was a previous transport secretary that the incumbent, Grant Shapps, might hope not to imitate, it would surely be his notoriously calamity-stricken predecessor Chris Grayling.But just a few months after his return to the cabinet after several years out in the cold, Shapps appears to have followed Grayling’s example rather too closely – lifting sections of his speech to the House of Commons on the collapse of Thomas Cook from Grayling’s equivalent statement when Monarch...

The Independent

• Maker of 'Boris Bus' collapses into administration, with 1,200 jobs lostFirm behind London's New Routemaster buses has been grappling with lower demand for its vehicles

The Scotsman

• Driverless cars could create ‘all-day rush hours’, campaigners warnDriverless cars could massively worsen congestion and create all-day rush hours, sustainable transport campaigners fear.

Times Online

• MSPs approve world’s most ambitious climate targets [subscription]New legislation aimed at tackling climate change means Scotland has the world’s most ambitious targets, the Scottish environment secretary said.
• 1,200 jobs go as ‘Boris bus’ maker Wrightbus fails [subscription]It was the bus manufacturer cast into the limelight after winning contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to build the Boris Bus, the reimagination of the red Routemaster buses, for London when Boris Johnson, the prime minister, was the capital’s mayor.
• Thomas Cook: Familiar ring to Grant Shapps’s statement [subscription]The transport secretary was criticised when he appeared to repeat almost word for word parts of a statement made by his predecessor when the last big British travel business collapsed.
• Hail the cab: driving is favourite route to second income [subscription]Catching a cab should never be a problem again if government statistics are to be believed.
• Thomas Cook Scandinavian Airlines takes to skiesThomas Cook’s Scandinavian operation has resumed flying after securing a loan from a Norwegian bank pending the search for a buyer.

Belfast Telegraph

• PM urged to intervene as ‘Boris bus’ maker Wrightbus goes into administrationBoris Johnson has been urged to “do something decentâ€� and intervene on behalf of one of the UK’s main bus manufacturers as it went into administration.
• Wrightbus: Owners 'devastated' as Ballymena firm enters administration with 1,200 jobs lost The owners of Wrightbus have said they are

Birmingham Mail

• HS2 high speed rail line 'will create new services from Birmingham'Supporters of the proposed HS2 high speed line say the benefits of the controversial project haven't been properly explained. The London to Birmingham scheme is currently under review.

Birmingham Post

• Plans being looked at to redesign flight paths into and out of East Midlands AirportThere are up to 76,000 air movements each year from the Castle Donington airport
• RRS Sir David Attenborough set for Cammell Laird naming as Duke and Duchess of Cambridge head to Birkenhead shipyardThe Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend - as will Sir David Attenborough himself, for the official naming of the ship originally voted to be called 'Boaty McBoatface'
• HS2 'will create more frequent' services for Birmingham and West MidlandsTransport body Midlands Connect says the knock-on benefits of the new high-speed line will also be felt by communities not served by it directly
• We will buy cars online like groceries within a decade"Dealerships certainly won't disappear, but they will continue to evolve."

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Northern Rail spruces up old fleet with £80 million projectNORTHERN Rail is well on its way with another investment project after two-thirds of its trains completed an initial refurbishment.
• Action group formed and legal action threatened over new parking schemeA residents' action group has been formed in Ilkley to fight the new parking scheme which is making their lives a misery.
• Cycling fever as landmark day edges near CYCLING fever has taken over Bradford as the city's landmark day approaches this weekend.

Bristol Live

• Temple Meads to London Paddington train takes just 71 minutes in record-breaking journeyIt is the fastest time recorded since 1976
• Pupils who spent seven years building an actual plane will now fly it"I can’t wait to go up in the plane, and see all the students from back then. It will be a very moving day.â€�

Manchester Evening News

• Stockport train station is like '1970s horror movie', says council chief“When you compare it to other decent-sized stations - multi-lane stations like York and places like that - it is an absolute eyesore"

Blackpool Gazette

• Northern blasted over ongoing weekend train misery for passengersTrains operator Northern has been told to "come clean" with passengers over ongoing cancellations and delays at weekends.

Cambridge News

• Train line between London and Cambridge to receive an upgradeCommuters are set to benefit from an upgrade in the train line linking Cambridge to London.
• Upgrades to railway will leave Fenland with 13 weekends of replacement busesWeekend travelling will become a nightmare but the upgrades will reduce overcrowding on the busy line

East Anglian Daily Times

• First new trains reach Woodbridge, Beccles, Saxmundham and HalesworthGreater Anglia has run its first tests on new trains due to come into service on the East Suffolk line between Ipswich and Lowestoft.

Other Regional Press

• Figures reveal one in six Borders Railway trains were delayed during four-week period ending last monthFigures released this week reveal that the number of delays hitting the Borders Railway was back into double percentage figures for the three months to mid-August.
• New trains to run on Caledonian Sleeper’s Inverness service from next month£150 million Sleeper carriages will be more than a year late when they arrive on the Highland line in October.

Train Operators

• Special GWR train run posts modern speed recordA new modern speed record has been set on a train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington to celebrate the release of Great Western Railway’s new timetable, which comes into effect on 15 December.

Rail Technology Magazine

• New rail testing scheme launched for small businessesBusinesses in the West Midlands are being offered subsidised access to test and trial facilities as a way to boost railway innovation. The University of Birmingham has joined forces with Quinton Rail Technology Centre (QRTC) to offer access to the UK’s only privately owned and independent...
• Improved rail services for East Anglia New route, extra services and more seats for rail passengers in East Anglia Greater Anglia’s transformation of the East Anglia is set to continue later this year with a complete fleet of new trains. Sunday 15 December will see the start of the December timetable, introducing a...

Railnews

• Third open train doors error in just over a year The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been notified of another incident of doors being opened wrongly – the third in just over a year. In this case several passengers jumped down on to the line, because the doors involved were not next to a platform at Hockley in Essex on 23 September. One witness said ˜this could have been so much worse had there been a visually impaired passenger awaiting to disembark™. Another open doors incident was reported at Hockley last month, while a Jubilee Line train also left a station with some doors open in September last year.

Aviation Industry

• Boeing to add safety oversight; examine flight deck design, trainingBoeing is adding a top-level layer of safety oversight, implementing early lessons learned during the ongoing 737 MAX crisis. read more
• Hong Kong Airlines opens new training academyHong Kong Airlines opened a new training academy for flight and cabin crews Sept. 25. read more
• Beijing Daxing airport opens, adds over 40% capacityBeijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) opened on Sept. 25, initially adding more than 40% to the air-passenger capacity of China’s national capital and second-largest city. read more

Other News Sources

• High-speed train breaks record for fastest journey between Temple Meads and PaddingtonWithout stopping at any stations or encountering any leaves on the line, a train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington set a new speed record on Tuesday evening.
• Campaigners call for investment in East Coast Mainline to boost whole regionAn ambitious campaign to get essential infrastructure funding for the East Coast Mainline is to be officially launched by North East England Chamber of Commerce.
• ScotRail says Fife improvements ‘June 2020 at earliest’Fifers will now have to wait until at least June next year to see improvements on the railways, despite earlier assurances that it would happen by the end of this year.
• Heathrow CEO: Aviation sector must set net-zero plan 'as soon as possible'Heathrow Airport's chief executive John Holland-Kaye has joined the growing calls for the aviation sector to implement a net-zero strategy, claiming that "imposing punitive costs" will not deter people from flying less.