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

Saturday, 04 January 2020

BBC News

• Wales transport: Electric car sales up, but what next?New car sales hit rock bottom in 2019, but could alternative fuels power a boom?
• Hial air traffic controllers pay dispute 'resolved'The row involving employees of Highlands and Islands Airports Limited started in April last year.
• Greater Manchester bus campaigners hand petition to mayorGreater Manchester may become the first region outside of London to bring buses back under public control.
• Energy firms to pay £10.5m over August power cutThe power cut left more than a million people without electricity and severely affected rail services.

ITV News

• Half of all TransPennine Express trains between Newcastle and Liverpool cancelled until the end of JanuaryHalf of all TransPennine Express services between Newcastle and Liverpool have been taken out of the timetable until the end of January, following several weeks of disruption and cancellations during December.

Financial Times

• Tesla starts 2020 with a bounce as deliveries surgeShares in electric carmaker hit a high as last quarter sets new record

The Independent

• Why the LNER cheap single ticket trial won’t end rail fare rip-offsExperience shows that the veracity of many statements made by politicians of every hue can be improved by adding or subtracting the word “not”.
• How to get cheap train tickets from London to the north using new LNER fare trialLondon-Manchester peak rail fare falls 58 per cent, if you ask for the right train ticket

Times Online

• Delivery vans disappearing from towns [subscription]The number of delivery vans on Britain’s roads has dropped by its biggest level in a decade amid warnings of a shift in online shopping habits.
• South Western rail strike: hundreds of trains cancelled despite end of walkout [subscription]One of the country’s biggest train operators has been forced to cancel hundreds of trains because staff spent so long on strike that they had to be retrained.
• Airbus plans flocks of planes to save fuel and carbon emissions [subscription]Flocks of planes could soon be winging their way together across the oceans in the manner of migrating geese.

City AM

• Tesla shares hit record highs as firm beats vehicle delivery estimatesShares in Elon Musk’s Tesla today hit record highs after the firm beat Wall Street estimates for annual vehicle deliveries [...] The post Tesla shares hit record highs as firm beats vehicle delivery estimates appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• Planes could fly together in V-shaped flocks to save fuel and cut down on emissionsAirbus says flight technology is now mature enough to use a V-shaped formation like migrating birds which would allow aircraft to follow each other and glide in their slipstreams.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Rail performance in West Yorkshire fell 'significantly' in last few months of 2019 POOR performance of local rail routes have been highlighted in a new report, that says one rail company offered “exceptionally bad levels of disruption.â€�
• Proposed cycling routes would link city centre to South of District MULTI-MILLION pound plans to create a new cycleway between Bradford city centre and the South of the district have been revealed.
• Queensbury Tunnel campaigners hit out over 'bloody-minded' refusal to pause closure plans CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save the historic Queensbury Tunnel have accused Highways England of a

Bristol Live

• Bristol Waste chief requests use of bus lanes for his refuse trucksWaste trucks in Bristol could use the city's bus lanes if the boss of Bristol Waste has his way.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Transport for Wales broke Welsh language rules nine times, according to leaked reportThe Welsh Language Commissioner has been looking into apparent failures by the train operator

London Evening Standard

• Pollution from Heathrow planes is reaching central London, study showsPollution from planes using Heathrow airport has been detected in central London, researchers revealed today. A breakthrough study by King’s College London is the first to find that airports are a major source of ultra-fine particles that are harmful to health.

Manchester Evening News

• Campaigners march through Manchester city centre to deliver 11,000 strong petition for better busesThe march on Friday lunchtime was timed to coincide with the final week of a public consultation on the region's bus network

Sheffield Star

• Call for control of South Yorkshire's bus services to be brought back into public controlA call to end deregulation of local bus services has been made in a move which would hark back to a different political era in South Yorkshire.

The York Press

• Auction follows East Yorkshire rail cafe closureA HISTORIC railway cafe in East Yorkshire has closed its doors for the last time.

Yorkshire Post

• This is why stripping Northern of its franchise wouldn't solve Yorkshire's rail issuesDelays, cancellations, old trains, staff shortages, strikes and bungled timetable chaos. Northern has seen it all in the three years since Arriva took over the franchise from previous operators Serco-Abellio, who ran it under the Northern Rail brand.

Cambridge News

• A14 upgrade closes busy cycle route and part of Guided Busway for a monthThe Guided Busway will be closed near Impington Bridge and Histon
• 'Bad parking in Cambridge is getting out of hand'This isn't the first time a resident has been frustrated by bad parking in the city

Other Regional Press

• Railway station platforms set to be extended to accommodate longer trainsPlanning permission is not required for the works, but as Eggesford Station is a Grade II listed structure, Mid Devon must granted Listed Building Consent for the works.
• But rail company says best autumn in 5 years shows improvements are happeningTHE fact that more than 1,000 trains running through Inverkeithing station to Edinburgh have been cancelled over the past two years underlines the problems that people relying on rail links with the capital from Cardenden, Lochgelly and Cowdenbeath rail stations have been facing.
• Public invited to information session on £3.9m improvement to Crawley train stationPassengers and residents in the Crawley area are invited to a drop-in session to find out more about the upcoming Access for All station improvement project.
• Glasgow Airport slammed over security queue ‘shambles’AIRPORT bosses have come under fire as lengthy queues at security sparked ‘chaotic’ scenes this morning.
• Stagecoach blasted for 'cynical' bus consultation timingStagecoach is being criticised for consulting its passengers on timetable changes for just six days over the New Year period.
• Reading continues to buck national trend with bus trips up againREADING is bucking the national trend when it comes to bus trips, with 900,000 more last year, bringing the total up to 22.5 million trips.
• Transport Secretary Grant Shapps 'too busy' to discuss Oxford-Cambridge ExpresswayTHE Transport Secretary has already failed on his general election pledge to review plans for a multi-billion road scheme, campaigners have said.
• TransPennine cancel hundreds of January services for Huddersfield passengersThey have blamed the roll-out of a new fleet of trains for the mass cancellations

Rail Advent

• Network Rail thanks passengers after South Wales Christmas upgradeNetwork Rail is thanking passengers in South Wales and lineside neighbours in Cardiff and Newport today as upgrade work on the railway over the festive period is now complete.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Northern responds to uncertain future of the franchiseRail operators Northern Railway has responded to a statement made by Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, yesterday (Jan 2) setting out plans to strip Northern of their franchise. David Brown, managing director at Northern, said: “It’s on record that the Northern franchise has faced...
• Snowdon Mountain Railway unveils plans for hybrid diesel locomotivesSnowdon Mountain Railway (SMR) have announced new plans for hybrid diesel locomotives to operate on its line, as it aims to address climate concerns.

Other News Sources

• The source of Northern Rail’s problems isn’t the franchise holder: it’s the governmentArriva is to have its Northern rail franchise revoked, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced, due to repeated delays and poor service.
• Rail franchises are ‘making people’s lives a misery’, says Greater Manchester Mayor Andy BurnhamWe speak to the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
• Council addresses possibility of Brighton car banA COUNCIL has had its say over the possibility of banning cars from a city centre.