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

Saturday, 25 June 2022

BBC News

• Birmingham Airport chief executive gets 49% pay riseNick Barton saw his pay increase to £595,000 as boss of Birmingham Airport, despite job cuts.
• Rail strike: Five train lines run in Wales amid walkoutThere will be no trains west of Cardiff nor north of Merthyr Tydfil on Saturday.
• Calls for delay to busy ferry port disruptionThe closure of Uig's pier for six months would impact on ferry services for North Uist and Harris.
• Major rail route reopens after lorry crashes onto tracks in East LothianThe lorry crashed on to the East Coast Main Line between Wallyford and Prestonpans in East Lothian.
• Rail strikes: Travel disruptions continue after talks to stop third walkout failPeople are told to make only necessary journeys, with one in five services running on Saturday.
• TfL: Sadiq Khan warns Tube and bus cuts are imminentTransport for London has had its emergency funding deal extended until 13 July, the government says.
• Network Rail strike: Scotland likely to see more 24-hour walkoutsThe RMT's Mick Lynch says if negotiations continue to fail, Saturday's 24-hour strike may not be the last.
• Are Scotland's airports facing holiday disruption?The main summer holiday getaway has begun as schools in Glasgow and the surrounding areas break up.
• Toyota recalls electric cars over concerns about loose wheelsThe bZ4X is the Japanese motor industry giant's first mass-produced all-electric vehicle.
• Risk of further BA strikes as more staff consultedThe airline's engineers and call centre workers in the UK are being consulted over industrial action.
• Rail strikes: Travellers hit by third day of disruptionPeople are advised to only travel by train if necessary, with just a fifth of services running.

Financial Times

• No one is in charge of Britain's chaotic railwaysSince the privatisation and break-up of British Rail, train transport has proved itself ill-suited to conventional capitalism
• Third rail strike to cripple services across Britain as talks fail to reach dealTransport secretary accuses RMT union of 'damaging lives of everyday hardworking people'
• Rail strikes across Britain: FT readers share their viewsCommenters post their opinions on the walkouts and the UK's potential 'summer of discontent'

The Guardian

• London Underground workers vote for more strike actionMore than 90% of RMT members who voted back further stoppages in dispute over pensions and job cutsLondon Underground staff in the RMT union have voted to continue with strikes in a dispute over pensions and job cuts, potentially adding to disruption in a summer of industrial action on the transport network.More than 90% of the union’s members on the tube who voted, on a 53% turnout, backed further walkouts, as the RMT leadership continued to talk with Network Rail and train operating companies to resolve the national rail standoff. Continue reading...
• UK gave airlines 4.4m free pollution permits in 2021, study findsGovernment generosity meant industry could pollute for free, and airlines were left with 900,000 excess permits they could keep or sellThe UK government gave airlines nearly a quarter of a billion pounds in free pollution permits in a single year, enough for the entire industry to dodge a carbon emissions cap and trade scheme entirely, according to research.In 2021 the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS), which charges polluters per tonne of carbon emitted, handed airlines 4.4m free allowances and the industry only surrendered 3.4m back. In effect, UK taxpayers covered the entire cost of avia...

The Independent

• Rail strikes continue in Scotland for third planned day amid week of disruptionRMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said more strikes can be expected if a settlement is not reached with Network Rail and the UK's rail operators.
• Train strikes - live: Weekend travel mayhem as 80% of rail services closeRMT members at Network Rail and 13 train operators walk out over pay, pensions, jobs and conditions
• World's biggest cruise ship sent to scrapyard before ever setting sailThe 9,000-passenger vessel will be torn up for parts

The Telegraph

• Train strike timetables: All the closed routes and partial services today
• Summer holidays in jeopardy as thousands of British Airways staff threaten strike

Times Online

• I had confidence in Ferguson Marine ferries contract, says Derek Mackay [Subscription]A disgraced former SNP transport minister has provided written evidence on his involvement in the Scottish government ferries scandal.
• Dig out HS2 activists beaneath Bluebell Woods, pleads Swampy [Subscription]Britain’s best-known environmental activist has teamed up with his long-running nemesis to urge the authorities to “dig out” HS2 protesters who have spent a record 46 days underground.

City AM

• Far from over: New rail strike alert amid fears of weekend travel chaosA fresh alert has been issued to train passengers amid fears that many are reluctant to abandon leisure trips planned for Saturday despite another rail strike taking place. Only a fifth of services will run and half of lines will be closed as 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network [...] The post Far from over: New rail strike alert amid fears of weekend travel chaos appeared first on CityAM.

Daily Express

• Oil price surge: UK motorists fury as petrol hits 'miserable milestone' of 190p a litreUK MOTORISTS have erupted in fury as the price of petrol increased yet again on Friday despite falling wholesale costs.

Mail Online

• Rail strikes DON'T bring the modern world to a haltThe Transport Secretary said the RMT union, which is holding its third strike today, was not achieving the impact it had hoped for. But he warned that the industrial action was still hurting small businesses.
• Airports are thrown into chaos AGAIN as school holidays startShocking scenes from Melbourne Airport show passengers waiting in huge lines on the first Saturday of the break, after many started arriving from 6am.
• TfL can now issue £160 PCNs to drivers for entering cycle lanesTfL has taken advantage of new rules introduced earlier this month that allow local authorities to enforce moving traffic offences in their areas.
• Train strikes; Now London Underground and Greater Anglia workers threaten summer industrial actionMembers of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union have taken strike action on the London Underground in recent weeks, including a 24-hour walkout on Tuesday.
• Spain crushes Ryanair strike by making it ILLEGAL for most staff to walkout amid airport chaosThe first of six days of strikes by the budget airline is going largely unnoticed today, as travellers around Europe face hours-long delays due to staff shortages.

The Mirror

• Rail chaos continues as workers stage third 24-hour strike in a week todayPassengers have been told to only travel if necessary with strikes leaving half of train lines shut and as little as a fifth of rail services running on Saturday
• All train routes affected by rail strike today and when walkouts will endUnion railway employees are striking for the third time in a week today (June 25) over pay, work conditions and job threat disputes in action set to cripple services nationwide once again

This is Money

• Tesla factories losing billions due to battery shortages and China woeThe electric car maker's chief exec (pictured) said in an interview that both its Texas and Berlin factories were 'gigantic money furnaces right now,'

Sky News

• Third day of rail strikes set to cause weekend disruption - with no trains running in some popular seaside townsThousands of people with weekend plans will face disruption as rail workers strike for the third day this week.

Belfast Telegraph

• Rail strikes continue in Scotland for third planned day amid week of disruptionA third planned 24-hour rail strike will go ahead today after a week of major disruption to Scotland's train network.

Birmingham Mail

• New cycle hire locations in Sutton Coldfield to be introducedThe West Midlands Cycle Hire Scheme has been deemed a success in Sutton Coldfield but three docks that have had low use are set to be relocated

Birmingham Post

• Bristol Airport named best in Europe for eco initiativesThe airport won the accolade jointly with Istanbul Airport in Turkey

Bolton News

• Clean Air Zone set to be decided next weekA decision is due on the controversial Clean Air Zone next week.
• UK drivers told to make two simple changes to save hundreds each year on petrolThe average price of petrol was a record 189.3p per litre, which the AA branded “a disgraceâ€�.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Fuel protest details as farmers and hauliers to join 40 mile 'go-slow' this weekend on A55, A494 and M56Co-organiser John Griffiths says around 50 vehicles to take part as drivers are crippled by high prices

Liverpool Echo

• 'Scared' strikers struggling to pay bills 'can't afford not to strike'"Everybody is hurting. There are people over there now who are experiencing real poverty"
• Cruise liner that's like a floating art gallery sails into LiverpoolEuropa 2 is one of the smaller vessels but has been named the 'number-one cruise ship in the world'
• Weekend motorway closures: Delays expected as works take over M57Delays are expected this weekend

Northern Echo

• East Coast Mainline between Edinburgh and Newcastle reopens after lorry crashA MAJOR rail route in the North East has reopened nearly 24 hours after a lorry struck the east coast mainline in East Lothian on Thursday.

The York Press

• 'Once-in-a-lifetime' chance to make city centre junction pedestrian friendlyHIGHWAYS bosses are being urged to use a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' to make a key York city centre junction more pedestrian friendly.
• "We need fewer rail jobs as workers stay at home" - letter
• Where and when trains are running in North Yorkshire and from York todayHere are details of where and when trains are running today in the York area during the third rail strike.

Wales Online

• How much taxi fares in Cardiff are set to go up by as hackney carriage changes approvedThe proposal for a fare increase was brought forward by drivers due to an increase in the price of fuel and the cost of living

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Only travel if necessary say rail bosses as third day of strikes beginsThe main operator of express trains in the West Midlands is urging people to avoid using the railways for unnecessary journeys as the rail strike enters its third day today.

Cambridge News

• Train strikes live: Latest updates as rail workers go on strike for third dayRMT members are holding the latest day of industrial action

Reading Evening Post

• M4 closure this weekend at Slough means drivers won't be able to join the motorwayRoadworks on the M4 continue this weekend
• Lost Reading trams that were pulled by horses and were town's first public transport network The trams ran every 20 minutes

Other Regional Press

• Armed forces to get free bus travel in Swindon this weekendMembers of the Armed Forces past and present will be to travel around Swindon for free on Saturday.
• Bus gates will be like 'Berlin Walls' for drivers says hotelier Jeremy MogfordOxford hotelier Jeremy Mogford is urging his guests to object to a series of new bus gates across the city which he claims will be like 'Berlin Walls'.
• Oxford councillors on why they joined the rail strikeThis week the largest rail strike in a generation took place, with Oxford city councillors joining striking transport workers on the picket line.
• Bikes help refugees including those from Ukraine to stay independentCyclox member and Sanctuary Wheels project coordinator Kathryn McNicoll explains how the scheme worked during the pandemic and afterwards.
• £45bn proposals to transform transport networkAn ambitious scheme to revolutionise the county's transport infrastructure has gone out for consultation - but will it, ultimately, be delivered?
• 'Absolute shambles' at Manchester Airport as passengers arrive eight hours early for flightsPeople flying with TUI were also forced to check in at the desk, as the website was down
• Fresh rail strike warning issued ahead of weekend travel chaosThere is a fear that people will not cancel their weekend plans despite the industrial action
• School bus costs set to rise next yearTHE cost of a 'surplus' seat on Dorset school buses is likely to rise from £800 to £825 next year - and will be linked to the retail price index after that.
• Birmingham Airport boss saw pay jump 49% to £595,000As with airports across the country, Birmingham Airport has been struggling with the return to normality of travel following the pandemic

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Government announces 'amnesty' on airport slots rule to prevent last-minute summer flight cancellationsThe new regulations will allow a one-off “amnesty” on airport slots rules, enabling airlines to plan ahead and deliver a realistic summer schedule. This is being provided as an exceptional measure while industry makes progress in recruiting necessary staff.  Slots are used to manage capacity at the busiest airports. A slot gives permission to use the full range of airport infrastructure (runway, terminal and gates, for instance) necessary to operate an air service at an airport on a specific date and time. Highly valuable commercial assets, airlines must use slots a certain ...

Other News Sources

• Claims Gatwick Airport north runway plans are a 'cocktail of negatives'The campaigner said it is 'a second runway by the back door'
• New rail strike alert over fears of weekend travel chaosA FRESH alert has been issued to train passengers amid fears that many have not cancelled plans this weekend despite strike action.