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

Wednesday, 13 July 2022

BBC News

• Norfolk bus firm in government talks over £2 capped faresA Norfolk bus operator is in government talks about capping bus fares at £2. The policy - a response to the cost of living crisis - may temporarily come into force across England this year.
• Zephyr breaks own record for longest unmanned flightThe solar-powered Airbus Zephyr S unmanned aircraft beat the record it set in 2018, data suggests.
• AGS Airports chief executive Derek Provan to step downAGS Airports chief executive Derek Provan will leave next year to
• Full ScotRail timetable to return by Edinburgh festivalsSeveral big events in Scotland have been impacted by disruption to the timetable over a pay dispute.
• Heathrow tells airlines to stop selling summer ticketsThe airport limits the number of passengers who can depart each day as it struggles to cope with demand.
• Network Rail puts fresh pay offer to unionsThe rail track firm says the offer is worth more than 5%, but unions say it is a real terms pay cut.

Financial Times

• Heathrow tells airlines to stop selling tickets for flights this summer UK’s busiest airport limits number of daily passengers for the next two months in bid to avert further disruption
• Network Rail offers workers pay rises in bid to avert further strikesOwner of infrastructure says RMT and TSSA union members must accept modernisation reforms in return for higher wages

STV

• 'Radical change needed to create fairer transport system'There are calls for action to be taken to bring about a reduction in car use.

The Guardian

• The Uber Files: the drivers (part 3) - podcastUber launched itself into cities across the world, selling a dream in which drivers could earn more than elsewhere – and customers could pay much less. But it wasn’t a model that was built to last, as one London driver, Abdurzak Hadi, tells usFor Abdurzak Hadi, the 2014 launch of Uber in London was a time of excitement. The US startup talked about empowering drivers to work the hours they chose and make good money doing it. Hadi switched from his job as an employee at a minicab firm and struck out for a new life in the gig economy.It quickly turned sour. Uber cut its prices and, as hundreds of...
• Heathrow asks airlines to stop selling summer flights as it caps passengersAirport admits it is struggling to cope with surge in demand and its new staff are not yet up to full speed. Heathrow has asked airlines to stop selling summer tickets and imposed a daily limit of 100,000 passengers departing the airport, as it struggles to cope with the surge in travel.The London hub has experienced chaotic scenes in recent weeks, as have many other UK airports, with long queue times amid shortages of ground staff and airlines cancelling thousands of flights.
• Uber used Greyball fake app to evade police across Europe, leak revealsFirm's bosses knew it was fooling authorities with tool showing phantom cars, documents show. It was a trick as audacious as it was ingenious. When police or regulators opened the Uber app, they would see exactly what the public saw: dozens of cars crawling around the city, waiting to be summoned.But there was one crucial difference: these cars were fake.

The Telegraph

• Wales set to lower speed limit to 20mph in bid to cut car use

Times Online

• UK weather: rail delays amid extreme heat warning [subscription]Trains could be cancelled and journey times doubled as rail bosses prepare to introduce speed limits because of the hot weather. Roads might also be closed, and the NHS and other critical services are braced for disruption.
• Heathrow caps passengers at 100,000 a day amid summer travel chaos [subscription]More than 90,000 people face having their flights cancelled this summer
• Wales is to become the first nation in Great Britain to lower speed limits in urban areas to 20mph. [subscription]Wales is to become the first nation in Great Britain to lower speed limits in urban areas to 20mph.
• Train union says latest Network Rail offer is a pay cut [subscription]Network Rail has made a new pay offer to workers which is aimed at breaking the deadlocked row over salaries, jobs and conditions.

Daily Record

• Advice issued to residents hit by devastating bus cuts across AyrshireMore residents should let their voices be heard to profit-focused Stagecoach amid controversial slashes to 'life-line' services, one Ayrshire MSP says.

The Mirror

• EasyJet passengers 'made to wait for hours on plane with one glass of water'EasyJet passengers at Gatwick Airport have complained after claiming to wait for hours on a plane for their flight to leave for Croatia and were only offered "one glass of water" to drink
• Wales to slash speed limit on most residential roads from 30mph to 20mphThe policy will apply to roads where there is a 'system of street lighting furnished by means of lamps placed not more than 200 yards apart' but there will be some exceptions

Birmingham Mail

• Birmingham Airport named as one of the most likely to lose your luggageLondon Heathrow was by far the airport with the most cases of lost luggage - but Birmingham Airport made the top five

Birmingham Post

• Aviation firm of Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson creating 100 new jobsThe expansion of Caerdav in the Vale of Glamorgan has been supported with new funding from BOOST&Co
• Rolls-Royce partner Electroflight appoints administrators days after being acquiredThe aerospace start-up was heavily involved in a project to break the fastest all-electric flight world record last year
• Ryanair bullish on Newcastle bookings as rivals' customers turn to its routes amid travel chaosThe low cost airline says Newcastle International Airport had performed well throughout current challenges affecting the sector

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Arriva drivers set to strike again tomorrowARRIVA bus drivers are set to strike again tomorrow, following the rejection of the latest pay offer made by the company.

Bristol Live

• Bus gate could see section of Cumberland Road closed to cars The measure would help the council meet air quality targets

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Drivers fear 'nightmare' 20mph limits on Welsh roads as vote takes placeMotorists in a trial area have fumed over rising pollution and fuel costs, and claim accidents and road rage have increased

Derby Telegraph

• Derby set for more bus lanes as key routes under investigationMore bus lanes could be installed on Derby’s busiest roads, with almost 50 locations currently being tested as part of a major project to improve public transport journeys in the city. Nigel Brien, traffic and transportation chief at Derby City Council, revealed at a council meeting that 47 locations on main Derby routes are being examined to see if new bus lanes could potentially be created.

Liverpool Echo

• First look inside state-of-the-art new hydrogen buses coming to Liverpool City RegionThe first images of the interior of the new, zero-emission hydrogen bus fleet coming to the Liverpool City Region have been released.

London Evening Standard

• Network Rail makes new offer in bid to break deadlock over pay and conditionsTalks have been held between the company and unions since the RMT staged three 24-hour strikes last month, which crippled services.

The York Press

• North Yorkshire's most congested roads revealedTHE North Yorkshire roads that are the worst for congestion have been revealed.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Black Country MP tells private parking firms to 'clean up their act' over finesPrivate parking companies have been warned to

Yorkshire Evening Post

• New bridge aims to connect two villages across Leeds outer ring roadA new walking and cycling bridge connecting two villages across a major commuter route is at the heart of plans for transform travel in west Leeds.

Lancashire Telegraph

• Blackburn bus station saga leads to £3m claim against councilA MULTI-million pound court case over Blackburn's delayed and over-budget £8.4 million new bus station starts in earnest today.

Other Regional Press

• Hopes station overhaul can ease Yarm Road crawl as key 100-space car park is backedAnother piece of the jigsaw in a railway station overhaul has been approved by councillors.
• Harrogate rail timetable cuts set to be reversed as Network Rail confirms plans for extra servicesNews of plans to reinstate Harrogate’s lost railway services before the end of the year have been welcomed by passengers and politicians in the town.
• Whopping £12.4 million funding package for transport in Blyth is approvedA Northumberland town is set to benefit from a multi-million pound funding agreement in a bid to solve its chronic transport issues.
• Shropshire moped hire scheme that tackles transport challenges to expand A Shropshire charity is working with an established motorcycle hire firm to provide low-cost travel solutions for people in the county.
• Unite union accuses Arriva of 'meddling' as Yorkshire bus strike back onMembers of the union voted to begin strike action again after the latest offer was rejected

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 yet to begin investigation to bring trains to LeedsHS2 Ltd has not yet been instructed by the Department for Transport (DfT) to begin the promised investigations into how to bring the high-speed line to Leeds.

Other News Sources

• Councillors raise concerns about transport plan for HuntingdonshireHuntingdonshire District councillors have expressed concerns about the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority's draft transport plan to improve travel in the district.
• Ambitious new plan sets out the future for travelling around SurreySurrey’s ten-year Transport plan which includes measures for reducing the 41% of carbon emissions currently generated by transport, was approved by Councillors at their Full Council meeting today (12 July 2022).
• Heathrow: Plane noise misery keeps Surrey residents awake as late night flights increaseThere has been a rise in the number of delayed night flights