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

Tuesday, 26 July 2022

BBC News

• Plymouth night bus plans among new safety measuresA trial night bus service is to start thanks to more than £670,000 secured for safety measures around Plymouth.
• Greater Manchester: Bus firm loses appeal against public controlReform of bus services across northern England can go ahead following the rejection of a legal challenge, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has said.
• South Yorkshire: £5m mayoral bailout for school bus routesThreatened school bus services in South Yorkshire are to be bailed out with a rescue package of more than £5m.
• Train strikes: People told not to travel by rail during walkoutsOnly 20% of services will run and some places will have no trains on Wednesday, Network Rail says.
• Ryanair boss hits out at airports: 'They had one job'Neil Sorahan says airports have not recruited enough staff to cater for the rebound in travellers.

Department for Transport

• History made as Dorothy – HS2’s state-of-the-art tunnel boring machine – completes the project’s first tunnel after 8 months undergroundPassengers across the north and Midlands are one step closer to quicker, greener and more reliable train services as Dorothy, HS2’s tunnel boring machine, has made her first breakthrough on the London to Birmingham route after 8 months underground. 

Financial Times

• England's pandemic traffic-light travel system under fire from MPsMinisters did not know if £486mn cost was worth the disruption, says report criticising quarantine policy
• Hard road to stop Channel travel chaos becoming part of British summerNo instant fixes ahead as limits to technology and infrastructure mean attention turns to political goodwill
• Aviation sector will be disrupted for years, Qatar Airways boss saysStaff shortages in Europe are affecting the carrier most as the industry struggles to shake off pandemic impact
• Air freight demand sustains heights even as supply bottlenecks easeRetailers cut their outlooks due to elevated transport costs while ocean shipping lines diversify into planes

The Guardian

• Ministers don't know if £486m pandemic traffic light system worked, say MPsPublic accounts committee says it is unknown whether cost of implementing international travel curbs was worth the disruptionAt least £486m of taxpayer funds were spent on implementing the traffic light system for international arrivals during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Independent

• Women face ‘hotbed of harassment, groping and masturbation’ on public transportWomen are experiencing a “hotbed” of sexual harassment when travelling in London, with girls as young as 15 being groped, an online project has found.

Times Online

• Port chaos is price of choosing to be different [subscription]We voted to end frictionless travel yet holidaymakers and ministers are in denial about what Brexit means at our borders
• Ryanair is no more Mr Nasty Guy [subscription]In a world of careless airlines, the carrier that is used to caring least is king — Ryanair didn’t get where it is today by worrying about customer service
• UK port chaos is the price of Brexit, French MP says [subscription]A deal to award the Ferguson shipyard a ferry building contract was “totally off the track of what is normal practice”, Scottish ministers were warned.
• UK port chaos is the price of Brexit, French MP says [subscription]Downing Street has been accused of lying about the cause of queues at Dover and Folkestone

City AM

• A London transport funding deal must not come at the cost of accessibility HOW many of us have got lost in the maze between Bank and Monument station? Imagine how much harder it would be if you suddenly couldn't remember where you had to go. “I get very confused with technology”; “I can’t ask what I’m doing wrong to a machine”. These are common refrains from people affected by dementia while trying to get a ticket or journeying across the underground system.

i News

• Cost of living: Instead of cutting fuel duty, the UK could make public transport freeSpain, Germany and Austria are all offering hefty discounts on public transport – why isn’t the UK following suit?

The National

• Transport giant accused of profiting from 'chaos'TRANSPORT giant Stagecoach Group – owners of the Scottish Citylink and Megabus brands – has been accused of profiting from the chaos at Scotland’s airports as they emerge from the Covid pandemic.

Belfast Telegraph

• Two transport pioneers continue the work of Sir William Wright by leading the way in green technologySir William Wright was an inspiration, and the source of sometimes unsolicited advice, to manufacturers across Northern Ireland, according to the head of an industry trade group.

Bristol Live

• Free buses from Bristol to North Somerset all day on TuesdayBus company First Bus have scrapped all the fares from a total of 11 bus routes across North Somerset for one day only, and are inviting people to take advantage by exploring the area near Bristol.

London Evening Standard

• Unions say Transport Secretary should ‘stop blocking’ rail agreementThe TUC is calling on the Transport Secretary to stop “prolonging” the rail dispute ahead of another strike which will cripple services across the country.

Manchester Evening News

• Are you happy about Andy Burnham's bus reforms victory?Yesterday saw a major victory for Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham after judges quashed a bus operator's appeal against his planned bus reforms.

The York Press

• Rail Minister hears York's case to be railway HQRAIL Minister Wendy Morton has visited York to learn more about the city’s bid to become the home of Great British Railways.

Other Regional Press

• Campaigners says huge Kirklees road schemes should all be scrapped after damning reportSeveral Kirklees projects are included, including the controversial Halifax Road proposals
• Watch: Here’s what the rail minister thinks of York’s bid for the UK’s new railways HQRail minister Wendy Morton visited York today to learn more about the city’s bid to be crowned the home of Britain’s railways.
• Portsmouth transport hub The Hard Interchange to undergo road repairs as the council looks to solve ongoing issuesREPAIRS to damaged roads around The Hard Interchange are set to be carried out tonight, as the council looks to the original building contractors to solve the ongoing issue.
• Transport chiefs urged not to lose focus on improving Harrogate bus servicesTransport chiefs have been urged not to lose focus on improving buses in Harrogate after warnings that services are facing a "potential cliff-edge" due to more funding cuts.

New Civil Engineer

• Crossrail | Taking Costain and Skanska off Bond Street job deemed ‘success story’ that saved almost £100MEnding main contractor involvement at Bond Street station early has saved Transport for London (TfL) just shy of £100M, according to the Greater London Authority (GLA) oversight committee’s latest assessment of TfL procurement.
• Balfour-Vinci JV celebrates HS2’s first tunnel breakthroughA joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Vinci has broken through on the first tunnel to be created for the £100bn High Speed 2 (HS2) project.
• DfT puts long-term TfL funding deal on the tableThe Department for Transport (DfT) has tabled a long-term funding deal to bolster Transport for London’s (TfL) dwindling coffers.
• Connected sensors to monitor Scotland’s rural roadsA connected sensor network has been developed to provide real-time monitoring of road conditions across 10,000km of rural roads in Scotland.
• TfL procurement ‘still a concern’ following Silverton Tunnel and Garden Bridge falloutsTransport for London (TfL) procurement for major infrastructure projects remains a “concern” for the Greater London Authority.

Rail Advent

• Hitachi’s Smart Mobility suite hits a world first as an entire city’s transport network is digitally connectedA new app from Hitachi provides passengers with the ability to access all modes of public transport in a city using ‘hands-free’ Bluetooth sensors.

Other News Sources

• Gatwick and Heathrow: Readers fury over airport drop off charges branded 'ridiculous, profiteering and a rip off'It now costs money to drop off and pick up loved ones from most main airports - and readers have vented their dismay
• Team Pennine makes changes to Halifax bus routes and timetables from this weekBus firm Team Pennine reveals its plans to boost a key bus link between Halifax and locations across the Pennines.
• Reactions to Hampshire County Council potentially taking away OAP bus passes and bus shortagesToday we spoke to people waiting for local buses where they were feeling frustrated and angry as their free bus passes could be taken away.
• Rail Minister visits Tesco’s rail operations at Tilbury following multi-million-pound investmentWendy Morton MP, Rail Minister, and Jackie Doyle-Price MP for Thurrock today visited Tesco’s UK-Europe rail hub at the Port of Tilbury following the retailer’s £5million investment in new rail freight services.
• Will Heathrow Express be affected by rail strikes? Airport train service from London Paddington faces disruptionRail strikes are set to take place this week as workers demand better pay, working conditions, and pensions. Multiple unions are striking including the RMT and Aslef.
• Three school buses axed leaving some Redditch students without transportTHREE school buses have been axed leaving some Redditch students without transport come the new school year in September.
• TransPod unveils full electric vehicle for ultra-high-speed transportThe new electric vehicle can travel in a protected guideway at more than 1000 km/h. Canada-based TransPod has unveiled a fully electric vehicle, FluxJet, which is a hybrid between an aircraft and a train.
• DFDS expands Irish reach with Lucey Transport Logistics buyoutDFDS has acquired 100 per cent of the share capital of Lucey Transport Logistics Ltd based in Dublin, Ireland.
• TfL considering long-term funding offerMore than two years after Transport for London’s finances collapsed as a result of the pandemic, there may about to be a positive solution to the Long Term funding from Government.
• Railway work, life and deathWelcome to the website for the Railway Work, Life & Death project. We’re a joint initiative between the University of Portsmouth, the National Railway Museum (NRM) and the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick (MRC). We’re also working with other institutions including The National Archives of the UK.