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

Wednesday, 28 September 2022

BBC News

• Doncaster Sheffield Airport: MP calls for public inquiry into closureA South Yorkshire MP has called for a public inquiry into the decision to close Doncaster Sheffield Airport. Don Valley Conservative MP Nick Fletcher said he had contacted Number 10 and the Department for Transport over the "ridiculous decision" to shut the site.
• Leaked dossier suggests Scottish ferry deal may have been riggedA leaked dossier has suggested the process of awarding a £97m Scottish ferries contract may have been rigged.
• Ferguson ferry bid document was largely copiedA key section of the shipyard's tender submission to build two large ferries was almost identical to a CalMac document.
• Bus strike suspended after Arriva offers new pay dealAbout 2,000 were set to walk out on 4 October in an ongoing strike but will vote on a new pay offer.
• Call for ban on dangerous e-bike chargers after firesThe number of e-bike fires in London this year has already eclipsed the figure for 2021.

Financial Times

• Airline bosses criticise UK government over fall in poundVirgin Atlantic chief urges Liz Truss to reverse course on mini-Budget tax cuts
• Eurostar raises prices as it struggles with Brexit border controlsGroup also burdened by high interest rate charges on loans agreed in pandemic

The Guardian

• Post-Brexit checks reduce Eurostar’s London terminal capacity by a thirdRail boss says St Pancras has only avoided chaos seen at Channel ports because of services being cut
• Great British Railways is dead: rail industry at lowest ebb since the days of RailtrackGrant Shapps revolutionary GBR plan faces huge challenges. Barely 18 months have elapsed since a starry-eyed Grant Shapps unveiled the blueprint for a “revolutionary” Great British Railways, but it already has the flavour of an optimistic misnomer. Even an adequate British railway would be welcomed by those passengers stranded by everything from Avanti’s collapse to failing infrastructure and unprecedented strikes.

The Independent

• Brexit has cut Eurostar capacity by 30 per cent, says chief executiveThe extra passport checks the UK requested after leaving the EU are “not sustainable”: that is the damning view of Jacques Damas, outgoing chief executive of Eurostar.

The Telegraph

• Welsh names to be added to road signs despite warning of risk to lives

Times Online

• Beijing bus drivers get health-alert wristbands to protect passengers [subscription]Bus drivers in Beijing have been equipped with wristbands that monitor their vital signs, collect sleep and exercise data, and can tell if the driver is depressed or anxious.

City AM

• Exclusive: Rail sees popularity boost as City travellers avoid ’travel dead time’Rail is experiencing a boost in popularity among City and business travellers seeking to avoid so-called ’travel dead time’.
• Jaguar Land Rover to retrain 29,000 workers for EV transition Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will retrain 60 per cent of its workforce for electric vehicle production as the luxury car maker presses the accelerator on its EV transition. Technicians as well as automotive engineers and production employees will be retrained to develop and maintain electric cars. JLR announced on Wednesday that, while Future Skills is [...] The post Jaguar Land Rover to retrain 29,000 workers for EV transition appeared first on CityAM.

The Mirror

• Holidaymakers warned of spike in prices ahead of half term as airport chaos continuesFlight prices during October half-term increased by an average of 42% from 2019 and 2022, a study conducted by consumer champions Which? based on data by industry firm Skytra found

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Leeds Bradford Airport reports 2.5m passengers so far in 2022A TOTAL of 2.5 million passengers have travelled via Leeds Bradford Airport so far this year.
• Northern Powerhouse Rail in Bradford gets another boostNORTHERN Powerhouse Rail (NPR) has received yet another boost after Bradford East MP Imran Hussain managed to put the project back on the Government’s agenda.

Bristol Live

• Clean Air Zone: Almost half of taxi applications rejectedBristol City Council said only that the requests did not meet their criteria

London Evening Standard

• Eurostar boss says Brexit border checks add 15 seconds per passengerOutgoing chief executive Jacques Damas claimed long daily queues at London St Pancras are only being avoided by the company limiting capacity.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Ferry procurement process to be investigated amid documentary claims it was ’rigged’Concerns are being raised by Deputy First Minister John Swinney over a procurement process for two west coast ferries, after new information has come to light.

Bucks Free Press

• Chesham MP Sarah Green calls for better monitoring of HS2HS2 responded to outrage after supplier's bad behaviour.

Cambridge News

• Does more need to be done to protect Cambridgeshire's bus routes?Commuters are fearing they will be left stranded following the announcement that Stagecoach is axing a series of bus routes after they became "no longer financially viable”. We want to know whether more should be done by authorities to protect bus routes or find solutions to stop people becoming isolated.

Other Regional Press

• Railfuture's support for MAGOR rail campaignINDUSTRY recognition for a community group could provide a significant boost for its hopes of seeing a new mainline rail station developed. 
• Mid Wales railways named among 'most scenic' routes in EuropeThree Mid Wales railways have been named in the top 10 most scenic European railway journeys in customer advice magazine Which?.
• MP says Government should 'get on' with cutting HS2 spending as pound slumps to record lowsA Leicestershire MP has claimed the Government will cut spending on HS2. And the Conservative politician has urged them to “get on” with it after record falls in the price of the pound.
• Metro Mayor announces 178 bus service will saved, keeping villages connected to BristolMayor Norris’ West of England Authority will invest £22,000-a-month to support the service
• Works to improve cycling and road safety in Upton to start this weekWORK to improve cycling routes and road safety in an Oxfordshire village is due to start this week.

New Civil Engineer

• National Highways builds model construction site to train staffNational Highways has built a bespoke classroom in Birmingham to help staff safely experience heavy plant operation away from a working site.
• Who could succeed Andy Byford at the helm of TfL?Transport for London (TfL) is again searching for a new boss. Having battled through the pandemic, pushed Crossrail over the line and negotiated a long-term funding deal with government, Andy Byford has called time on his reign as TfL commissioner.

Railnews

• Labour would complete renationalisation of railways The Labour Party would complete the renationalisation of the railways, shadow rail minister Tanmanjeet Dhesihas has confirmed. He was speaking at an RMT fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference, where he said: ‘We believe that under a Labour government we should be taking rail back into public ownership.’ The path away from private sector involvement has already included the transfer of Network Rail to public ownership in 2014, while three English operators � LNER, Northern and Southeastern � are now being run by the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort. The passenger opera...

Railway Gazette

• Eurostar cannot grow amid pandemic, Brexit and cost crises, CEO warnsEUROPE: Problems faced by Eurostar as a result of the pandemic, Brexit and rising costs have been set out in detail in a letter from outgoing CEO Jacques Damas to the Chair of the UK’s House of Commons Transport Select Committee.

Other News Sources

• What happened to Guildford's monorail and is it the answer to town's traffic woes?A monorail was proposed through the town that stretched from the Research Park to the university