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

Sunday, 23 October 2022

BBC News

• Cowes Floating Bridge: New ferry plans revived after settlementPlans to replace a troubled chain ferry have been revived after the council that bought it reached a settlement with its designers and builders.
• Bus cuts: The UK’s hidden transport crisis – seen from the number 16 busBus services have failed to recover following the lifting of pandemic restrictions and have fallen to their lowest levels in decades, BBC analysis suggests. Jon Kelly spent a week travelling on one typical route - the number 16 from Perth to Dundee - to find out what happens when the buses stop running.
• North Bristol gridlock warning over arena station delaysThere are warnings of gridlock at the Bristol Arena as building work on two new train stations will not start until after the site opens.
• Hastings and Tunbridge Wells rail line closed over half termTravellers between Tunbridge Wells and Hastings have been warned there will be no rail services over the half-term holiday.
• Northern regional mayors late for rail briefing after train cancelledAndy Burnham and Steve Rotheram held the briefing to demand more funding for train operators.
• Avanti West Coast rail services axed amid strike actionOnly one Avanti service per hour will run from London to Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Financial Times

• Transatlantic travel soars as Americans make most of strong dollarVirgin boss says UK holidays are ‘on sale’ for US tourists 

The Guardian

• Think Westminster's a mess? It's nothing compared to the nort's mismanaged rail system | Andy Burnham and Steve RotheramFailed franchises are causing daily misery and costing local economies billions. If this was London, it would be a national scandal
• Airlines expect smooth half-term getaways from England after summer disruptionThe chaos affecting international air travel in the summer has been firmly stowed away, according to UK aviation firms, with a smooth getaway expected in the busiest weekend before Christmas.

The Independent

• Trains: Are we witnessing an ’anti-rail coalition’?Call me woke and hand me a bowl of tofu, but I find the decline of the railway alarming

Times Online

• Bond Street station is finally open — just £500m over budget [subscription]For the past five months passengers travelling on London’s new Elizabeth Line could only peer through the carriage windows in frustration as the train sped through a deserted, and unfinished, Bond Street station. But at 5.30am tomorrow it will finally open — four years late and £500 million over budget.
• Oxford set to cut its famous traffic jams by degrees [subscripton]The university city will be divided into six districts, and motorists will get fined if they leave their neighbourhood too often

Daily Record

• Multi-million pound works sees accessibility improvements at Lanarkshire stationA new accessible footbridge and lifts have been installed in a £3.1 million project at a Lanarkshire railway station. The new facilities at Croy station came into use this week and provide step-free access to all platforms at the stop on the Glasgow to Edinburgh route, helping passengers with mobility issues, travelling with children and those transporting luggage or cycles.

i News

• Train operators could be disbanded in bid to end rail chaos in North West, mayors proposeLabour mayors say an immediate “cash injection” is needed to solve the chaos engulfing train services in the north. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and Steve Rotherham, the mayor of Liverpool city region, also floated the idea of disbanding both Northern Trains and TransPennine Express (TPE) and replacing them with a single operator for the North West.

Liverpool Echo

• Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram call for an end to train "chaos"The Mayors of the Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester joined forces to call for an end to the "chaos and poor performance" on the region's railways.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Cartlidge and Patel call for better access for Sudbury rail passengersSouth Suffolk MP James Cartlidge and Witham's Priti Patel have paid another visit to Marks Tey station in a bid to improve access to the station for travellers to and from Sudbury.

Other Regional Press

• Aberdeen to run direct hourly bus service to Edinburgh and Dundee from next monthPeople from Aberdeen will be able to travel to Dundee and Edinburgh on a direct bus service that will run every hour. It was announced today by Scottish Citylink that the new service is expected to start from November 7.
• Residents back Oxford traffic filters by two to oneA NEW independent poll shows that people in Oxford support measures to install traffic filters in the city by a margin of almost two to one.
• Swanage Railway welcomes return of 'Flying Scotsman'THE wait was finally over as the historic ‘Flying Scotsman’ was on the tracks for the first of its special scheduled services on Swanage Railway.

Other News Sources

• Cost of Transport Hub at Station Approach in Hereford could cost around £10 millionDocuments shared ahead of a Herefordshire Council cabinet meeting next Thursday (27th October), show that the proposed Transport Hub at Station Approach in Hereford, could end up costing around £10 million.
• New Rail Trails will start and end at Worcestershire railway stationsA new series of walking routes linking Worcestershire’s railway stations are being developed.
• Low-cost airline Norse to offer non-stop flights to AmericaA budget airline will operate non-stop flights from Gatwick to the United States from next summer.

News from Europe

• More fast ferry trips; EC approves €12 million contractEuropean Commission has approved a two-year contract worth €12 million that will aid the operators of the fast ferry between Malta and Gozo sustain their services.