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

Friday, 28 October 2022

BBC News

• Funding of £10m allocated for Redditch railway stationFunding worth £10m is to be allocated towards a new railway station in Worcestershire.
• Government help needed over rail 'chaos' - northern mayorsNorth of England leaders say the government must
• Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone decision could be pushed backThe plan to charge the most polluting vehicles on Manchester's roads was paused earlier this year.
• Manchester Airport rated bottom of Which? customer service tableThe airport's Terminal 3 scored the lowest rating of any UK airport in the Which? consumer survey.
• London's e-scooter hire trial extended until 2023Only e-scooters hired through the trial scheme are legally allowed on the capital's roads.

Financial Times

• North of England mayors urge ministers to fix intercity rail service Passenger complaints against Transpennine Express double in last quarter triggering calls for urgent intervention

The Guardian

• ‘Just too unreliable’: Avanti promises to do better while passengers despairRail users have plenty of horror stories about their experiences and the train operator is on a deadline to fix its problemsIt would take a lot to make Arran Kent ditch the train to drive across the country for gigs. The musician, 32, has persisted with Avanti West Coast, even when unable to book a ticket, and even on the day of a staff strike. He paid top whack to go from Preston to London last Saturday, almost missing his performance because the train arrived two hours late.If that was averagely bad, the return home on Sunday was, he says, “like an apocalyptic film”. Continue reading...

Times Online

• Online shopping lockers coming to Oldham transport hubsNew delivery lockers are coming to some of Oldham’s transport hubs. Shopping with major retailers is set to become even more convenient for Metrolink customers and bus users as Transport for Greater Manchester and delivery locker company InPost announce a partnership that will see up to 28 parcel lockers rolled out across the Greater Manchester area by the end of the year.
• Rail passengers in the north deserve far better than this. [subscription]t really is grim up north for rail passengers trying to get to work on services that would disgrace a third world country. Cancellations, delays and overcrowding are the daily offering from a terrible trio of operators that sap passenger morale and damage the north’s economy by failing to run enough trains or get them to their destinations on time.
• Drivers became ’sitting ducks’ after smart motorway outage. [subscription]Lifesaving technology on smart motorways failed for several hours this week in a near-national outage. The technology meltdown prevented National Highways control-room staff from being able to activate signs to warn drivers of stranded vehicles for seven hours on Wednesday.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Trains "shambles" sparks emergency meeting of northern MayorsAn emergency meeting of metro mayors has been convened to discuss the "shambles" affecting rail services across the north of England which is inflicting misery on millions of people
• Rail lines closed well into November after train derailmentTRAIN services serving Skipton are expected to be closed well into November as engineers continue a complex operation to recover several freight wagons which derailed a week ago in Carlisle.

Manchester Evening News

• Mayors call for 'six-month probation period' for TransPennine Express before 'any suggestion' of contract renewal'If this level of disruption was being experienced in other parts of the country, we believe action would already have been taken'

Yorkshire Evening Post

• New PM Rishi Sunak is told rail service chaos in the North must be treated as an emergencyMetro mayors have called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Transport Secretary Mark Harper to treat the "chaos" in rail services across the north of England as an emergency and to "haul operators to the table to sort out this mess".

Other Regional Press

• Ross MP Jesse Norman appointed minister for the Department of TransportHereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman has been appointed as minister of state at the Department for Transport.
• 'Too little too late': Cyclist slams plan to improve bike lane after crash leaves him needing stitchesMiddlesbrough Council has announced plans to replace the rubber dividers with visible upright poles to make the new cycle route safer
• Transport bosses asked to look at rail connections to Belfast International and City airportsThe Minister has also suggested a new trainline from Derry to Portadown
• The London station losing half of its trains in December which locals say is 'awful' and threatens businessesFrom December 11, there are huge changes to Southeastern services across South East London. Almost all train timetables will change and many lines are having services simplified, with some winners and losers. Although parts of the network such as Herne Hill-Beckenham Junction will see peak hour trains to and from Blackfriars restored after a two year Covid-interruption and some extra trains, the Sidcup line will have an overall reduction in services.
• Labour accuses government of 'failing' rail passengersLABOUR have accused the government of “failing" rail passengers by refusing to act on the huge disruption facing travellers and the regional economy.
• Sheffield MP hits out at TransPennine Express after rail company cancels over 100 train services in two daysLouise Haigh said the situation was causing "real damage" to people

Intelligent Transport

• Connecting Leeds £270 million investment in transport network is completeThrough Connecting Leeds, Leeds City Council has worked in partnership with local organisations and transport operators to deliver numerous projects that improve transport connectivity across the city.

New Civil Engineer

• Third Menai crossing costs treble to around £400MEstimated costs for building a third crossing over the Menai Strait in Wales have more than trebled to around £400M.
• How good communications in NEC contracts can promote dispute avoidanceIn part two of our series covering communications in NEC contracts, we discuss the importance of maintaining good communications in accordance with the requirements of NEC contracts as a means of promoting dispute avoidance, focusing on NEC 4 clause 13.
• HS2’s £105M Euston station design ’can no longer be used’, DfT admitsThe Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that "significant elements" of the original design work on HS2's Euston station "can no longer be used" after the decision was taken for the station to be scaled back from 11 to 10 platforms.
• DfT rules accelerated A66 road upgrade is ’poor value for money’The Department for Transport (DfT) has ruled that National Highways’ proposed upgrade of the A66 between Cumbria and North Yorkshire is “poor value for money”.

Railnews

• Suppliers urge new government to maintain rail investment THURSDAY BRIEFING: Suppliers urge new government to maintain rail investment ++ Barmouth Bridge to close again soon ++ Special half-term offer on trains in Wales ++

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Translink orders 100 more ZE buses from Northern Ireland operator Translink has ordered a further 100 zero-emission buses from Wrightbus. Including associated infrastructure, the work represents a total spend of £88m and Translink says it will be “transformational” in continuing to deliver the country’s zero-emission transport future.
• Irizar ie tram fleet for Go-Ahead London makes debutIn a long-awaited move, Irizar e-mobility and Go-Ahead London have confirmed that 20 ie tram single-deck battery-electric buses along with related charging infrastructure are due for delivery soon to convert Transport for London (TfL) route 358 to zero-emission.
• Mark Harper is latest Secretary of State for TransportMark Harper is the latest holder of the Secretary of State for Transport position. He was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 25 October.
• Wales’ first ZE coaches part of Newport growth planNewport Transport has signalled an expansion of its coaching arm that will involve delivery in 2023 of the first zero-emission coaches for Wales.
• Tranzaura develops digital maintenance platform furtherSoftware-as-a-Service provider Tranzaura is developing its digital maintenance platform that captures drivers’ walk-round checks and unplanned maintenance into one that includes central management of all maintenance – planned and unplanned – in a single system. 
• Stagecoach secures new funding for parts of Cambridgeshire bus networkStagecoach has announced that it has secured “essential new funding” that means proposed changed to the Citi 4 route, and withdrawn sections of the Citi 5 and 25 services, will not go ahead on 30 October.
• Warrington’s Own Buses first to use EPM Customer Resolution CentreWarrington’s Own Buses is the first operator to adopt software solutions supplier and consultancy and auditing providor EPM’s Customer Resolution Centre (CRC), which allows operators to manage customer communications more efficiently.
• Nottingham City Transport orders 12 Yutong E12sNottingham City Transport (NCT) has placed its first order for battery-electric buses in the form of 12 Yutong E12s. They are expected to enter service from Trent Bridge depot in late 2023.

Other News Sources

• Guildford cyclist says Surrey is the worst place in the world to ride your bikeJon Sharpe, 45, said there are "no excuses" for drivers putting other's lives in danger
• HS2 East progress confirmed by transport minister in statement to ParliamentMark Harper Secretary of State for Transport confirms in a review that the government is proceeding with HS2 East (the new high-speed line between the West and East Midlands).
• Brighton and Hove to trial Christmas Day busesBuses are to run on Christmas Day as part of a new trial.