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

Monday, 14 November 2022

BBC News

• Microwave, trolley and bicycle among items left on train tracksA train company is asking people to report "reckless acts" following a spate of people throwing objects at trains or leaving items on tracks.
• Carlisle train derailment: Engineers remove cement wagons blocking lineRail engineers have removed two 80-tonne cement wagons after a train carrying cement derailed.
• Doncaster Council paying £12m on transport for SEND pupilsHundreds of children in Doncaster with special educational needs are being forced to travel to schools outside the city due to a shortage of local places.

The Guardian

• Fund England’s bus network now or lose vital routes, campaigners warnCharities and transport groups say hundreds more routes face axe without targeted help and long-term funding

Times Online

• Broken ferries leave island shops empty of fresh food. [subscription]It is unacceptable that ferry problems are leaving island communities with food shortages, a government agency has admitted. Shop shelves were left bare on the six Uist islands in the Outer Hebrides for five days because of transport issues.
• Only six of Johnson’s 4,000 buses are delivered. [subscription]Boris Johnson’s multibillion-pound promise to “bus back better” has been left stuck in the depot, with thousands of green vehicles undelivered or even unordered and with congestion in towns and cities worse than it was before the pandemic, the passenger transport industry has warned.
• How new AI will detect train thugs before they even attack. [subscription]CCTV that can spot risky situations before trouble occurs is coming to our railways
• How the transport select committee can refocus on the projects that matter - Katherine Fletcher MPoday in many parts of the country our transport network is too hard to use, fragmented & often a service lottery. Large future projects, such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, are much needed and much argued over. Proponents correctly highlight the positive economic impact of connecting people & freight better.
• The new transport committee chairman must be the voice of the passenger -Chris Loser MP. [subscription]Gwyneth Dunwoody became MP for Crewe after she got the ’sponsorship’ of the RMT predecessor union, the NUR. It is unheard of though, that a former member or affiliate of the RMT trade union becomes a Conservative MP – in my case for West Dorset – even though it is the home of the Tolpuddle Martyrs

Leicester Mercury

• New parkway railway station planned off A5 near HinckleyRail improvements in the region could see better train services for people living in the Hinckley area. Under the West Midlands Rail Investment Strategy draft, Nuneaton could see two new rail parkways opening, with one close to the A5 and the Leicestershire border.

The Press and Journal (Aberdeen)

• Stagecoach X7 cancellations: Bus operator and DVLA blame each other for driver shortagesThe DVLA has said there have been “no delays” in processing bus drivers despite Stagecoach’s claims of a backlog.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• West Yorkshire mass transit: More details on 'ultra light rail' or tram system for Leeds, Bradford and HalifaxA mass transit system for West Yorkshire would eventually include stops in areas like Pudsey, Bramley, Queensbury and Holme Wood – as well as major town and city centres.

Other Regional Press

• Life-saving equipment installed at more Greater Anglia rail stationsGREATER Anglia has installed life-saving heart resuscitators at more of its stations in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
• BILL McALLISTER: Railway almost looked very different than what we haveThis is the 160th anniversary of the opening of the pioneering rail link north of Inverness – but, remarkably, it nearly started with a sea crossing between Nairn and the Black Isle.
• Westy Low Traffic scheme costs £80,000, which council say is low cost compared to other transport schemesTHE controversial Low Traffic Neighborhood scheme implemented at Westy has so far cost around £80,000 to implement including almost £8,000 to amend the scheme following opposition from local residents.
• Enfield: Transport for London to renew bid to build affordable homes on Cockfosters station car parkTransport for London is planning to go back into battle with Whitehall over its plans to build 351 new homes on Cockfosters Underground station car park, the transport authority has confirmed.
• Dawlish railway line: Unseen footage shows frightening power of the seaConstruction work in Dawlish seeks to prevent the after effects of storms like this one in 2014
• Huddersfield's super green buses unveiled in £1.68m moveBus company First have unveiled their new low-emission buses for Huddersfield
• HS2 uses rail freight to take extra 300,000 truck journeys off Bucks roadsThe first freight train arrived at HS2’s newest Bucks construction hub this week as the high speed rail project confirmed that the new facility is expected to take the equivalent of 300,000 lorry movements off local roads.

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 announces winners of competition to share project learningsHS2 Ltd has announced this year’s winners of its Learning Legacy competition, which aims to share insight from the project with the wider UK infrastructure industry.
• Network Rail maintenance jobs to be cut due to lack of workNetwork Rail's planned cuts to maintenance workers' jobs will go ahead as there isn’t enough work for them to do, according to chief executive Andrew Haines.
• Network Rail begins next phase of Barmouth Viaduct restorationThe next phase of work on the restoration of the Barmouth Viaduct begins today.
• Temporary bridge removed on National Highways’ A303 upgradeA temporary bridge was removed this weekend at Steart Hill, Somerset on the A303 as part of National Highways' upgrade of the road.

Other News Sources

• Scotstoun bus depot to get electric charging pointsPLANS to install electric vehicle charging points at a bus depot in Scotstoun have been approved by council officials.
• ’Mind the Gap’: Mark Harper and the Powerful Transport UnionAs Mark Harper, the UK’s new transport secretary confronts the laundry list of challenges facing him and the country, one of the first orders of the day will be to tackle RMT, or the national transport union, and resolve the rail strikes that have caused chaos across the country over the last few months. But something is amiss and important information has come to light that requires attention.