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

Thursday, 26 January 2023

BBC News

• Manchester Airport announces £440m investment for facilitiesThe funding is the final phase of a £1.3bn transformation which has seen Terminal 2 double in size.
• 'Dangerous' overcrowding for commuters at London BridgeCommuters at London Bridge station were reportedly having panic attacks due to the
• 737 Max crashes: Boeing in court on fraud chargeRelatives of those who died when two Boeing 737 Max aircraft crashed are trying to reopen a prosecution.
• UK car production collapses to lowest for 66 yearsCar production in the UK continued to fall last year, lagging further behind the US and EU.

Financial Times

• British car production falls to lowest level since 1950sFactory closures and supply chain shortages blamed for 10% drop in vehicle output
• EasyJet forecasts return to profit as airlines weather economic downturnLow-cost carrier plans to expand summer flight schedules in response to strong demand
• Container shipping lines MSC and Maersk end allianceGroups to terminate partnership in 2025 as fierce rivalry over transporting goods intensifies
• Sunak warns Transpennine Express it risks losing contractPrime minister says changes will be made if ‘the operator cannot be turned around’
• Aircraft shortage drives demand for groups that repair older planesCarriers forced to fly ageing jets boost aerospace suppliers such as AAR and Heico

STV

• UK's highest railway reopening after four-year closureThe highest railway in the UK will reopen to the public on Thursday after a four-year absence.

The Guardian

• Britishvolt collapsed owing £120m as UK car industry reports dismal yearSeveral bids are understood to have been made for assets of failed electric vehicle battery startup. The battery startup Britishvolt owed as much as £120m to creditors when it collapsed last week in a major blow to hopes of sustaining the British car industry, it can be revealed. Creditors are expected to recover a very small proportion of the debts, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, although there are understood to be several bids for the company and its assets.

The Scotsman

• Network Rail to be prosecuted over fatal ScotRail train derailment at Carmont near StonehavenNetwork Rail is to be prosecuted for failings over the Carmont rail crash in which three people were killed, The Scotsman has learned.

Times Online

• Johan Lundgren hopes easyJet can rise above the clouds. [subscription]usinesses need optimistic pilots. But Johan Lundgren’s sunny predictions haven’t always come to pass. In May last year, the easyJet boss was promising “a great, reliable operation” for a sizzling, getaway summer.
• Electric vehicle charge point target is ’20 years behind schedule’. [subscription]There is now one for every 30 EVs compared with 16 at the start of 2020

City AM

• UK car production at its lowest for 67 years, but EVs soar ahead with £10bn of exports alone UK car production fell to its lowest level since 1956 last year as output was hit by global shortages of semiconductor chips, figures show. A total of 775,014 cars were built in 2022, down 9.8 per cent from the 859,575 made during the previous year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. December [...] The post UK car production at its lowest for 67 years, but EVs soar ahead with £10bn of exports alone appeared first on CityAM.

Birmingham Mail

• The worst roads for potholes in birmingham revealed as it costs drivers hundreds in repairsCity council has paid out £74,000 in pothole compensation since 2019

Birmingham Post

• Jaguar Land Rover makes first quarterly profit in two years as computer chip shortage easesJLR has UK sites in Whitley, Gaydon, Solihull, Manchester, Castle Bromwich, Wolverhampton and Halewood

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Trains that will be 'backbone' of North Wales services officially launchedThe first of Transport for Wales’ (TfW) brand new £800m fleet of trains has been officially launched. Services on the Wales and Borders services have been under fire in recent years due to the poor condition of existing trains and a lack of reliability.
• Angry retailers say Menai Bridge now a 'ghost town' despite wifi data suggesting it's thrivingBusiness people spoke out after Anglesey's MP was accused of exaggerating the impact of the closed Menai Suspension Bridge

Manchester Evening News

• Northern mayors call for TransPennine Express services to be publicly controlledIt comes after analysis by Transport for Greater Manchester revealed that 18,000 rail services have been cancelled over the last 12 months, but only one-third have led to financial penalties

Wales Online

• Flights grounded at Bristol Airport and passengers diverted to Cardiff after lights failureEngineers were frantically working out the runway issue

Cambridge News

• Combined Authority Mayor's £12 tax for buses alongside Cambs-wide council tax hikeFor the first time since it was created, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has introduced a Mayoral precept to the council tax bill. Criitics have labelled the move 'lazy and wrong'

New Civil Engineer

• Funding boost for innovative projects to decarbonise UK highwaysFuture roads could be built using asphalt made from grass cuttings and "carbon capturing" cement, supported by £30M government funding awarded to seven innovative net zero projects.

Rail Advent

• East Midlands Railway’s Community Fund helps a Derby cricket club improve its groundEast Midlands Railway’s (EMR) Community Fund has made a grant of nearly £5,000 to Mickleover Cricket Club in Derby to enable it to make a number of improvements to its ground.

Trafnidiaeth Cymru [Transport for Wales]

• First brand new Transport for Wales trains unveiledThe first of Transport for Wales’ (TfW) brand new £800m fleet of trains was officially launched by Lesley Griffiths MS at a ceremony in North Wales today (26 January).

Transportxtra

• Chester railway station requires ’immediate’ improvements, says Network RailNetwork Rail has submitted a proposal to Cheshire West and Chester Council to carry out changes and improvements to Chester railway station. The Grade II listed station is “in a poor state of repair” and requires “immediate” improvements, said Network Rail.

Other News Sources

• See inside HS2’s new Old Oak Common railway stationOne of London’s largest construction sites can be found at Old Oak Common in west London, where a huge new railway station is being built.
• Transport tax reform will help UK reach net zero and avert ’fiscal black hole’Working Tax reform is needed now to create a cleaner, fairer transport system while providing sustainable revenue to avert a potential “fiscal black hole”, says a new report by the Green Alliance.
• East West Rail Company responds to MP’s criticsmThe company set up to deliver the £mutli-million rail link between Oxford and Cambridge via Bedford has defended its staff salaries following criticism from a local MP.
• London to Paris electric vehicle rally to visit BrightonAn industry-first electric vehicle rally is set to visit a city later this year.