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

Thursday, 16 March 2023

BBC News

• Budget 2023: New date for East West Rail route plansThe route of a new rail link between Bedford and Cambridge will be confirmed in May, according to today's Budget.
• Bristol mayor Marvin Rees defends plan for underground metroBristol's mayor has defended plans for an underground rail network expected to cost between £7bn and £18bn.
• HS2 delays are prolonging our agony, say Staffordshire farmersPeople whose families have farmed land for generations say they are in a
• South Western Railway installs life-saving defibrillators at stationsSouth Western Railway will provide the life-saving devices at 154 stations across its network.
• Tube strike: Little or no service as walkout continuesUnion members walk out in a dispute over job cuts, pensions and conditions.
• Virgin Orbit to pause all operations from ThursdayThe decision comes after the failure of the first ever satellite mission launched from the UK.

Financial Times

• Airlines struggle to repatriate dollars from crisis-hit PakistanCarriers scale back flights or exit as country struggles with scant foreign currency reserves

The Guardian

• Passengers face new disruption as first of four UK-wide rail strikes beginsTrain operators turn to contingency staff but fewer than half of services are expected to runAnother day of blighted rail services has begun in Britain as RMT members at 14 train operating companies take part in the first in a wave of four 24-hour strikes.Commuters across England are broadly the hardest hit by the latest action.

Times Online

• Islanders’ ferries face yet more delaysFurther delays to the construction of two ferries are expected to be announced today, marking the final straw for islanders already suffering from “anguish”, it has been claimed.

City AM

• Rail strikes: Hospitality says it has lost £3bn as it becomes ’collateral damage’ in rail dispute London retail and hospitality bodies have said that the sector is suffering due to ongoing tube strikes as the disruptions continue to take a large bite out of the sector’s earnings. 

Mail Online

• TfL bosses launch investigation as photos reveal Tube staff asleepIn the shocking pictures, staff can clearly be seen fast asleep while on duty in the control room of Tooting Bec Underground station, south London.

Sky News

• Rail strike to bring many train services to a haltA strike by rail workers today will bring train services to a halt across the country in the latest disruption caused by a wave of industrial action.

Birmingham Post

• Zero VAT call for solar-fed EV chargers from pioneering ecotech leaderBudget request made by one of Britain's fastest growing companies
• ABP turns to wind power for ports with turbine plans for GrimsbyImmingham and Hull could follow as next steps in decarbonisation strategy are made

Bristol Live

• Bristol council will not rethink controversial new car park chargesBut Labour mayor Marvin Rees has agreed to consult with residents and health partners
• Bristol CAZ driver says 'I have to take huge detour because I can't afford it - it's not fit for purpose'He says he now uses triple the emissions he did before the Clean Air Zone was introduced

The York Press

• Transdev tells buses minister Richard Holden of growing businessBus passenger numbers are back to pandemic levels and reaching record numbers.

Burnley Express

• Burnley bus company sets out reasons for replacing 'lifeline' serviceA bus company have set out reasons for scrapping a popular service after the announcement sparked fury among East Lancashire residents.
• New car park opens at Burnley Manchester Road train stationA new car park has been opened at an East Lancashire train station

Oxford Mail

• Oxford cheap park and ride bus ticket offer extendedAn offer which makes parking and bus travel more cost effective at Oxford's park and rides has been extended by six months until September 30.

Other Regional Press

• King Alfred's pupils faced with 'dangerous' walk after bus cutsOxfordshire County Council will stop providing its school bus from Childrey to Wantage from the summer term
• Concern over loss of vital Coventry and Bedworth bus route to Nuneaton's George Eliot hospitalIt is being pulled off the timetable as of next month

New Civil Engineer

• Spring Budget 2023 | Industry welcomes nuclear and roads investment but calls for more certainty on future projectsInvestment in road maintenance and nuclear energy innovation were two of the headline announcements in yesterday’s spring budget announcement by chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
• Call for North Wales rail electrification following delays to HS2 Crewe to Manchester linkA railway action group in North Wales has called for the rapid electrification of the North Wales Mainline amid ongoing delays to the delivery of High Speed 2 (HS2).

Other News Sources

• Shetland’s £500M inter-island tunnel project ’would never pay for itself’Proposals for a £500M series of tunnels or "fixed links" between the Shetland Isles will never pay for themselves, a tunnelling expert has told NCE.
• Blackburn with Darwen bus services rise bucking national trendBUS services in Blackburn with Darwen are bucking the national trend with an increase of 38 per cent in services in 2021/2022 compared to 2016/2017.