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

Friday, 26 May 2023

BBC News

• Salford Crescent: Station upgrade and track revamp plannedA railway station in the north of England is to be upgraded and tracks will be refurbished, while a long-promised platform project is scrapped.
• East-West Rail: £5bn rail link route set to be announcedThe preferred route of a £5bn rail project is set to be announced. The government is due to confirm the Bedford to Cambridge section of the East-West Rail project as part of its life sciences plans.
• Dan Norris urged to save threatened BANES bus routesA Metro Mayor has been urged to step in to save threatened bus routes. The West of England Metro Mayor, Dan Norris, was previously told he could not use a £57m government grant to fund supported buses, which are run by local councils.
• Top deck of Birmingham bus destroyed in suspected arson attackNational Express West Midlands said passengers were quickly led to safety and no-one was hurt.
• Edinburgh tram extension to carry first passengers from JuneEdinburgh trams will soon travel to Newhaven after the start date was announced for the latest route.
• Greater Manchester buses: search begins for new network's driversGreater Manchester's new regulated Bee Network needs 300
• Jaguar Land Rover-owner to pick UK over Spain for giant car battery plantInsiders say the move, revealed exclusively by the BBC, is the most significant investment in the sector since Nissan came to Britain in the 1980s.
• British Airways cancels 43 flights due to another IT issueThe carrier says it is trying to resolve

Financial Times

• Lufthansa agrees to pay 325mn to take 41% in Italy's flag-carrierA southern hub will allow German group to tap lucrative transatlantic market and optimise European flight schedules

The Guardian

• BA flight chaos at Heathrow airport ahead of bank holiday weekendAt least 50 British Airlines services cancelled on Thursday due to technical problems and passengers warned of further delays on Friday

Times Online

• Edinburgh tram line finally reaches Newhaven after four-year trip. [subscription]After almost four years of construction, Edinburgh trams will soon take passengers to Newhaven after an opening date was announced for the latest route.
• CalMac’s Turkish ferries on schedule amid delays at Ferguson Marine. [subscription]Work on four new CalMac vessels being built in Turkey is on schedule and they are all due to be sailing by the end of 2025, officials have said.
• Anti-Ulez protesters warn of French-style unrest as London cameras vandalised. [subscription]Organised groups are sabotaging and stealing cameras being installed across London to enforce the expansion the capital’s ultra-low emissions zone (Ulez) in the latest example of grassroots resistance to a policy deemed to be “anti-car”.

City AM

• Rail cancellations swell as figures reveal 2022-23 worst year on recordTrain passengers in Britain have faced record levels of disruption over the last twelve months, with new figures revealing 2022-23 was the worst year ever for rail cancellations.
• Extending ULEZ is making criminals out of the leftie middle-class I’m as middle-class and suburban as it gets in London, but locals are planning a rebellion against ULEZ. The post Extending ULEZ is making criminals out of the leftie middle-class appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• Heathrow Airport: Thousands of passengers have their flights cancelled as 'technical issue'At least 50 BA flights were cancelled yesterday afternoon, while a large number of inbound flights were delayed for more than an hour.

Birmingham Post

• Boost for Devon locals and holidaymakers as large EV charging hub opensThe flagship 1.6 acre site on the A38 will serve high volumes of seasonal traffic

Bristol Live

• WECA £8m free birthday bus rides slammed as 'kick in the teeth' for communitiesMetro mayor says the idea is making the region the "envy of the country'"
• Mayor says £8m for birthday bus plan can’t be spent on restoring axed routesDan Norris said there were strict restrictions on how the cash could be spent, but these could soon be lifted

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Manchester Airport passengers arrive abroad after chaos - but with no bags'We saw one scuffle. There was a lot of tension. It was a total breakdown in customer service'

Manchester Evening News

• The new, cut-price plan to deal with Manchester's rail chaosAfter years of waiting Manchester will finally be getting an apparent solution to the rail gridlock that cripples our transport system - but it won't be the fix we were promised.

The York Press

• TransPennine Express services to be nationalised from SundayServices run by TransPennine Express (TPE) are to be nationalised from this weekend after the Transport Secretary announced earlier this month that the rail operator’s contract would not be renewed or extended.

Cambridge News

• Ryanair's new £20 flights from Stansted Airport to Newquay prove popular with passengersThe low cost carrier recently launched the route in time for summer

Kent Online

• Bus company Arriva to cut more routes in Maidstone to cut costsA bus company is attempting to improve the reliability of it’s service and cut spiralling costs by reducing the number of bus services.

Other Regional Press

• The £1m plans to ‘slow down traffic’ and create Kent’s first ‘walking town’Plans for a £1 million route through the heart of a town will reduce reliance on cars and make it better for cyclists and walkers, say councillors.
• Green light for taxi fare rises in Weymouth and PortlandUNANIMOUS backing has been given by councillors to a proposal for an increase in taxi fares for the Weymouth and Portland area.
• Coventry rail workers record spoof video in bid to be named region's best train stationStaff went the extra mile to drum up support

Coach and Bus Week

• Bus Users Accessibility Audit 2023Dawn Badminton-Capps, Bus Users UK Director for England, discusses the findings of the charity’s most recent accessibility survey
• Putting the Bee Line back in Berkshire and investing in the fleetRichard Sharman makes a bee line for Slough to see how a well known and popular fleet name is making a comeback, and looks at its various iterations over the years
• Electrifying CambridgeThere seems to be no shortage of news stories these days which publicise the launch of an electric bus service or electric vehicle design. However, the introduction by Stagecoach of new electric double-deckers in Cambridge was different, not least because of the scale of the launch and also the manufacturers involved, with a new vehicle design. Martin Curtis was in attendance at the launch event

New Civil Engineer

• Nuneham Viaduct will open by 10 June as work to mitigate effects of ’porridge-like’ ground enters its final stageAt a meeting to provide an update on the remediation of the troubled Nuneham Viaduct rail bridge in Oxfordshire, Network Rail capital delivery director Stuart Calvert has confirmed that the structure will re-open by 10 June as the final stages of stabilisation work get underway.
• £80M Dawlish sea wall fully opens to the public as £155M rail resilience programme continuesThe £80M Bam Nuttall constructed Dawlish sea wall has opened to the public as the £155M scheme to protect a vital rail link in Devon continues.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Trentbarton removes cap on engineering apprentice intakeIn an unprecedented move, Wellglade Group subsidiary Trentbarton has declared an intention to offer an unlimited number of engineering apprenticeships this year. The firm traditionally welcomes around five apprentices annually.
• Carla Stockton-Jones to leave Stagecoach MD postStagecoach UK Managing Director Carla Stockton-Jones is to leave her role at the end of August, the company has announced. No replacement has yet been named.
• Bouden Travel joins FlixBus UK as partner operatorBouden Travel is the latest business to become a FlixBus UK partner operator. The Birmingham-based company commenced a service between its home city and London on 25 May, for which an existing Irizar i6S coach has been repainted in FlixBus green.
• GB Kite Electroliner ’most efficient in class’: WrightbusWrightbus says that successful completion of the Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) accreditation scheme by its GB Kite Electroliner battery-electric single-decker has shown that the model is “the most efficient on the UK’s roads” in its class.

Other News Sources

• ELECTRIC CITY BUS SALES OVERTAKE DIESEL IN EUROPEFor well over one hundred years, the internal combustion engine has reigned supreme over our roads. For one small but significant transport sector, the humble city bus, its reign has neared its end.
• Bus partnership celebrates first year of progressA PIONEERING partnership between local bus operators and Leicester City Council has already made 75 per cent of its planned improvements to services and routes within its first year.
• On demand bus travel is just the ticket in west Rushcliffe!Residents in west Rushcliffe are now able to travel across their local area without a fixed bus timetable, thanks to the launch of a new Nottsbus On Demand service.