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

Friday, 02 June 2023

BBC News

• Minister's concern over use of £18,000-a-month bus routeMinisters have expressed concerns over how few people are using an £18,000-a-month town circular bus route.
• Cardiff: Football fans demand better transport after gameFootball fans have raised concerns about a lack of trains to north Wales after Wales' next match.
• A5 road upgrade only partly improves safety, official saysMore overtaking lanes on the 53-mile road would mean accident blackspots remain, public inquiry hears.
• Age for free Translink public transport could be raisedEligibility rules for free use of Translink services will be the subject of a public consultation.
• Government urged to rethink HS2 plansThe mayors of Manchester and London have written to the transport secretary about their concerns.
• Manchester mayor's plea to tram workers over Parklife strikesAndy Burnham offers to meet a union if Metrolink staff agree to no strike on the weekend of Parklife.
• Glasgow garage owner to continue low emission zone fightWilliam Paton says the ban on high-polluting vehicles will have a huge impact on his business.
• Bosses at ferry fiasco shipyard to receive bonusesBut its chief executive insists that the
• Train strikes: How rail walkouts on Friday will affect youWhat you need to know about the walkout by RMT train staff by the BBC's Zoe Conway.
• British Airways fined $1.1m by US governmentThe US says the airline did not

Financial Times

• Brussels urges UK to join trade pact to ease risk of post-Brexit car tariffsTrade experts warn British membership of Pan-Euro-Mediterranean convention is not ‘immediate fix’

The Guardian

• US fines British Airways $1.1m for failing to refund Covid cancellationsAirline says it acted lawfully after claims that refunds for abandoned or rescheduled flights in 2020 were not timely. British Airways has been fined $1.1m (£878,000) by the US over claims it failed to pay refunds for cancelled flights during the coronavirus pandemic.
• RMT strike in England begins two days of rail disruptionHalf of services on affected lines cancelled on Friday with only 40% of trains set to run on Saturday during Aslef industrial actionWhich trains will run on Friday and Saturday in Great Britain?More than 20,000 rail workers in England have begun a 24-hour strike that will cancel half of services on affected lines as part of a long-running dispute with train operators over jobs, pay and conditions.

Times Online

• Response to CalMac ferry fiasco shows still waters run deep. [subscription]The SNP member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar is not renowned for rocking the boat

City AM

• Car industry: Throwing money at the issue won’t solve UK’s post-Brexit problems, think tank warns The UK must not enter a subsidy race with the US and EU to save its auto industry from problems such as a flagging electric vehicle (EV) segment and a post-Brexit drop in investment, an influential Tory think tank has warned.

Birmingham Post

• Cardiff Airport makes up lost Wizz Air passengers and stands ready for Qatar Airways restartCardiff Airport chief executive Spencer Birns is upbeat on growing passenger numbers as it recovery back from the pandemic
• Manchester to become only UK airport outside London to fly directly to US West Coast after new Virgin Atlantic route revealedVirgin Atlantic already operates routes to Orlando, New York and Atlanta from Manchester Airport
• Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan lead calls for HS2 not to be scaled backLeaders in Manchester and London have made a joint appeal to the government
• Company founded by Manchester Airport owner acquires parking reservation platform ParkViaParkVia won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade in both 2014 and 2019

The York Press

• York: LNER reveals name and livery of Azuma train for PrideA York-based rail firm has revealed a new name and livery for one of its trains to celebrate Pride.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Bus company offers apology to pass holder left waiting weeks for strike day refundA bus company has offered an apology and goodwill gesture to a pass holder waited months for a refund for the days he couldn't travel.

North Wales Live

• Ryanair praises Liverpool John Lennon Airport as airline marks milestoneThe airline is expecting a busy summer at Liverpool

Reading Evening Post

• Cancelled Reading and Wokingham bus service 'relied too much on pensioners'A Reading council official claimed the former service “started quite late and finished quite early" and was mainly used by elderly shoppers travelling to Reading town centre

Other Regional Press

• Peterhead’s transport interchange to undergo £250,000 worth of improvementsOpened in 2007, the facility continues to serve as an important entry point to the town centre with both local town bus services and longer distance services operating out of the interchange.
• Glasgow park and ride sites on edges of city among plans to improve transport linksThe proposals are part of the city's transport strategy which could also see free public transport provided in the city centre and new fast-track bus corridors.
• Major new funding announced for Leicestershire bus servicesNew funding of nearly £2million has been announced to support bus services across Leicestershire.
• A34 noise problems causing anger to Oxfordshire residentsNational Highways has been criticised due to air and noise pollution caused by traffic on the A34, A40 and A44 in Wolvercote.

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach UK Managing Director to step downA Stagecoach spokesperson told CBW: “Carla Stockton-Jones has announced that she will be leaving the business at the end of August to seek new growth opportunities outside of Stagecoach. Carla was appointed as UK Managing Director in October 2020, having joined the company as Regional Director for the South of England in February 2020 having held senior roles at Sky.”
• Support for the coach industry is vital, operators tell PMMore than 60 RHA coach members have signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a range of measures to support the industry following National Coach Week, when the RHA launched its Manifesto for the Coach Industry which sets out key asks on recruitment, borders, decarbonisation and other important issues.
• Welsh bus funding extendedOn 23 May, Welsh Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters announced an additional £46 million of funding for the bus sector in Wales, to last until 2024.
• Mixed performance for bus and coach market in first quarterThe UK’s new coach and bus market fell by 0.6% in the first quarter of 2023, with 968 vehicles joining Britain’s transport network, according to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). With passenger numbers still low since the sharp decline in ridership caused by the pandemic, the overall market remains tough albeit stable since the first quarter of last year, the trade body said. Registrations remain 39.7% below the pre-pandemic five-year average.

New Civil Engineer

• £100M A47 dualling could be hindered by questions over use of Norfolk farmlandThe £100M dualling of the A47 is on hold as questions emerge over the sale of 1km2 of Norfolk farmland between Blofield and North Burlingham.

Rail Business Daily

• Coventry ’at the heart’ of UK transport innovationCoventry is hosting a major transport conference showcasing how the city is ’at the heart’ of national innovation.

Railnews

• Shortage of Class 175 units continues in Wales A shortage of Alstom-built Class 175 diesel units is continuing on Transport for Wales routes, as the result of a series of fires which have been traced to contaminated engine bays in which fuel deposits had accumulated. All the bays are being deep-cleaned, but the Office of Rail and Road issued an Improvement Notice in March. The work must be completed by 17 September.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Stagecoach signs up to United Nations Global CompactStagecoach has joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), a voluntary sustainability initiative open to diverse businesses worldwide.
• BSOG Plus rates in England from July confirmed by DfTThe BSOG Plus scheme that is part of longer-term support for buses in England from 1 July will for commercial services use a baseline pence per km payment that is coupled to a pence per litre sum for diesel, biodiesel, bioethanol and used cooking oil; a further pence per km payment for zero-emission vehicles; or a pence per kg remittance for gas.

Transport Briefing (subscription)

• Wigan-Bolton wires cost doubles as CP5 project revived Electrification of the railway between Wigan and Boston has been reauthorised by government at a cost of 78m.The 13 mile route between Wigan North Western station and Lostock Junction near...
• Three make cut for HS2 Interchange station design-build HS2 Ltd has shortlisted three bidders to build Interchange station near Solihull.The winner of the contract, worth up to 370m, will develop the detailed design of the station before...

Other News Sources

• Hydrogen buses are being trialled in Neath Port Talbot and SwanseaAn exciting demonstration of green zero emission public transport is underway in Neath Port Talbot and Swansea.