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

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

BBC News

• HS2: South Northamptonshire MP Andrea Leadsom calls for answersAn MP has told the House of Commons that her constituents deserve to know if the full HS2 project is actually going ahead.
• Fuel price rise concerns after oil hits 10-month highAnnie Davies says she is unable to take her children on day trips due to fuel price rises.
• The 'swift' public inquiry that took nine years to finishA £13m probe into Edinburgh's delayed tram line cost more than the Iraq Inquiry but is now at its last stop.
• 'Litany of avoidable failures' in Edinburgh tram projectA £13m public inquiry into Edinburgh's delayed tram line has concluded nine years after it started.
• Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry given new contractsThe rail operators have been awarded the long-term contract renewals by the Department for Transport.

Financial Times

• Meloni government retreats on plan to cap some internal air faresStrong pushback from airlines persuades Rome to relent on decree restricting increases to 200% of average prices
• HS2 costs set to jump as inflation undermines rail project's futurePrice tag set to rise to a figure closer to £91bn, according to calculations by the Financial Times
• Uber warns of threat to drivers in ‘hundreds’ of cities under EU gig work planPrices paid by consumers would also rise if Brussels enacts Platform Work Directive, says Uber’s European chief

The Guardian

• Sunak planning to drop net zero policies in pre-election challenge to LabourPlans set to be announced on Friday could include delaying ban on sales of new petrol and diesel carsRishi Sunak is planning to row back on some of the government's net zero policies that impose a direct cost on consumers as the Conservatives attempt to create a dividing line with Labour before the next election.The Guardian understands that the move, expected to be announced in a major speech this Friday, could include delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and watering down the phasing out of gas boilers.

Times Online

• Ferries fiasco ’speeding exodus from Western Isles’. [subscription]Urgent support and action needed from Scottish and UK governments, says council
• Change Stonehenge tunnel plans or don’t do it at all, says Unesco. [subscription]The government should make amendments to the plan for a tunnel near Stonehenge or “not proceed”, Unesco has said.
• Avanti West Coast back on track with new nine-year contract. [subscription]The train operator Avanti West Coast has been awarded a long-term contract renewal after a vast improvement in services.

Transport Committee

• Committee visits Colne Valley viaductOn Wednesday 6 September, the Select Committee on the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill visited the construction site for the Colne Valley viaduct as part of its consideration of proposals for the new high-speed station at Manchester Piccadilly.

Mail Online

• Fury as the Department for Transport hands new contracts worth millions to CrossCountry and Avanti West Coast train operators - despite HALF of their services arriving lateTwo of Britain's least reliable train operators have been handed long-term contracts worth millions of pounds - despite half of their services arriving late.

Network Rail

• Extreme rainfall to bring speed restrictions to the West Highland Line and West Coast Main Line in ScotlandSpeed restrictions will be in place on Scotland’s Railway as high winds and heavy rain begin to hit the west coast this evening (Tuesday 19 September).

Sky News

• Avanti West Coast and CrossCountry rail contracts renewed - despite 'disastrous' 2022 for AvantiBoth companies have been hit by strikes since industrial action started last year. But Avanti previously recorded one of the highest cancellation rates for any operator since records began back in 2014.

Birmingham Post

• UK-made driverless shuttle bus takes to streets of PragueAurrigo International project is being used to test public attitudes to autonomous public transport
• Avanti West Coast needs to 'woo' customers back after 'disastrous underperformance'Avanti runs trains on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Glasgow Central, with branches to Birmingham, north Wales, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh

Bolton News

• Animal fat generators brought in to charge electric busesGenerators run using a fuel made from products including animal fat have been brought in ahead of the launch of the new Bee Network bus system.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• LIVE: 20mph reaction as opposition to new limit shows no sign of slowing downWales became the first UK nation to introduce the default limit on residential roads on Sunday

Derby Telegraph

• Alstom Derby job cuts: Government urged to step in to save 2,000 roles at factoryDerby’s biggest political leaders are urging the Government to take “swift and decisive action” to help save up to 2,000 jobs at a huge city factory. Hundreds of jobs are reported to be at risk at the Alstom factory at Litchurch Lane due to knock-on effects from delays to the building of the HS2 train line, creating a potential three-year production gap.

Wales Online

• Welsh Government has no plans to revisit 20mph change despite record-breaking petitionThe Welsh Government has no plans to revisit the introduction of the 20mph default speed limit despite a petition against it becoming the most-signed in Senedd history. The law, which has reduced the number of 30mph roads in Wales to just 3% of the network, came into force on Sunday.

Yorkshire Post

• HS2 should arrive at a central underground station in Leeds - Yorkshire Post LettersRichard Thorp (The Yorkshire Post, September 7) rightly demands that this government and presumably the next reassure ’the North’ that our transport needs are priority, but I disagree with him as to what those needs are.

Carlisle News & Star

• Government criticised over Avanti West Coast's contract decisionAvanti had been under significant pressure to improve after the government twice extended their contract by just six months, but the government has now awarded the company a core term of three years and a maximum possible term of nine years on the West Coast Mainline after seeing ’significant improvements’ from the operator.

Other Regional Press

• MPs urged to remember HS2 will continue through Lichfield rather than terminating in BirminghamMPs have been urged to remember that HS2 will continue through Lichfield and the surrounding area rather than terminating in Birmingham.
• HS2’s ’longest green tunnel’ now under construction in NorthamptonshireAccording to the team behind the project, the construction of the tunnel will take two years and roads around it will need to be realigned

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• New electric cargo rout between England and ScotlandCarousel Logistics has joined forces with Varamis rail as they work together to develop a fully electric rail route between Birmingham and Glasgow. Following a successful trail since they first formed their partnership in February this year, it’s official,  the electric route becomes part of Carousel Logistics’ pan-European delivery operations. Varamis Rail is using former passenger trains and converting, allowing them to carry cargo between the Midlands and Scotland at speeds of up to 100mph. Managing Director UK, Carousel Logistics, Andrew Lowery, said: “The introdu...
• TfL and delivery companies launch new road safety CharterRoad safety improvements are on the horizon as Transport for London (Tfl) work with meal and grocery delivery companies to launch a new voluntary Meal and Grocery Delivery Company Motorcycle Road Safety Charter. Deliveroo, Getir, Just Eat, Stuart and Uber Eats have all signed up for the road safety Charter which consists of 10 principles aiming to keep motorcycle couriers and other Londoners safe on the road. This new Charter is part of measures to achieve the Vision Zero goal, eliminating death and serious injury from the transport network. Lilli Matson, TfL's Chief Safety Health and E...

New Civil Engineer

• Inquiry into Edinburgh Tram project finds litany of issues in procurement and project managementA statutory inquiry into the long delayed and hugely overbudget Edinburgh Tram project has revealed extensive mistakes and mismanagement by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh (Tie), the delivery company set up and wholly owned by City of Edinburgh Council (CEC).
• Network Rail on track for CP6 efficiencies target but financial issues remainThe Office of Rail and Road (ORR) now expects Network Rail’s Control Period 6 (CP6), April 2019 – March 2024, efficiencies target to be exceeded, whereas it had previously raised concerns about the rail body’s progress.

Rail Advent

• New Cardiff – Scotland train service announced as part of new CrossCountry contractThe Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded a new contract to long-distance train operator CrossCountry, which is part of the Arriva Group, to continue operating passenger services throughout Great Britain.

Other News Sources

• Inflation will take HS2 price tag over £90bnThe £70bn price tag for the HS2 rail project is set to be revised upwards to account for inflation within months to a figure closer to £91bn.
• Hitachi Rail files merger notification with European Commission, as it seeks final clearance for Thales GTS acquisition­­Hitachi Rail has refiled its merger notification with the European Commission, formally restarting the merger clearance process for the acquisition of Thales’s Ground Transportation Systems (GTS) in the European Union.

News from Europe

• UK government refuses to commit to Manchester leg of HS2The UK government has refused to confirm whether it will go ahead with the planned HS2 high-speed rail link to Manchester.