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

Tuesday, 24 October 2023

Government

• £24 million to boost King’s Lynn transport infrastructure (Levelling Up Fund 2)£24 million from the Levelling Up Fund was provisionally allocated to Norfolk County Council. The funding will modernise local road systems and enhance public spaces by reducing traffic congestion.
• Over £2 million for Belfast International Airport (Levelling Up Fund 2)In the second round of the Levelling Up Fund, £2.3 million has been provisionally allocated for projects in Belfast international airport.
• Fife’s regeneration boosted by £19.4 million investment (Levelling Up Fund 2)Fife Council has been allocated £19.4 million from the Levelling Up Fund to support regeneration in Glenrothes and Leven. This funding will help deliver an ambitious long-distance footpath connecting Loch Leven, Kinross and Levenmouth.
• £26.8 million to upgrade Fair Isle ferry (Levelling Up Fund 2)Almost £27 million from the Levelling Up Fund has been provisionally allocated to Shetland Islands Council to help fund a new ferry for Fair Isle.
• £14.4m for new transport hub in Dundee (Levelling Up Fund 2)In Dundee, £14.4 million from the Levelling Up Fund has provisionally been allocated to redevelop a dated multi-storey car park into a sustainable transport hub.
• £47.8 million allocation for Peterborough Train Station (Levelling Up Fund 2)Plans for the allocation are to regenerate the area around the train station – known as Station Quarter.
• £20 million for North Quay regeneration (Levelling Up Fund 2)£20 million has been awarded to Great Yarmouth Borough Council for the North Quay redevelopment. This will transform the area around the town's railway station and waterfront.

BBC News

• Cambridge South station building company gets £93m contractEngineering company J Murphy & Sons Ltd has been awarded the £93.4m contract for the station on Francis Crick Avenue at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
• East West Rail: NAO investigation into planned rail lineThe government's spending watchdog has opened an investigation into the planned £5bn rail link between Oxford and Cambridge.
• County's first electric buses due in 'coming weeks'Norfolk’s first electric double decker buses will be “going into service” in the coming weeks, transport bosses have confirmed.
• Car maker unveils £250m electric vehicle test labThe facility will test JLR's next generation of cars, including Range Rover and Defender models.
• Avanti West Coast: Union hits out at Christmas rail service cutsAvanti West Coast says it is reducing services from 9-31 December on the West Coast Main Line.
• Metro Memory Game: Tube station challenge becomes commuter hitThe Metro Memory Game, released on Friday, has already had over 100,000 plays.
• HS2: England's buses get £150m boost from cancelled legMinisters say the funding for buses in the Midlands and North will mean a
• Railway ticket office closure plans go too far, too fast, say MPsThe plans risk excluding some passengers from the railway, warns a committee of MPs.
• World shift to clean energy is unstoppable, IEA report saysThe world is shifting rapidly to clean energy but still investing too much in fossil fuels, the IEA says.

Department for Transport

• New £1.8 million competition launched to support innovative transport solutionsThe competition will award grants to businesses that seek to provide solutions to some of transport’s most-pressing issues, including decarbonisation.

Financial Times

• Ministers should reconsider rail ticket office closures in England, MPs urgeTransport select committee says proposals have gone ˜too far, too fast' and risk excluding disabled passengers

The Guardian

• Mad for it. This is why Liam Gallagher doing public transport announcements is a shrewd moveWe are bombarded with public messages that are bland and boring. Maybe a familiar voice will cut through the noise
• Plans to close rail ticket offices in England go too far, too fast, say MPsRail ticket office closure plans for England go too far, too fast and are too radical to be rolled out without being piloted first, MPs have told the rail minister.

The Telegraph

• Plans to close train ticket offices have gone ’too far, too fast’. [subscription]Transport Committee asks rail minister to reconsider ’radical’ changes and consider another limited trial run of the proposals

Times Online

• ’Hammer to crack a nut’: magistrate quits over 20mph limit. [subscription]Nick Colbourne, 66, said the legislation, which introduced the limit to all residential roads in the country, made him feel uneasy
• £150m earmarked for HS2 will improve bus services in north and Midlands. [subscription]Investment is ’first down payment on £1bn’ as ministers also extend £2 fare cap
• MPs condemn ’radical’ plans to close train ticket officesBiggest ever response to public consultation shows they’re vital, critics say

Transport Committee

• Transport Committee criticises proposed rail ticket office closures as going too far, too fastThe Transport Committee has written to the Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, with concerns about the proposed closures of rail ticket offices and its impact on disabled travellers and travellers with access needs.

i News

• Rail ticket office closure plan going ’too far, too fast’, MPs warn minister Huw MerrimanNeeds of the disabled and elderly ignored and some passengers risk being excluded from the railways, Transport Committee finds

The Mirror

• Tory ministers told to halt 'too far, too fast' closure of railway ticket officesThe Commons Transport Committee said ministers must rethink plans to close ticket offices at 974 railway stations across England that will hit the disabled and elderly

Network Rail

• Cambridge South station main construction contract awardedFollowing the Rail Minister’s commitment to fund the construction of Cambridge South on 5 June 2023, Network Rail has awarded the main works contract to build the new railway station to J Murphy & Sons Ltd (Murphy).
• Green-fingered volunteers spruce up award-winning station gardenRailway workers from the Wigan to Bolton electrification upgrades have swapped track for trowels to help out at a community garden in Hindley.

Sky News

• Rail ticket office closures will go 'too far, too fast'The transport committee says it is concerned about the impact on disabled travellers and those with access needs.

Birmingham Post

• Bike insurance firm Bikmo looking to accelerate off multi-million-pound equity roundThe Flintshire-based firm has raised £3.4m in a round led by Puma Private Equity
• Jaguar Land Rover unveils new £250m EV testing facilityThe Future Energy Lab in Whitley will help the car manufacturer develop its next generation of electric vehicles

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Electric car charging zone plan for Bradford filling stationAn electric car charging zone is planned for a Bradford filling station.

London Evening Standard

• Plans to close almost 1,000 railway ticket offices went 'too far, too fast', say MPsGovernment-backed plans to close almost 1,000 railway ticket offices went “too far, too fast” and should be reconsidered, MPs said on Monday.

The York Press

• 'Slashing car use in York by 25 per cent is not realistic'Whatever one thinks of the successful appeal to allow 300 homes in Huntington (Controversial plans to build 300 new homes in York approved by Government, October 17) this decision begs another question: how does the council expect to achieve a 25 per cent reduction in car use when the city is expanding?
• York's buses need to be more reliable, say campaignersCAMPAIGNERS calling for a better bus service in York have urged the city council to set out exactly how it plans to improve the reliability of the city’s buses – and how it will meet its target of increasing passenger numbers by 50 per cent.

Other Regional Press

• Nearly £40k being spent to fix escalators at Moorfield train stationTens of thousands of pounds are being spent to get escalators back in service at a busy Liverpool city centre train station.
• FREE 'HOPPER' BUS RIDES LAUNCHED IN CENTRAL MILTON KEYNESA new free bus service has been launched in Central Milton Keynes, connecting the train station to centre:mk and 12th Street.
• Which Coventry streets should be 20mph - have your sayShould the city council follow suit of neighbouring Solihull and start rolling out more speed restricted roads

Train Operators

• Northern revives former station house to be new one-stop shop for healthA one-stop shop for health will soon take up residence in a newly refurbished space at Trafford Park station in Greater Manchester where visitors can have acupuncture or take part in yoga sessions.
• Meet Northern’s depot cats who have found their ’furever’ home on the railwayAlmost ten years ago, a skinny black cat showed up at one of Northern’s Lancashire depots cold and hungry. The team at Blackpool took him in and named him 'Max'.

New Civil Engineer

• J Murphy & Sons awarded £93.4M contract to build Cambridge South stationNetwork Rail has awarded the £93.4M main works contract to build the new Cambridge South railway station to J Murphy & Sons (Murphy).

Railnews

• Ticket office closure deadline approaches Reports are claiming that at least some station ticket offices in England will be spared the nationwide cull which was proposed during the summer, as the deadline for making recommendations about the closures approaches. The House of Commons Transport Committee has written to rail minister Huw Merriman to express its concerns about the proposed closures and their effect on disabled travellers and people with special access needs. The letter says the proposals go too far and too fast, and risk excluding some passengers from the railway altogether.

Railway Gazette

• Cardiff – Edinburgh open access train service proposal under developmentUK: Grand Union has begun industry consultation over a proposal to operate five open access services a day between Cardiff and Edinburgh, and separately is looking at rolling stock options for its planned London – Carmarthen and London – Stirling services.
• Railpool orders Modula heavy shunting and freight locomotivesGERMANY: Leasing company Railpool has ordered 45 Modula heavy shunting and freight locomotives from CRRC’s Vossloh Rolling Stock business, with options to purchase 142 more.

Railway Technology

• CSX to expand use of Siemens software solutionsThe two companies will build on an existing five-year relationship.

road.cc

• Residents' anger at plans to scrap car parking for cycle lane, but council transport director says walking and cycling should be "prioritised" as "there's just not room for everything"A proposal which the council says would see the "front of York Station transformed to create a new and improved gateway to the city", with safe cycling infrastructure, improved pedestrian facilities and better access for bus users, has attracted objections from some residents who do not want to lose the parking spaces in front of their homes.

Transport Scotland

• Lifeline flights contract awardThe next contract to operate the Scottish Government-supported air services from Glasgow to Barra, Tiree and Campbeltown has been awarded to Loganair.

Other News Sources

• Zonegreen secures 50th depot maintenance contractRail safety specialist Zonegreen has signed its 50th maintenance contract with a UK depot. The Sheffield-based company has been appointed by Northern Trains to maintain its Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS) at Hull's Botanic Gardens facility.
• Living room comfort at 300 km/h: First ICE with new interior design inaugurates serviceThe new ICE interior design celebrated its premiere today in the 17th ICE 3Neo
• Positive Traction launches 08e – “the future of sustainable depot operations”Positive Traction has launched the UK’s first re-engineered battery powered shunting locomotive – the 08e.
• Vossloh Rolling Stock adds hydrogen to modular portfolioVossloh Rolling Stock has taken its first steps into offering hydrogen-based traction for its latest fleet of shunting locomotives. Kevin Smith visits the manufacturer in Kiel to learn more about its project with Germany’s Duisport Rail.
• COMMUNITY TRANSPORT WEEK ROUND UP: MYTH BUSTERSAs part of Community Transport Week, Better Transport has been busting some common myths about transport. Our favourite is Myth 4: Public transport doesn’t work in rural areas.