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

Thursday, 04 January 2024

BBC News

• Southampton Central's £5.5m revamp completedWork on a £5.5m scheme to transform a railway station has been completed.
• Plane wobbles during Storm Henk while landing at Heathrow airportThe Air Astana flight was one of a number that had an unsteady landing in high winds at Heathrow.
• Red Sea attacks: 'Our shipping costs have jumped 250%'Business leaders say attacks on shipping vessels could cause delays and price rises for UK shoppers.
• Ryanair hits out at Booking.com over flight cutsThe airline says sites including Booking.com, Kiwi and Kayak suddenly removed its flights in December.

Financial Times

• Chinese carmaker Chery eyes UK factory this decade State-owned company set to enter British market with a range of petrol, hybrid and electric cars
• Eurostar censured by UK watchdog over cheap seats promotionCross-channel train operator offered a very small percentage of fares at £39, says advertising regulator
• Ryanair to lower fares after online travel agents delist its flights Budget airline says moves by booking sites will lead to empty seats on its planes as tensions continue to rise
• Boost from Red Sea disruption will only carry shipping lines so far Requirement to take extra time going around South Africa eases capacity fears, but may deter scrappage
• Japan flight crash transcripts show coastguard plane was not cleared for take-offRunway collision between turboprop aircraft and Japan Airlines jet killed five and prompted emergency evacuation

The Guardian

• UK watchdog rules Eurostar’s £39 seat sale advert was misleadingOperator advertised trips from £39 each way but only small percentage of tickets were on offer at that price
• Big carmakers lobbied UK to weaken or delay electric car rulesExclusive: Submissions seen from companies on both sides of zero-emission vehicle mandate Several of the world's biggest carmakers lobbied the UK government to try to weaken or delay rules to accelerate electric car sales and cut Britain's carbon emissions.

The Independent

• Japan Airlines says Tokyo crash will cost it more than $100mThis is first time globally that hull of an A350 model airbus is lost in aviation disaster

The Telegraph

• Eurostar reprimanded over cheap seats promotion. [subscription]Advertised £39 train fares accounted for as few as 1-2pc of tickets sold

Times Online

• Eurostar censured for ’misleading’ bargain tickets advert. [subscription]The rail operator has been censured by the advertising watchdog for misleading travellers by publicising £39 tickets when it did not have enough on sale
• Coastguard plane was not cleared for takeoff in Tokyo airport crash. [subscription]The Japan Coast Guard plane that collided with a Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger jet at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, resulting in the deaths of five people, did not have permission to take off, according to a transcript of flight control communications released by the transport ministry.

City AM

• Ryanair earnings hit after travel agent websites remove carrierRyanair has said that the decision by a number of online travel agents (OTAs) to remove the airline’s flights from their websites will hit earnings in the short term.
• Sadiq Khan sparks backlash after £123m Silvertown and Blackwall tunnel charges revealedLondon Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of attempting to plug a £15bn black hole in Transport for London (TfL)’s finances, after it was revealed tolls on the Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels would generate revenues of £123m.
• Eurostar misled passengers with £39 fare promotion for European getaways, watchdog rulesEurostar has received a scolding from the UK’s advertising watchdog after misleading passengers over the price of ticket fares on routes between London and Europe.

The Mirror

• Eurostar warned by watchdog over £39 fare claims to Paris and BrusselsEurostar has got into hot water with the advertising watchdog over a £39 fare deal.

Network Rail

• This Christmas and New Year we carried out £127m of engineering works – all so we can bring you a safer, modern and reliable railway.Here’s a rundown of just some of the work from the festive period …
• Network Rail completes festive engineering work for Wales and Western regionNetwork Rail is thanking passengers and local residents today for their patience and understanding over the festive period while it has completed vital railway engineering work.

Birmingham Mail

• I live near notorious junction where major changes are planned and it's an absolute nightmarePlans to cut congestion and improve safety at busy pinch point have sparked a backlash

Birmingham Post

• Bournemouth Airport to invest more than £5 million in new facilitiesThe Dorset transport hub expects to see more than one million passengers pass through its doors in 2024
• West Midlands business review of 2023 - part four: HS2 downsized, Mailbox on sale and new future for Birmingham WheelsOur West Midlands Review of the Year draws to a close with the final three months of 2023, featuring the controversial decision to scrap part of HS2, Birmingham's Mailbox complex going on sale and a new chapter for a famous racing park

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Have your say on plans for Ilkley's bus and train stationA bid to turn Ilkley's bus and train station into the best in the country has been launched.
• Call to save disused rail line due to go to auctionA PUBLIC transport group has urged figures in local and national government to save a disused stretch of rail line that goes to auction later this month.

London Evening Standard

• Eurostar reprimanded by watchdog over £39 fare promotionEurostar has been reprimanded by the advertising watchdog after promoting a £39 fare that applied to only a “very small percentage” of available seats.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Huge decline of North East bus services laid bare as almost 40 million miles wiped off routesWhile bus mileage in London has dropped by just 5% since 2010, it has fallen by more than 30% in the North East, North West, and Yorkshire over the same period

The York Press

• Harrogate BID in move to boost town with free parkingHarrogate BID is re-launching its free Saturday parking scheme to support the town's retailers, residents and visitors in early 2024.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2 reveals progress of Colne Valley Viaduct near BucksHS2 has released new footage showing the construction of Britain's longest railway bridge.

Oxford Mail

• Oxford Cowley Branch Railway Line £500k contract questionedCommunity members, councillors and transport bosses have shared their thoughts on updates to the development of a new Oxfordshire railway service.

Other Regional Press

• Mayor could have say in re-opening of Littleworth station in Deeping St NicholasThe decision of whether or not a railway station could be re-opened may soon lie in the hands of an elected mayor.
• Call for action as only one Falkirk district train station is fully accessible for allAction is being demanded as new figures reveal that only one train station in Falkirk district is fully accessible to disabled people.
• Abingdon major traffic improvement scheme funding approvedA traffic improvement scheme on a major A-road has officially been signed into a council's budget along with a developer having been chosen
• Teesside Airport draws down £63m in taxpayer loans in first four years 'to support expansion'The airport was brought back into pubic ownership for £40m, with loan spending since 'broadly within forecast'

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Government sets 2050 target to grow rail freight by 75%The government has set an ambitious target to grow rail freight by at least 75% by 2050. Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced the goal to move more goods by rail, boosting the economy and the environment. According to the government, more rail freight will cut emissions and congestion.
• Transport and logistics professionals receive King's New Year HonoursThe Institute is delighted to share details of the members who have been recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List for 2024. The King’s New Year Honours list 2024 recognises the outstanding achievements of people across the UK.

New Civil Engineer

• Funding granted for study into two new stations on restored Oxfordshire railwaySLC Rail has been appointed to deliver design studies for two new train stations within the proposal to reopen the Cowley Branch line in Oxfordshire to passenger services.

Railway Gazette

• Amtrak begins procurement to renew Long Distance train fleetUSA: Amtrak has issued a request for proposals for a ’once-in-a-generation, multi-billion-dollar’ procurement of double-deck rolling stock to replace its Long Distance fleet.

Aviation Industry

• UK Aviation: What Can We Expect From Airlines & Airports In 2024?From slot reform and drip pricing restrictions to Heathrow's third runway, the UK aviation industry is in for a busy 12 months.

Green Miscellany

• UK bike theft effectively ’decriminalised’Bike theft has been described by an MP as effectively ’decriminalised’ following news that 90 per cent of cases go unsolved, and only 2 per cent result in someone being charged. Lib Dem home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said the figures would leave cyclists ’wondering if bike theft has been decriminalised’
• Cycling suffrage: How bicycles can continue to liberate us in 2024What would American social reformer Susan B. Anthony have said about the gender imbalance in cycling today, over a century after she famously remarked that the bicycle did “more to emancipate women than anything else in the world

Other News Sources

• Meet Manchester’s material needs by railA new report setting out the economic and environmental case for more rail freight into Greater Manchester has been published by the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and the Rail Freight Group (RFG).
• First design-build contract awarded for Grand Paris Express Line 15 EastContract worth €2.54bn covers 17km section from Bobigny to Champigny.
• CAF to Supply New Tram Fleet for RomePublic transport operator, ATAC S.p.A., has awarded CAF a framework contract for the supply of a new tram fleet in Rome.
• Plans revealed for airport railway station Plans for a new £20m railway station at Teesside International Airport have been revealed.
• Ocean Cargo Rates Climb After New Red Sea Ship AttacksOcean freight rates are surging after a missile attack and attempted hijacking of a Maersk ship this weekend prompted carriers to suspend plans to restart transits through the Red Sea, a key artery to the vital Suez Canal trade route.Yemen-base

EIN News Subscription

• Airbus and Louis Dreyfuss Order Three Wind-Assisted Cargo Ships from ChinaEuropean aviation company Airbus working with French shipping company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA) is moving forward with their plan to launch three new ro-ro cargo vessels with wind-assisted propulsion. A division of LDA signed an order on January 2 to build the three vessels with China’s Wuchang Shipbuilding, a division of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) with delivery to begin in 2025.