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

Thursday, 18 January 2024

BBC News

• Train ticket machines charging double online priceTicket machines at train stations charge passengers more than double than what they would cost online for some journeys, according to analysis.
• Trains: £2bn to re-open Carmarthen to Bangor linesRe-opening railway lines that were shut in the 1960s and have left large towns without a direct rail link would cost £2bn, Transport for Wales has said.
• Merseyrail battery-powered trains 'introduced too soon'Merseyrail's battery-powered trains may have been introduced too soon, a leading railway journalist has said.
• How AI is helping to prevent three buses turning up at onceBus firms are now using artificial intelligence to design their timetables.
• Wizz Air pays out £1.2m over disrupted flightsThe low-cost airline had to compensate some 6,000 customers after reviewing thousands of complaints.
• Boeing groundings continue as FAA inspections proceedUS authorities have inspected 40 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes, grounded after a mid-air blowout.
• LNER: Train fares 'simplified' in bid to boost passenger numbersThe number of different tickets available on one of Britain's busiest rail lines is being reduced in a bid to increase passenger numbers.

Financial Times

• Hapag-Lloyd Maersk deal signals shake-up in global shipping alliancesNew partnership from next year comes as industry grapples with disruption from terror attacks in the Red Sea
• Boeing's financial targets must take a back seat in focus on safety, says big customer Boss of the world's biggest aircraft leasing company AerCap says US plane maker cannot afford another mistake

The Independent

• Simpler rail fares? Yes please – but perhaps not like this, LNERLNER is indisputably Britain’s flagship rail company. The state-owned train operator runs the vast majority of intercity trains on the UK’s most prestigious route: the East Coast main line linking London with Yorkshire, northeast England and Scotland.

Times Online

• Ticket machines at train stations charging twice online pricePassengers pay £107 for trip that cost £43 from internet retailer
• Cracks found in Caledonian Sleeper coaches. [subscription]Rolling stock has been taken out of service during investigations into latest problem to hit the recently revamped operation

Reuters News

• Airlines, planemakers set to unveil new orders at Indian aviation eventIndian airlines and plane makers Boeing and Airbus will reveal new orders this week and showcase large jets as they look to cash in on a boom in a fast-growing aviation market with a greater focus on international routes.

The Sun

• SO UN-FARE Warning to commuters over payment method that could see them charged double for their ticket – how to avoid forking outRAILWAY station ticket machines charge more than double an online retailer, research found.

Local Government

• City Council extends campaign to increase bus passengersMilton Keynes City Council is extending its campaign to increase passenger numbers on seven bus routes after operators said they would reduce the services if more people didn’t use them.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

• ORR gives approval for enhancements at University station, Birmingham, to openThe Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has authorised two new station buildings and other significant enhancements at University railway station in Birmingham, allowing them to enter into service.

Sky News

• Railway station ticket machines charging more than twice as much as Trainline, study by Which? findsRory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said millions of tickets are bought each year meaning "huge numbers of us are potentially paying significantly more than we need to".

Birmingham Post

• Rolls-Royce confirm Cardiff as site for potential new hub creating thousands of new jobsThe company said the Hendre Lakes business district with its own mainline train station if approved could be an ideal location

London Evening Standard

• Train ticket machines charging double price of online tickets, Which? investigation revealsConsumer group Which? said its investigation found the best value fares are either unavailable or hidden among myriad options on many machines

Wales Online

• Plans for new Cardiff railway station 'should be exception' to new environmental planning policyA planning hearing on the Hendre Lakes development was reopened this week

Yorkshire Post

• Northern Powerhouse Rail: Calls for 'more direct route' that is cheaper to deliverAn MP is urging the Government to adopt “an alternative proposal” for Northern Powerhouse Rail, claiming it would be cheaper and easier to deliver.

Kent Online

• Opinion: Post Office scandal, Eurostar, price of non-alcoholic drinks and cost of new homes debated in letters to the KentOnline editorOur readers from across the county give their weekly take on the biggest issues impacting Kent and beyond.

Other Regional Press

• Somerset's newest railway station will not be held up by phosphates issuesThe delivery of Somerset's newest railway station will not be held up by the phosphates crisis, Somerset Council has confirmed. Somerset Council has been working with Network Rail to bring forward a new railway station in Wellington, with the final business case expected to be submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) by the end of January.
• Bus fares capped at £1 for under-25s considered by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined AuthorityBus fares capped at £1 for the under-25s could make up part of the “single biggest revenue investment” in the network since the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority was established, it has said.
• Wood Hill bus improvement works to start in March.The next major bus improvement scheme planned for North Somerset will take place in March on the Wood Hill junction of the A370 to help make bus services faster whilst future-proofing sustainable bus travel and enhancing conditions for passengers and pedestrians.
• Major price discrepancy between train station ticket machines and online retailers, investigation findsA new investigation uncovered startling inconsistencies between railway station ticket machine fares and online retailers
• 'Amazing' or 'time will tell': Both excitement and doubt cast upon £1bn transport project plansSome think the £1bn package of transport projects sounded 'amazing' - but others said they 'don't think it will happen'

Rail Magazine

• UK’s busiest non 'access-friendly' station is closer to major upgradePlanned accessibility and modernisation of Transport for London's Peckham Rye station is nearer to reality with the acceptance of Network Rail's upgrade proposals.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• First extends electric bus rollout plans via green finance agreementFirstGroup has continued planning for future large-scale deployment of battery-electric bus fleets by First Bus operating companies with the agreement of a £150 million green hire purchase finance facility.

The Business Desk

• 150 jobs at risk as Wigan-based rail supplier enters administrationA Wigan-based supplier of road-rail vehicles for track maintenance on the railway have appointed administrators after running into financial difficulties.

Aviation Industry

• Could ammonia have a role in decarbonising aviation?A new report by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester for the Aviation Environment Federation (AEF) assesses the prospects for ammonia as a low-carbon fuel for aviation.

Other News Sources

• Frustrated passenger 'crunches the numbers' to highlight levels of disruption between Reading and London PaddingtonFigures show 363 of 365 days last year had some form of delay - although don't reveal the length of that delay
• Train station machines can charge more than twice the price of online ticketsMystery shoppers found many train operators have outdated ticket machines that don’t sell the cheap fares available online