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

Monday, 19 August 2024

BBC News

• Merseyrail disruption due to bridge replacement worksMerseyrail services will be disrupted this week due to bridge replacement works. Trains will not run between Hall Road and Formby on the Southport line until Saturday, while Network Rail construct a new concrete crossing over the River Alt.
• The six minute train journey that became a long legal nightmareIt should have been a quick, simple rail journey.
• Alstom wins new £60m refurbishment contractManufacturing giant Alstom has signed a contract worth £60m to refurbish CrossCountry’s Voyager trains.
• Call to release billions for Bakerloo line upgradeA council has called for billions of pounds to be released for improvements to the Bakerloo line. In a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and the Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, Brent Council's leader, Muhammed Butt, said improvements would deliver “undeniable” economic and social benefits.
• Council to u-turn on car parking chargesTameside Council is set to reverse its decision to treble parking charges to help boost traders.

Financial Times

• Western airlines slash flights to ChinaChinese rivals take market share as US and European carriers struggle with weak demand and diversions around Russia

The Guardian

• Labour’s autumn budget must reverse ‘decade of decline’ in UK infrastructureEconomy held back by ailing transport network, with poor roads adding to logistics costs, say manufacturersRachel Reeves has been warned by Britain’s biggest manufacturers that her autumn budget must address a decade of decline in national infrastructure that is damaging economic growth.More than half of manufacturers surveyed by the industry group Make UK said that the country’s national road infrastructure had deteriorated in the last 10 years, making it slower and more expensive to build and export British products. Continue reading...

The Herald

• First Bus not aware of North Lanarkshire school bus cutsA major bus provider in North Lanarkshire said it was unaware of the potential for hundreds of additional student passengers on public bus routes until the start of this school year.

The Independent

• Who is Louise Haigh? Labour’s transport secretary who negotiated pay deal with rail unionSheffield MP, who is a former shop steward for Unite, has promised a “radical overhaul” of public transport
• Former Tory rail minister admits failure on reform – and praises train staff and unionsHuw Merriman: ’These people work hard and should be shown more respect’

Times Online

• Bailiffs sent to millions more motorists as traffic fines rise. [subscription]More drivers are falling foul of clean air zones, road tolls and parking restrictions — and thousands of vehicles are being sold off when owners refuse to pay penalty charge notices

Network Rail

• Detailed new images show future vision for historic Darlington stationNew photo-realistic pictures have been released to show what the inside of Darlington station will look like for passengers once its multi-million-pound revamp is complete.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Fate of Bradford Interchange bus station to be decided in a month's timeThe fate of Bradford Interchange bus station will be decided at a key meeting in a month's time - nearly 10 months after it was closed.

Derby Telegraph

• Alstom wins new £60m contract to refurbish CrossCountry Voyager trainsIt could mean extra jobs when the work starts next year - just two months after the future of the Derby factory was settled

London Evening Standard

• Aslef says rail strikes called amid ’toxic situation’ in dispute with LNERTrain drivers working for LNER will walk out on weekends from the end of August in a dispute about working agreements.
• New campaign launched to tackle abuse against transport staffRoughly half of all reported incidents of violence and aggression towards TfL staff start because of a ’revenue dispute’

Nation. Cymru

• South Wales Metro work continuesTransport for Wales is urging all customers to check before they travel as South Wales Metro works will impact services from next weekend.

The York Press

• Mayor David Skaith reveals bus and transport plansThe future of York and North Yorkshire’s bus system and transport network is among the issues at the top of the region's agenda, its mayor has said.

Cambridge News

• We spoke to villagers in area where new town is being built and railway station is being movedWith the arrival of Waterbeach New Town have come changes for those living in the "old" Waterbeach village to the south. Approval for 6,500 homes in the western portion of the new development, around three miles to the north of the village, was granted in 2019, and the first residents have started to move in.
• We spoke to villagers in area where new town is being built and railway station is being movedWith the arrival of Waterbeach New Town have come changes for those living in the "old" Waterbeach village to the south. Approval for 6,500 homes in the western portion of the new development, around three miles to the north of the village, was granted in 2019, and the first residents have started to move in.
• The ambitious £700m light rail route proposed for Cambridge named after Isaac NewtonProposals could see a tunnel carrying the light rail route underneath the historic city centre and the River Cam

Other Regional Press

• Lewes MP James MacCleary calls for train price freezeA new MP says rail passengers are being “punished for patience” as fares from his constituency to London could rise by nearly £250 a year.
• Greater Manchester town's new railway station moves step closer as 'another piece of jigsaw' falls into placeGreen space on the edge of Castleton will be transformed into a new housing development following planning approval granted by Rochdale Council in June. The 191-home proposal put forward by developer Kellen Homes is touted for the site once occupied by Baggs Yard Railing Sidings off Heywood Road.

Rail Advent

• Funding for Devon railway station withdrawnThe Mid Devon District Council has expressed its disappointment with the government's confirmation of the cancellation of the plan to reopen Cullompton station in Devon.

Rail Magazine

• Record number of Open Access bids for limited train pathsOpen Access - the operation of passenger rail services without public subsidy - faces an uncertain future, because of a lack of space on already congested main lines and problems with acquiring new rolling stock.
• Heathrow Rail Link withdrawn, but MP vows to carry onHopes for a rail link between the Great Western Main Line and Heathrow Airport appear to have finally ended.

Other News Sources

• A South Yorkshire bus revolutionSouth Yorkshire’s buses were once the envy of the country. It’s only right that we lead the charge to lift the ban on council bus services