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

Tuesday, 08 October 2024

BBC News

• Pier train damaged after striking buffersTrain passengers had to make a safe and quick exit after a pier service struck the buffers in Essex.
• Lower Thames Crossing decision delayed to May 2025A decision on whether to build a new road crossing under the Thames will not now be made until at least 23 May 2025.
• Anger over 96-mile diversion for 'unnecessary' road closuresA journey which would usually take 40 minutes in southern Scotland could take two-and-a-half hours.
• Euston, we have a problem: Enduring station rushChanges are called for to tackle crowding at Euston, amid claims the busy station is now dangerous.
• Wait longer for an electric taxi, says Uber bossThe platform wants customers to go 'green' as it tries to boost the take-up of electric cars.

Department for Transport

• Half a billion-pound investment in electric buses to spark a new era of green growthCommunities across the country will benefit from brand new, state-of-the-art green buses.
• Lower Thames Crossing: development consent decision extensionThe application decision deadline is extended to 23 May 2025.

Financial Times

• Global EV ructions will put a drag on shipping tooLaeisz’s deal to sell its pure car and truck carriers fleet is a hint that the market has peaked
• British Airways owner cannot cruise above punctuality problems forever Speedier delivery will be needed to ensure customer reviews start to reflect IAG’s investor experience
• Survivors of accidents on London bus and tubes accuse TfL of neglecting safetyCampaigners highlight what they say is defensiveness and victim-blaming
• London City Airport turns to leisure market as homeworking hits business travel Corporate travel has not returned to the same level as before the pandemic, with day trips to Europe particularly badly hit 

The Guardian

• Euston is a problem without a good solution | Nils PratleyThe final irony of the HS2 fiasco would be the next blueprint for the station looking like the one rejected as unaffordable in 2020Prepare for the next instalment of the great HS2 fiasco. Stories suggest the chancellor is preparing to shuffle the off-balance sheet financing deck, find £1bn-plus and give a thumbs up to start boring the tunnel from Old Oak Common to Euston. That decision will be motivated mainly by the sense that the high-speed line, already stripped of its northern legs by Rishi Sunak, would be even more of a national embarrassment if southbound passengers had to hop off ...
• Building HS2 to Euston and Crewe could pay for itself, analysis findsExtending high-speed line at both ends would let government charge more for rights to run it, rail leaders say. Building HS2 all the way to London Euston and Crewe could save the government money by enabling it to lease the line out for much more, rail industry leaders have told ministers, as the Treasury weighs up whether to fund tunnels to central London.The High Speed Rail Group proposes selling the rights to run the line as a long-term concession – on a similar basis to the HS1 rail route linking the capital to the Channel tunnel.

The Independent

• Euston, we have a problem we must learn to love youYes, it's boxy and outdated, but Will Gore says passengers should look past the dangerously overcrowded concourse, the enormous digital billboard and the never-ending renovations to look for positives in Britain's busiest inter-city terminus

Times Online

• HS2 will serve London Euston, transport secretary hints [subscription]Louise Haigh effectively confirms the high-speed line will not terminate at Old Oak Common, ending months of speculation

Mail Online

• Transport Secretary Louise Haigh confirms HS2 WILL run to Euston despite alarm over multi-billion pound cost as she says the rail link 'wouldn't make sense' otherwiseThe Transport Secretary today confirmed that HS2 will run to Euston despite alarm at the multi-billion pound price tag.

Birmingham Mail

• Major airline bans two common items over explosion fears amid escalating Middle East conflictEmirates is the largest airline in the Middle East and this security change could affect millions of passengers

Birmingham Post

• The new HS2 station that will add up to 10 minutes to south Wales to London train timesThe Old Oak Common station close to Paddington will wipe out much of the speed benefits from electrification of the south Wales to London rail line
• Go Ahead makes £500m investment into zero emissions buses, creating 500 new jobsThe North East transport operator has also launched a partnership with Northern Ireland-based bus manufacturer Wrightbus

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Huge rail upgrade continues as 5,000 people employed at 70 worksites across routeAbout 5,000 people are currently employed across no fewer than 70 worksites to bring a once-in-a-generation railway upgrade to fruition.

Bristol Live

• Ryanair responds to claims it secretly shrunk hand luggage allowanceRyanair is implementing some new rules and procedures over the next few months but ensured passengers a clandestine shrinking of bag measurements is not one of them

London Evening Standard

• Thousand more electric buses for London as capital's biggest bus company places ?500m orderAlmost 1,000 new electric buses are heading for London after the capital won the lion?s share of a ?500m investment in green transport.
• HS2 high-speed rail line will run to London Euston, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh strongly signalsThe HS2 high speed line will go to Euston, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh signalled on Tuesday.
• Decision deadline on £9bn Lower Thames Crossing scheme extended to May 2025The Lower Thames Crossing proposal is aimed at reducing congestion on the Dartford Crossing with a new motorway-style road.

Kent Online

• Lower Thames Crossing: Everything we know about £9bn route as decision pushed back until 2025Earlier this year, the cost of preparing the planning application for the Lower Thames Crossing had already topped £300 million. And every penny of that came out of the public purse.

Oxford Mail

• First opportunity to travel from Oxford to Milton Keynes since 1990sTrain passengers will have the opportunity to travel from Oxford to Milton Keynes along the reopened East West Railway line next month.

Other Regional Press

• The wait goes on Lower Thames Crossing announcement is postponed againParliament in recess thought to be behind delay or was there a political reason?
• Decision on Lower Thames Crossing is put back until May next year!THE government has announced a further delay on a decision as to whether the controversial Lower Thames Crossing will go ahead.

Construction News

• Lower Thames Crossing decision postponed againThe government has announced another delay to its decision on firing the starting pistol for construction work on the Lower Thames Crossing.

Rail Magazine

• Underfloor battery power trialled on TPE Class 802A UK project to develop new powerful underfloor batteries could be the beginning of the end of the diesel multiple unit and save the need for expensive electrification.
• Northern recruits more apprentice engineersEighteen young people from across the North of England have taken their first step in a rail career, joining Northern Trains on a three-year engineering apprenticeship.
• Passengers are in danger at London Euston, says watchdogPassengers using London's Euston station are being put in danger by high levels of overcrowding, according to London TravelWatch.
• Network Rail to reopen Doncaster rail collegeThe former National College for High Speed Rail is to reopen as a Network Rail Training Centre. The purpose-built Doncaster building has been empty for the last year following the closure of the college, as Tom Ingall reports...

Rail Technology Magazine

• New Managing Director for TRUJames Richardson has been appointed as the new managing director of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

Rail UK

• Chiltern Railways appoints Michael Stewart as new Commercial and Customer Strategy DirectorChiltern Railways has appointed Michael Stewart as its new Commercial and Customer Strategy Director.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel set to be establishedA UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel is to be created. It will bring together industry experts and local leaders to explore ways of ensuring that the UK remains a leader in bus building; help local authorities to deliver transport ambitions; and begin to seize opportunities to embrace zero-emission transport technologies, the Department for Transport (DfT) says.

Transport Action Network

• Lower Thames Crossing delay an opportunity to do betterTransport Action Network (TAN) today welcomed the delay but nonetheless urged Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to scrap the £9 billion Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) as the planning decision was postponed for a second time [1]. TAN said Louise Haigh should use the time to examine the significant concerns with the scheme by independent experts, the local Labour MPs, and the local Labour councils in Thurrock and Gravesham.

Other News Sources

• Network Rail confirmed as tenant of former rail collegeNetwork Rail has been revealed as the new occupier of the former National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure in Doncaster.
• HS2 team to trial clay as low-carbon alternative to concreteFunding from Innovate UK seeks to reduce carbon emissions across infrastructure projects