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

Thursday, 17 October 2024

BBC News

• London's Elizabeth line wins top architecture prizeThe Elizabeth line, London's newest train line, has been awarded the UK's most prestigious architecture prize.
• Milestone for HS2 as foundation work startsThe installation of 2,000 concrete columns for the foundations of Curzon Street Station begins.
• Flash flooding closes roads and blocks rail linesHeavy rain has caused flash flooding in Shropshire, closing roads and affecting trains.
• Roads network faces biggest funding crisis in 25 yearsThe Mineral Products Association warns politicians of the implications on road safety and employment in the sector.
• London Tube drivers to strike over payLondon Underground drivers are set to strike on two days in November in a dispute over pay.

Financial Times

• Elizabeth Line wins UK’s Stirling PrizeEast-west London railway that came in late and £4bn over budget praised as a ‘triumph of architect-led collaboration’
• Uber explored possible bid for Expedia in ‘super app’ growth pushBuying the travel website would be the ride-hailing group’s biggest deal as it looks to diversify

The Guardian

• ‘A triumph’: London’s £19bn Elizabeth line is named best new architecture in BritainWith its futuristic panels, airy tunnels and elegantly unified design, the 73-mile addition to the tube is a worthy winner of the prestigious Stirling prize – and puts the rest of the creaking, sooty network to shame. With the longest platforms, the biggest tunnels and the fastest trains on the entire London underground, the Elizabeth line boasts a dizzying list of superlatives, carrying more people a day than any other train line in the country. It is now deemed to have the best design, too – being named as the winner of the 2024 RIBA Stirling prize for the finest architecture
• London students fear abandoning courses over inability to apply for discounted faresSystem for applying for travelcards yet to be restored after cyber-attack on Transport for London’s IT systems. Students in London fear they may have to abandon their school and university courses to save money after a cyber hack on Transport for London’s (TfL) IT systems left them unable to apply for discounted travelcards.TfL suspended applications for discounted travel passes when its systems were hacked in early September, compromising the details of about 5,000 Oyster card holders. It is unable to say when the system will be restored.

The Telegraph

• Elizabeth Line wins top architectural prize for curvaceous design and portal to the future feel [subscription]The new Elizabeth Line has been hailed a triumph as it won a top architectural prize.

Times Online

• Ryanair blown off target by delays at Boeing. [subscription]A strike and other crises at the American aircraft maker mean the low-cost airline will not be receiving all the 737s it had ordered
• Elizabeth Line wins prize for architecture dividing critics. [subscription]Critics question whether the £18.8 billion project, which was over budget and four years late, is engineering or architecture

City AM

• HS2 back on track: Troubled line will run from London Euston after allHaving originally planned for the project to cost £37.5bn in 2009, the government's latest estimation in Febuary this year ballooned to anywhere between £72bn and £98bn.

This is Money

• Government orders probe as car insurance premiums rise by a fifth in TWO yearsInsurers will also be quizzed on those hardest hit by rising car cover costs, including ethnic minorities, those on lower incomes and elderly and young drivers.

LBC

• Troubled HS2 rail line will run from London Euston to Crewe, LBC understandsThe troubled HS2 rail line will now run from London Euston to Crewe in a move soon to be announced by the Government, LBC understands.

London Evening Standard

• The Elizabeth Line is a worthy winner of the Stirling Prize but the wrong choiceComment: Phineas Harper, co-founder of New Architecture Writers, can see why the Elizabeth Line won the prestigious prize, but thinks this was a missed opportunity by the judges

Nation. Cymru

• Architect of South Wales Metro publishes book telling backstory of projectThe principal architect behind the South Wales Metro has published a book revealing the backstory to the £1bn rail scheme.

Wales Online

• Transport for Wales passengers soar as cancellations drop since last yearNew official figures show TfW handled 1.6 million more passengers between April and June this year compared to the same period in 2023

Bucks Free Press

• Chiltern Railways announces £145k funding for 12 projectsChiltern Railways has announced 12 projects it will support with £145,000 of funding

Other Regional Press

• Pembrokeshire's £150,000 e-bike scheme under spotlightPembrokeshire County Council's £150,000 e-bikes scheme, which got off to a rocky start with limited availability at weekends and bikes unavailable to hire in Haverfordwest 'due to required repairs' is to come under the spotlight next week.

Rail Business Daily

• New app revolutionises accessibility for blind and partially sighted rail passengersGovia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is extending the free use of a ground-breaking smartphone app, designed to enhance accessibility for blind and partially sighted passengers, to all 236 of its Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink-managed stations.
• HS2 lays the foundations for Curzon Street StationWork has started on the installation of 2,000 vertical concrete columns for the foundations of Birmingham's Curzon Street Station marking a critical milestone in the construction of HS2's city centre rail hub.

Railway-News

• Alstom and Škoda Collaborate on ETCS Deployment in EuropeAlstom and Škoda Group have signed a collaboration agreement to supply Alstom's ETCS Level 2 systems in Škoda trains for RegioJet in the Czech Republic.

Urban Transport Group

• The pathway to a brighter transport future: The fiscal imperativeThe new Government has recognised the role that transport, and city regions, will play in fulfilling their central mission: to kickstart economic growth.

Other News Sources

• Rail Reliability supports Class 458 fleetRail operators often find that they have need for temporary staff, especially at times of great change
• MS backs calls for direct bus route from Abergavenny to the GrangeLaura Anne Jones, MS for South Wales East, has backed calls for a direct bus service to The Grange Hospital.