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

Saturday, 22 February 2025

BBC News

• Rail line to shut to tackle orange water issueA rail line is to close and its tracks replaced to try and solve a long-running issue with brown and orange harbour water.
• Last pitch to government for rail junction upgradesPoliticians and business groups from across the East of England have made a final appeal for funding to improve two major rail junctions. Ahead of the deadline for submissions to this year's spending review, they have written to ministers saying the upgrades at Ely and Haughley are long overdue and would play a major role in growing the economy.
• Special needs transport costs go ?7m over budgetSpending on school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) has cost Sheffield City Council an extra ?7m on top of its expected budget.
• Disruption continues on West Coast Main LineThe incident - after heavy rain in the area - is causing major disruption to rail services.
• Fort William bus service reduction 'unacceptable'Residents say changes to the town's link with Corpach have affected people trying to get to work.
• St Pancras plans for direct trains from UK to GermanyThe London station's owner and Eurotunnel hope to expand routes to Cologne, Frankfurt and Switzerland.

Financial Times

• Is air travel becoming more dangerous?A spate of high-profile incidents has shone fresh light on aviation safety

The Guardian

• A prize worth pursuing: has Elizabeth line shown what rail investment can achieve?Halfway to a billion journeys, and it's only just begun. Amid the recent gloom, struggles and doubts besetting Britain's railway there is a bright beacon of hope: the Elizabeth line.
• St Pancras and Channel tunnel plan rail routes to Germany and SwitzerlandPartnership comes as London station looks at ways to almost triple passenger numbers
• A train through Germany: is Europe’s powerhouse going off the rails?In the run-up to Sunday’s crucial election, the Guardian took a long journey through Europe’s heartland to talk to votersCreaking, overcrowded, neglected, Germany’s railways, once a source of national pride, have taken a battering to their image in recent years. Amid wider concerns about the health of Europe’s stagnating largest economy, the state of its trains has become something of a metaphor for a more general sense of malaise.
• Using an e-scooter can add £1,000 to your car insurance quoteUnder-30s risk a huge hike in huge car insurance premiums later in life if handed the IN10 endorsementYoung people using private electric scooters on roads and pavements risk facing huge insurance premiums when they want to drive a car, says the comparison website MoneySuperMarket.

Times Online

• Mercedes to launch more combustion engine cars than electric ones [subscription]The carmaker is attempting to revive its profit margins after a 28 per cent drop in profits, and says petrol and diesel vehicles remain the best sellers
• BMW halts ?600m Mini investment in Oxford plant as EV demand stalls. [subscription]The German car making company?s decision raises fresh doubts over the Cowley factory?s future and deals a blow to Labour?s economic plans
• Heathrow is full already - forget the third runway [subscription]It can take an hour to leave the car park only to get stuck on the M25 at a snail's pace. Face the truth, chancellor, and explore options at another airport

i News

• The rail routes a St Pancras upgrade could open up ? if there were fewer hurdlesEfforts to smooth cross-border train travel might improve the experience, but direct services from London to Switzerland or Germany are a long way off

The National

• First free public transport trial to start in GlasgowTHE first free public transport trial of its kind in Scotland has been approved.

Birmingham Mail

• New coach service to run from Birmingham to Heathrow and Gatwick for ?12.50FlixBus is launching a new service which will connect Birmingham to Heathrow and Gatwick airports

Birmingham Post

• National Infrastructure Commission for Wales facing funding uncertaintyIts chair has told a Senedd committee it only have funding visibility through to next year

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• New managing director appointed to major railway programmeA new managing director has been appointed to lead a major railway programme in the North of England.
• Details of what public think about Bradford tram plans are revealedJUST 14 per cent of people who responded to a survey on a planned tram system linking Bradford to Leeds were from Bradford – new figures have revealed.

Liverpool Echo

• A week in the life of Merseyrail's troubled new trains We monitored the number of faults causing problems on the network over a seven-day period

London Evening Standard

• Transport for London faces ?23m 'hammering' amid National Insurance hikeSir Sadiq Khan?s chief of staff admitted that the Labour Government has ?not provided as much money as we would have hoped for?

Manchester Evening News

• Has the Bee Network actually improved buses?Bee Network buses have covered Greater Manchester for six weeks - but are they better than the old private services?

Yorkshire Evening Post

• White Rose station: Current state of play one year on from construction pause at ?26.5m Leeds train stationBuilding work on a new train station in south Leeds remains on hold - nearly one year on from a temporary pause in its construction.

Yorkshire Post

• Britain's railways have worst year on record for cancellations - with CrossCountry and Northern major offendersReliability on Britain?s railways has reached a record low with more than one in 25 services cancelled in the past year, with CrossCountry and Northern two of the worst offenders.

Cambridge News

• 'What about our roads?' as £6.5 million award set to boost cycling routesThe Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, has been awarded £6.5m

Other Regional Press

• MP calls for disability lift at Weston railway stationWESTON-super-Mare MP Dan Aldridge is asking for the installation of a disability lift at the town?s railway station.
• Berwick-upon-Tweed Town Council provides public transport wishlist to North East MayorBerwick-upon-Tweed Town Council has provided key regional decision makers with a public transport wishlist.
• Airport announces departure of its managing directorShe has been instrumental in transforming the airport's operations during her tenure
• Developer told: ‘If you don’t pay £30m for road upgrade, building must stop’A developer wanting to pull out of providing £30 million for a vital road upgrade has been told if it cannot pay then no more homes should be built.

Aviation Industry

• Heathrow launches multi-billion pound investment programIn response to the UK government?s support for expansion at Heathrow, Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Heathrow, has announced the largest private investment program in Heathrow?s history and confirmed the airport is developing proposals for a third runway to share with the government by the summer of 2025.

Other News Sources

• Worcester Foregate Street: 'more trains' under new plansNEW transport plans could see 140 extra trains per week for Worcester stations.
• These Lancashire railway stations could get major overhauls to make train travel more temptingCar parks at railway stations across Chorley could be extended as part of plans to boost train travel.
• Italy's first hydrogen train on testTHE first hydrogen-powered train to operate in Italy, an Alstom Coradia Stream H multiple-unit, is undergoing refuelling trials at Rovato near Brescia in Lombardy, following initial tests at Salzgitter in Germany and certification.
• 'Utterly disgusted': MSP slams ScotRail over ticket office cutsMSP Jackie Baillie has accused ScotRail and the Scottish Government of ?making a mockery? of public consultation after the decision to go ahead with slashing railway ticket office hours.
• MTMS extends its partnership with GTR to keep the UK?s busiest railway movingUK rail depot maintenance firm MTMS has been tasked with helping keep the UK?s busiest railway moving after it signed a new three-year contract with train operators Govia Thameslink Railway.
• Fears plans for Thurrock could be 'free for all' for developersTHURROCK councillors say they fear delays in producing a local plan for the borough could mean a 'free for all for developer'? reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
• England's third 'Dutch-style' roundabout which prioritises cyclists opensEngland's third 'Dutch-style' roundabout has opened in Sussex, as part of a major 750 home development, announced West Sussex County Council