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

Wednesday, 09 April 2025

BBC News

• Numbers of Welsh bus users lag behind EnglandWales has seen the slowest post-Covid recovery in numbers of passengers returning to the bus network.
• MPs call for Croydon rail scheme to be reviewedMPs want two railway stations to be upgraded as part of the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme.

Financial Times

• US tariffs cause car import pile-up at American ports Executive warns situation could become ‘quite ugly’ in a few weeks as carmakers park vehicles amid levy uncertainty
• Italian state train operator joins challenge to Eurostar monopolyTrenitalia aims to beat rivals and break into cross-Channel high-speed market by 2029
• Shipping groups clash over regulatory cost of using LNG to power vesselsRules to cut emissions have for years divided some of the world’s largest economies

The Telegraph

• Labour blunder will cost taxpayers £250m extra to nationalise rail firm [subscription]Passengers could be told to pay higher ticket prices to offset the extra £50m needed each year to lease SWR trains
• The 14-mile Thames crossing delayed by 66 miles of paperwork [subscription]Decades of dithering and bureaucracy within Britain's broken infrastructure system has left vital projects stuck in purgatory

i News

• Trenitalia is Eurostar's most serious rival yetFor the past 30 years, Eurostar has been sitting pretty. The only operator of long-distance, high-speed trains through the Channel Tunnel, it has been able to do largely as it pleases. In recent years that has meant fare hikes and mothballing stops at Ebbsfleet, Ashford and Calais.

Mail Online

• Eurostar rival unveils new London to Paris routes ready by 2029For three decades Eurostar has held a monopoly in running passenger train services through the Channel Tunnel. But Italy's national railway company has plans to change all that.

This is Money

• Carmakers hit by a 'black swan event' from Trump's trade warThe 25% tax on foreign-made vehicles entering the US would cause 'Armageddon' and 'pure chaos' for the sector, said Dan Ives at US broker Wedbush.

Birmingham Post

• Avanti West Coast owner to launch £856m Eurostar rival with one key differenceFS Italiane Group, which co-owns Avanti West Coast, has confirmed plans to launch a high-speed rail service between London and Paris by 2029

Bolton News

• Free bus travel extended to care leavers in Greater Manchester up to 25Care leavers in Greater Manchester can now benefit from free bus travel up to the age of 25.
• New screens at Manchester Airport aimed at helping BSL usersScreens at Manchester Airport now have British Sign Language (BSL) information.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• New Passenger Assistance Points installed at 40 Northern stationsNew facilities, designed to give disabled customers the confidence to travel by train, have been installed at dozens of stations across the North of England.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Wrexham city centre car ban gets 'rat run' verdict and Rhyl warningThe ban will be enforced by rise and fall bollards as well as ANPR cameras

The York Press

• Council executive to discuss £2.5m car park investment proposalsNorth Yorkshire Council's executive will discuss plans for an almost £2.5 million investment to improve car parks on Tuesday, April 15.

Wales Online

• Concerns over delays to new Transport for Wales trains being delivered'We believe TfW should use all options available to them...'

Bucks Free Press

• Wycombe bus lane camera still not live after council spends £500k on new technologyA camera designed to catch people driving in a High Wycombe bus lane has still not been turned on, it can be revealed.

Other Regional Press

• Colchester Town station welcomes new cycle storage lockersTHOUSANDS of pounds has been ploughed into new storage lockers at a railway station in a bid to get people to swap cars for bikes.
• Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch at Chemring in SalisburyTHE Conservative leader has described the decision to scrap the Stonehenge tunnel and approve the Lower Thames Crossing as 'arbitrary'.
• Frustration over 'ridiculously slow' process for EV chargersOxfordshire County Council are being urged to speed up their provision of off-street EV charging cables.

Construction News

• Network Rail boss promises 'smoother' CP7 funding flowNetwork Rail chief executive Sir Andrew Haines has said he expects the second year of the body's £45bn five-year funding cycle will go 'more smoothly'. It comes after industry figures expressed dissatisfaction at the speed in which rail work was flowing through to suppliers.

Rail Magazine

• Lord Hendy responds to MPs over rail reform consultation after they ask for clarityLord Hendy has said accessibility, freight and the environment remain key priorities for the government.
• Comment: Can the railway be rejuvenated in North West Wales?Rail travel in West Wales is very limited.

Railway Gazette

• Level boarding included in rail innovation funding competitionUK: Innovate UK has opened the latest calls for grant funding proposals under the First of a Kind programme, which supports the demonstration of innovative technologies to give them a better chance at being deployed by railway companies.

Aviation Industry

• Community interests should be front and centre of airspace modernisation policyIn its recent response to the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) consultation on the establishment of a single authority to lead airspace modernisation in the UK, The post Community interests should be front and centre of airspace modernisation policy appeared first on Aviation Environment Federation.

Other News Sources

• 'Pathetic' lack of trains and overcrowding hampering spectacular Highland ScotRail lineA "pathetic" lack of trains, unreliable services and overcrowded key stations are hampering the world-renowned West Highland lines despite their booming passenger numbers, a transport chief has complained.
• Transport Action Network set to contest government?s national policy for roads infrastructureThe campaign group Transport Action Network (TAN) will have its judicial review challenge against the government's National Networks National Policy Statement (NNNPS) heard at the High Court on Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 April 2025.