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

Friday, 01 August 2025

BBC News

• Free bus travel scheme for under-18s beginsA scheme to provide free bus travel for under-18s has begun. Young people living in Barnsley who are aged between five and 18 will be able to claim free transport for all journeys within South Yorkshire that start or end in the borough.
• The Greatest Gathering rolls into DerbyAn event marking the 200th anniversary of the world's first passenger train service is set to attract thousands of enthusiasts into Derby.
• Call for £18m rail line upgrade between two citiesA proposed £18m upgrade to a "critical" rail line will cut journey times, reduce road traffic and boost the local economy, campaigners have said.
• Rail line to remain closed for extra repairsPart of a rail line will remain closed after surveys found tunnel floors need to be strengthened.
• Why did the air traffic control outage cause so much havoc?Details are emerging about how a 20-minute outage caused airport chaos on Wednesday.
• Heathrow Airport's expansion plans to cost £49bnHeathrow Airport has revealed details of its plan to expand and modernise the airport at a cost of £49bn.
• Bus, rail and metro offer 'less value for money'Fewer people feel bus, rail and metro services in the West Midlands offer value for money, according to new data.
• New railway station faces funding shortfallOnly about half the funding needed to build a new railway station in suburban Lancashire is currently available for the long-planned project.

Financial Times

• UK flight outage an ‘isolated’ event, transport secretary says Heidi Alexander sought assurances over service robustness at meeting with air traffic control boss
• The Little Railroad Merger That CouldWill Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern join forces?
• Heathrow ‘ready to start mobilising’ as it unveils £49bn expansion planProject includes building third runway and rerouting Britain’s busiest motorway

The Guardian

• Rail fares in Britain rise by inflation-busting 5.1% in a yearCampaigners say passengers are being priced out, with advance fares in south-east up by almost 10%
• Rolls-Royce hits turbo speed. Now keep going for a decade | Nils PratelyAfter years of false dawns, the company is churning out heaps of cash – the real measure of success in its business. Turbo Tufan strikes again. It’s almost becoming predictable. Every time Tufan Erginbilgiç, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, sets “midterm” financial targets, the aero-engine maker beats them, or looks set to do so, in no time.
• Heathrow submits ‘shovel-ready’ plans for third runwayGovernment says expanding Europe’s largest airport could create 100,000 jobs and drive growth. Why is Heathrow’s third runway back on the agenda? Are Labour’s plans to offset Heathrow expansion emissions all pie in the sky? Heathrow has submitted its “shovel-ready” plans for a third runway as part of a £50bn investment, as the government said expanding Europe’s largest airport could create 100,000 jobs and drive growth.

City AM

• Heathrow tables third runway bid Heathrow's top brass have tabled their proposal to manage the hub's long-awaited third runway expansion in a bidding process that will pit it against a rival operator for the first time in the airport's history.

Local Government

• A23 active travel improvements completeImprovements to a key transport corridor in Brighton & Hove are now complete.

Sky News

• Plans for Heathrow third runway revealed - including when it will be done and the multibillion-pound costHeathrow Airport has said it can build a third runway for £21bn within the next decade. Europe's busiest travel hub has submitted its plans to the government - with opponents raising concerns about carbon emissions, noise pollution and environmental impacts.

Bolton News

• Pensioners do not face time restrictions using their bus passPensioners will be able to use their free bus pass whenever they like as changes come into force today (Friday, August 1).

Wales Online

• Anger as dozens of jobs face being axed at rail firm owned by Welsh GovernmentJobs are at risk at a rail overhaul firm owned by Transport for Wales. Staff are said to be furious amid claims TfW itself owned by the Welsh Government is to blame for the struggles of Cardiff-based Pullman Rail.

Other Regional Press

• Bee Network Committee approves ?30 million package of transport investmentGreater Manchester is set to benefit from over ?30 million of investment in its public transport and active travel infrastructure that has been approved by the city-region?s Bee Network Committee.
• Southampton council has £2million budget to spend after bus gate axedCouncil bosses are weighing up how to invest £2million in transport improvements after the scrapping of the controversial Portswood bus gate.
• Huge timetable changes to bus services in Portsmouth, Fareham, Waterloovile and Gosport - with one 'lifeline' service axedSolent from First Bus has announced a number of service changes across its bus network which it says will improve reliability, as well as add new journeys and stops to support local passengers.
• Highland MP hits out at state of some trains after Inverness to Wick ScotRail passengers find seating on a Class 158 unit cordoned off by packing tape; Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP Jamie Stone says it illustrates issues Scotland's rail fraShocked passengers boarded a train only to find seats crudely cordoned off by packing tape - a situation symptomatic of the "major problem" ScotRail has with the "deteriorating condition" of its fleet.

Rail Magazine

• Midland Main Line electrification: frustration - and some genuine fearsThe Department for Transport announcement that Phase 3 of the Midland Main Line electrification project is to be placed on hold is frustrating for the rail industry, but not entirely surprising.

Railway Gazette

• Platform4 formed to develop brownfield railway landUK: London & Continental Railways and Network Rail's property development team have been merged to create Platform4, which will seek to develop unused railway land and reinvest the profits generated in the railways.

Railway-News

• Alstom Prepares to Welcome 40,000 for The Greatest GatheringAlstom is set to welcome roughly 40,000 rail enthusiasts from across the globe this weekend once doors open for The Greatest Gathering the world's largest gathering of both historic and modern trains to date.

Other News Sources

• Labs by Transport for Wales and Media Cymru Names Inclutech as Winner of Accelerator ProgrammeLabs by Transport for Wales has named accessible incident-reporting platform Inclutech the overall winner of its sixth accelerator programme, securing the start-up a contract to further develop its technology for the Welsh transport network.
• BRITISH CYCLING AND LEIGH DAYWe are working together with our legal partner Leigh Day on several projects which are looking to support you as a valued British Cycling Member, as well as all prospective members who can reap the benefits of the partnership in the future.
• Hopes multi-million pound Northumberland cycleway will boost local economyA major project to deliver a new cycle path between Hexham and Corbridge is under way. The route, which will also be used by pedestrians, will connect the two railway stations via the A695.
• Major Devon rail upgrade has just edged closerA new blueprint for transforming transport in Devon and Torbay has been adopted prompting strong support from regional rail campaigners.
• How Balfour Beatty Boosted Productivity With Microsoft AIThe deployment spans major UK infrastructure projects including the Sizewell C nuclear power station, Rolls-Royce non-fissile facilities, the Lower Thames Crossing and Net Zero Teesside. Jon Ozanne, Chief Information Officer at Balfour Beatty, says eliminating rework drives multiple business benefits.
• Tony Lodge: Our railways could be one of Britain's biggest energy producers if ministers let themBritain's railways are at a watershed. Under privatisation passenger journeys almost doubled. By the 2010s, private franchises were running three times as many trains between London and Manchester as the old British Rail (BR) had in the early 1990s.
• New electric trains running between Coryton, Caerphilly and Penarth - part of £800m investmentNew electric trains are now running in South Wales as part of an £800m Welsh Government investment.