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

Friday, 31 October 2025

BBC News

• MP condemns 'unacceptable' issues at £27m stationAn MP has publicly criticised Network Rail over "unacceptable" problems at a station that has undergone a £27m redevelopment. A new southern entrance to Sunderland station was opened in December 2023 with Network Rail saying at the time that "finishing touches" would be applied in the next few months.
• UK aerospace sector given boost by VietJet dealThe UK aerospace sector has received a boost through an order of 100 new aircraft from Vietnamese carrier VietJet.
• Bus discount extended, but most fares to go upA fare discount scheme for buses that has seen some ticket prices reduced by almost half will continue until the end of March, a council has announced.
• Junk food adverts banned on Metro trainsJunk food adverts are being banned across the Tyne and Wear Metro network.
• Passengers face delays as First bus staff go on strikeFirst Cymru said many services are operating at a reduced timetable, with some services unlikely to operate at all.
• Boeing hit with $5bn in penalties as new jet delayedThe beleaguered firm said it now plans to deliver 777X jets starting from 2027.
• 'This is the big one' - tech firms bet on electrifying railRailway operators have new options for electric trains including getting rid of locomotives altogether.

The Guardian

• Soaring costs trigger calls to address transport for Send pupils in EnglandNational Audit Office finds £415m overspend as more children travel farther to schools that meet their needs. Home-to-school transport costs in England have risen to £2.3bn a year, as increasing numbers of children with special educational needs and disabilities travel farther afield to schools that can meet their requirements, according to a report.More than half a million children and young people up to the age of 25 now get council-funded transport from their home to school or college, triggering a £415m overspend by local authorities last year

The Scotsman

• Buchanan bus station: Scotland's busiest bus station faces demolition under new visionThe biggest bus station in Scotland could be demolished under plans to create a major new transport hub.

Times Online

• VW warns that Trump tariffs will cost it £5bn a year. [subscription]Europe's biggest carmaker reports £1.3bn operating loss in the third quarter, its first since the pandemic
• Richard Branson promises 'shake-up' of Channel Tunnel travel. [subscription]Eurostar is set to face competition through the Channel Tunnel for the first time since the route opened three decades ago, paving the way for cheaper fares and a wider choice of European destinations from Britain.

Transport Committee

• Govt lacks ambition to revive England's bus services, Transport Committee saysThe Transport Committee has criticised the Government's response to its report on improving bus services, saying it shows a lack of ambition and risks missing an opportunity to improve connectivity across England.

Birmingham Mail

• First look at new Midlands railway stations as construction nears completionBoth of the stations are expected to be open to the public in early 2026

Birmingham Post

• The £35m rail project that will ramp up services between Wrexham and LiverpoolThe work at Padeswood will take take freight trains off the mainline

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Images show how huge transport improvements between Bradford and Brighouse could lookA SERIES of drop-in events have been organised to help enable people to have their say on latest plans to transform travel in and around Brighouse.
• Shock at big decline in bus users - with 2.3 millon fewer journeysA big decline in bus patronage in West Yorkshire “came as a shock” to transport bosses – Councillors have been told.

Bristol Live

• Huge new Temple Meads station multi-storey car park set for go-aheadThe car park will have hundreds of spaces

Nation. Cymru

• Approval for South West Wales Regional Transport PlanResidents and businesses across south west Wales are set to benefit from major improvements to the local transport network following Welsh Government approval of a regional transport plan.

Wales Online

• Major transport plans paused after local backlashThere was so much criticism locally around the plans for the railway station that the local authority has paused the plans for a rethink

Other Regional Press

• Hertfordshire awarded £360,000 to boost rural bus services with North Herts among first to benefitHertfordshire County Council has secured £360,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT) to explore new ways of improving rural bus services with North Hertfordshire among the first areas set to benefit.

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Wrightbus lands first coach order in 30 yearsWrightbus had landed its first major coach order for more than 30 years. The manufacturer re-entered the market with the launch of its Contour earlier this year.

Rail Advent

• Trams and tram stop rebranded in new partnership for ManchesterTo bring the distinctive identity of Trafford Palazzo to life across Greater Manchester, the company behind Trafford Palazzo has announced it has agreed a new strategic partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

Rail Magazine

• Avanti West Coast told it can't run five WCML services from DecemberAvanti West Coast must stop running five services in December after requests to make temporary rights permanent were rejected.

Railnews

• Virgin wins contest to use Temple Mills international depot Virgin Group will be able to run international services from London through the Channel Tunnel as the result of a decision by the Office and Rail and Road to allow it to use Temple Mills depot, which has been occupied exclusively by Eurostar since 2007. The decision will be a setback for competitors Evolyn, Gemini and Trenitalia, but the ORR said it considered that ‘Virgin Trains has the strongest prospects of making the best use of capacity at Temple Mills’.

Railway Gazette

• Gemini Trains still hopes to exploit Channel Tunnel capacityEUROPE: Gemini Trains still has ambitions to launch train services between the UK and continental Europe, despite the rejection of its application for depot access rights needed to enable it to launch services from London to Paris, Brussels and eventually Köln.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• SME fears on Wales bus franchising raised at Committee sessionConservative MS believes that proposed legislation will not give level playing field to SME bids
• Harris Bus and Coach UK signs 10-year agreement with Higer BusStep paves the way for the Higer V Series coach to arrive in UK market during 2026, parties say

Trafnidiaeth Cymru [Transport for Wales]

• James Price on the Future of Rail in Wales: RIA SpeechLast week, James Price, Chief Executive of Transport for Wales, addressed a room full of rail industry leaders and changemakers at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) event.

Urban Transport Group

• Transport Minister Simon Lightwood appears on Urban Transport Group podcast to mark 'new dawn' for busesSimon Lightwood MP, the Minister for Roads and Buses, was the special guest on the Urban Transport Group's podcast yesterday coinciding with the Bus Services Bill becoming law.

Aviation Industry

• Giving wings to contrail mitigation: a template for international cooperationContrails, or to give them their full title, condensation trails, are a regular sight in the skies over the UK, criss-crossing each other in the wake of aircraft flying

Other News Sources

• East West Rail launches £700M support works framework engagementThe East West Rail Company (EWR Co) has launched a market engagement exercise for a £700M framework covering archaeology, ground investigations, minor civils and utilities.
• CPT calls for Government to address bus and coach driver shortagesThe Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has urged government to help fill bus and coach driver shortages by removing barriers preventing new entrants from starting careers behind the wheel

EIN News Subscription

• Airbus BelugaXL: Inside The Strangest-Looking Aircraft Ever MadeThe Airbus BelugaXL serves as the manufacturer's outsized cargo lifter, a model designed to shuttle massive aerostructures, including large Airbus A350 fuselage sections, full aircraft tailplanes, and even a pair of A350 wings that can fit inside the aircraft.