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

Thursday, 13 November 2025

BBC News

• 'Pretty lousy' rail station needs more investmentThe man in charge of bringing growth to Oxfordshire has described Oxford Railway Station as "pretty lousy" and says it will probably need more public money to bring it up to standard.
• Plans to close 40ft model railway 'devastating'Volunteers who care for a 40ft-long (12.2m) model railway have said they are devastated and bewildered at plans to close the attraction.
• Loganair looking at taking over Wick-Aberdeen routeEastern Airways had operated the subsidised flights before it entered administration.
• Tube station listed for architectural importanceSouthwark Underground Station is given Grade II listed status for its "theatrical" architecture.
• New Bishopbriggs road granted planning permissionThe route will connect an upgraded Torrance Roundabout and Lochgrog Roundabout, and include the replacement of a section of Crosshill Road.
• Driving test rules to change in bid to stop bots booking slotsThe Transport Secretary has announced new measures to tackle the continuing backlog of driving tests.
• Ryanair scraps printed boarding passes to go fully digitalThe airline is only accepting digital boarding passes from Wednesday.

Financial Times

• Reeves to curb high-end bike purchases in Cycle to Work schemeIntroduction of new cap comes after retailers warned some higher-rate taxpayers were exploiting the perk
• Military examiners to carry out driving tests in push to cut backlogGovernment seeks to bear down on long wait times to qualify in England
• M&S puts BA boss on its board after chair’s swipe at airlineSean Doyle’s appointment comes 18 months after retailer’s chair commented on X about what he saw as airline’s deterioration
• Waymo to roll out driverless taxis on highways in three US citiesAlphabet’s self-driving car venture will add routes in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco
• How Ryanair makes a virtue out of unpopular ideasDitching paper passes could benefit the wider industry

The Guardian

• ‘The car belongs in Berlin’: city backpedaling on bike-friendly policies, critics sayCar-critical measures have been slashed since the conservative CDU came into power in 2023, triggering protests and dividing communitiesIn the rubble left by the second world war, Berlin seized a zero-hour opportunity to remake itself with a brave new vision of mobility, its citizens zooming down broad avenues and autobahns in roaring German-engineered cars.Tramlines, particularly in the capitalist west of the divided city, were ripped out to make way for motorists, and bicycles were muscled out of the main traffic arteries.

The Independent

• Electric cars set to pay London’s Congestion Charge from next yearLondon Mayor Sadiq Kahn confirms £13.50 daily charge for electric cars and £9 for electric vans and trucks; non-EV Congestion Charge goes up to £18 a day

Times Online

• Military examiners to help cut driving test waiting lists. [subscription]Military driving examiners will be drafted in to help cut the huge waiting lists for practical tests.
• Why surge pricing will be coming to our roads [subscription]A smart approach to charging drivers could ease congestion and have environmental benefits, says policy expert Tom Clougherty
• Uber and Bolt warn of 15% fare increase from 'taxi tax' plan [subscription]The firms have asked Rachel Reeves not to impose VAT on private hire journeys, saying it would hit vulnerable passengers and put women's safety at risk

City AM

• London Councils urge e-bike firms to stick to borough contracts The group London Councils has called on e-bike operators to respect local contracts and act responsibly as friction deepens between boroughs and rental bike companies over parking and safety standards across the capital.

Local Government

• Bus improvements are just the ticketFunding support for zero emission buses across Devon and improvements to bus travel in Newton Abbot and Barnstaple have been approved by Devon County Council.

Network Rail

• New signalling system commissioned at Darlington as part of £140m transformationPassengers are advised that journeys between York and Newcastle will be affected when Darlington's new signalling system part of the station's £140 million upgrade is brought into use.
• UK's first low-carbon track renewal takes place between Honor Oak Park and Forest Hill1,150 yards of plain line track have been replaced on a stretch of railway line in south London using a suite of low carbon, sustainable materials - a UK first that will help Network Rail contribute to its net zero commitment

Birmingham Post

• Jet2 to launch flights to sunshine destinations from Gatwick AirportThe Yorkshire flight and holiday operator will start flying from the airport from next March
• BAE Systems warns record US government shutdown could delay paymentsThe UK's biggest defence contractor said there could be an impact on contracts before the end of the year

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• "Frustration" over delayed London rail service roll outBRADFORD Council's leader has expressed 'frustration' at the delay to more direct trains to and from London stopping at Shipley.
• Consultation launched in West Yorkshire to help design future of bus travelA public consultation has been launched in West Yorkshire to help design the future of the Weaver Network.

Bristol Live

• Electric cars to lose exemption from congestion charge from JanuaryThe scheme's daily charge is to go up for all vehicles on the same day

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Cycle route plans for a major Birmingham road approvedCycle route plans for a major Birmingham road have been given the green light – but one councillor has criticised the project’s ‘concerning’ pace.

Yorkshire Post

• Delay to make sure Northern Powerhouse Rail is 'balanced east and west of the Pennines'The delay in announcing Northern Powerhouse Rail is in part to make sure that the project is balanced east and west of the Pennines, the Transport Secretary has said.

Bucks Free Press

• Council scraps link road plans amid severe 'traffic jams'Buckinghamshire Council has scrapped its own plans to build a long-awaited relief road for Princes Risborough.

Plymouth Herald

• Locals make urgent demand over jeopardised Plymouth rail linkPlymouth Live readers are frustrated to hear that hopes of Devon County Council using a dedicated fund to revive the Tavistock to Plymouth rail link are fading fast. Campaigners need £1.5 million to develop a business case, just one per cent of the total project cost, but the council appears reluctant to release the money.

Other Regional Press

• Funding bid for Haverhill Bus Station improvements needs public support, say councillorsA town community is being asked to get behind a bid to secure funding for live information screens at its bus station.
• Train fares slashed as full London to Exeter service returnsRail travellers can once again ride the full West of England line as South Western Railway restores its hourly service between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids and to celebrate, the operator is slashing fares.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Regional bus summit launches review to shape new transport modelRegional bus operators met last week at a summit organised by Mayor Paul Bristow and chaired by transport specialist and CILT(UK) President Leon Daniels OBE, marking the beginning of an independent review into how bus franchising could be introduced across the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority area.
• Railway achieves milestone with first UK low-carbon track renewalA section of railway line in south London has become the first in the UK to be renewed using a combination of sustainable materials, achieving a 63% reduction in carbon emissions.

Rail Magazine

• AI's growing role in the rail industryTowards the end of the last century, desktop computers and the internet reshaped every sector of the economy. They arrived in businesses before households, first revolutionising how we produce and then how we consume. The rate of change varied from sector to sector, but that change reached everywhere.
• FirstGroup explains new Lumo moves and reaffirms West Coast Main Line capacity stanceFirstGroup believes there is still potential capacity on the network, after submitting bids for two new Lumo open access routes.
• Overflowing drainage channel led to landslip that caused Shap derailmentThe landslip that derailed an Avanti West Coast train at Shap occurred after a drainage channel at the top of a cutting overflowed.
• New DLR trains withdrawn due to braking issueTransport for London has withdrawn its new Docklands Light Railway B23 trains from service due to an issue with braking performance in wet weather.

Railnews

• New DLR trains withdrawn following braking problems The first three of 54 new trains being built by CAF for the Docklands Light Railway have been withdrawn. Transport for London said there had been ‘an issue with braking performance during wet weather on one train’. The introduction of the B23s was delayed for over a year, because of difficulties in achieving compatability with the DLR’s control system.

Railway Gazette

• Midland Main Line electrification to the north 'not affordable'UK: Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander says the government's approach to rail investment will be guided by securing value for taxpayers by only supporting projects that are fully costed and affordable

Transport Scotland

• Severe weather now an all year round challengeExperts from roads, rail and ferries have come together to outline their plans to prepare for the impact of severe weather on the transport network.

Aviation Industry

• London Gatwick appoints new head of aviation developmentLondon Gatwick Airport has appointed Jonny Macneal as its new head of aviation development, effective January 5, 2026.

Other News Sources

• 'Cracked' and 'failing' Leatherhead road set for improvement works including wideningThe council believes the road is 'in need of a longer-term sustainable upgrade'
• Have your say on proposed e-scooter hire scheme plansPeople across Brighton & Hove are being given the opportunity to have their say on plans for an e-scooter hire scheme trial in the city.