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

Monday, 19 January 2026

BBC News

• Station lifts plans progress with access fundingA station with no step-free access between its platforms is a step closer to getting lifts installed after the government confirmed it would fund detailed design work.
• GWR confirms 'major investment' with office leaseA rail firm has secured a deal on a large office building as part of a "significant long-term investment" in a city, bosses have said.
• Protest held against 'short-sighted' tunnel planAbout 150 people have gathered at a Victorian railway tunnel near Bradford in the hope of reversing a government decision to fill it in.
• Rail disruption warning after engineering overrunsRail passengers have been warned of disruption on Monday morning as weekend engineering work overruns.
• 'We will not be the forgotten county over rail'Staffordshire will not be the forgotten county its council leader said, as plans for a new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester get drawn up.
• Bid to revive Blackpool to London lunchtime trainAvanti West Coast has made a new bid to bring back an extra weekday London train service for Blackpool after a series of cuts.
• 'Cars parking on pavements are leaving us in danger'Angry residents in areas where parked cars are causing a menace say the problem has become "scary".
• Rail disruption warning after engineering overrunsNational Rail warns of disruption until the end of Monday after weekend work not finished in time.

The Guardian

• High-speed train crash in southern Spain leaves 39 deadAnother 75 people hospitalised, officials say, after two trains collide and derail near Adamuz in Cordóba provinceThirty-nine people have been killed and 75 hospitalised after two trains collided in southern Spain on Sunday in what the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, called “a night of deep pain” for the country.A high-speed Iryo train travelling from Málaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, crossing on to the other track where it hit an oncoming train, Spain’s Adif rail body posted on X. The second train was also derailed and went down an embankment, author...
• Two short but spectacular HS2 tunnels offer glimmer of hope for stalling projectDespite much soul-searching over UK’s inability to build infrastructure, two sections of HS2 under Chilterns are being hailed for their engineeringSeventy metres down, in deep incognito beneath a disguised ventilation shaft in the Chilterns countryside, lies HS2’s buried treasure: two 10-mile tunnels, built to avoid an area of outstanding natural beauty, eerily spectacular in gleaming concrete.They are, laments a staffer on the high-speed railway scheme, what all of the route should look like by now: pristine, fully constructed, and just waiting for a railway to run through them. C...

The Independent

• How the high-speed train crash in southern Spain unfolded: ‘Felt like an earthquake’High-speed train gets derailed, jumps onto adjacent track, and slams into oncoming train on Sunday in southern Spain

The Scotsman

• Exclusive:Power shortage forces '100% electric' train operator Lumo to use diesel for new serviceFreight trains also hit by energy shortage on west coast main line

The Telegraph

• Trump plunges Britain's carmakers back into crisis [subscription]Less than a year ago, Sir Keir Starmer claimed to have delivered on his promise to protect jobs at Jaguar Land Rover.

Times Online

• CalMac boss faces calls to quit over chief's £175k exit package [subscription]Erik Ostergaard's position 'untenable' after the ferry operator's former chief executive received payoff without ministerial permission
• London Gateway set to claim top berth from Felixstowe [subscription]The Thames port is poised to become the UK's busiest after huge expansion by Dubai owners DP World helped it handle 3m containers last year
• Legal charity gets nearly £4m of unclaimed rail fare dispute funds [subscription]Access to Justice Foundation receives windfall from a class action against South Western Trains in the first payout of its kind

Daily Express

• Spain train crash live: 24 dead after derailment turns into horror oncoming collisionTragedy strikes in southern Spain as a high-speed train derailment leaves a trail of devastation. Witnesses recount the chaos and fear that unfolded.

Mail Online

• Train station hailed as 'stunning and ambitious' by Labour council has just one business inside - two years after £27million makeoverA train station hailed for its 'stunning and ambitious' £27million renovation has now been branded a 'massive embarrassment' after attracting just one business inside two years after its grand reopening.
• One of America's worst airports continues to live up to its bad reputation as homeless people give tourists a ghastly welcome to the USThe jarring first impression for tourists represents another problem for the airport, which regularly tops lists for longest wait times, most delayed flights and highest rates of mishandled baggage.
• Airlines set to save MILLIONS in fuel costs each year if plus size travelers use fat jabs like OzempicTop airlines are saving up to $580million in fuel costs this year as passengers have been slimming down using GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, according to a Jefferies analysis.

The Mirror

• Spain train crash: Train operator issues major update on evacuation of passengersRail operator Adif said the accident occurred at 7.45pm (1845 GMT), around 10 minutes after the Malaga to Madrid train, operated by Iryo, left Cordoba - so far at least 24 people have sadly died
• UK’s 'most unreliable' airline named for 2025 - and it’s not Ryanair or easyJetA new analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data has determined the 'most unreliable' airline in the UK for 2025, with less than 60 per cent of flights departing on schedule

Birmingham Mail

• Major step forward in drive to bring West Midlands bus services under public controlA 'critical' step in overhauling the West Midlands bus network has been moved forward by transport bosses.

Birmingham Post

• Opinion: There's cautious optimism over long-awaited Northern Powerhouse Rail – but we need firm timelinesSteve Johns, partner at law firm Weightmans, warns that without 'sustained funding commitments' the plan could reach the end of the track before much headway is made.

Northern Echo

• Sign up at Middlesbrough station for platform that doesn't existConfused commuters have spotted signage for a railway station platform that doesn't yet exist, and won't for another two years.

The York Press

• MP 'disappointed' that major York rail scheme not included in government plansRail Ministers have refused to confirm whether a “necessary” scheme to improve train connections between York, Harrogate and Knaresborough will be axed.

Wales Online

• Key route set for £20m works but anger at Welsh Government remains'Council tax money is going on something that should be supported by the Welsh Government,' said one councillor

Bucks Free Press

• Bucks town station accessibility improvements delayed until at least 2029A plan to make a Beaconsfield railway station more accessible with step-free routes has been delayed until at least 2029.

Kent Online

• Manston Airport: Latest news on its reopening, when work is due to start and that all-important £750m fundingYet, as 2026 dawns, the site remains much as it has since the airport's closure back in 2014. Just with an additional 11-plus years of decay gnawing at buildings which dot the 800-acre site.

Other Regional Press

• Public inquiry announced into rail upgrade that could leave villages 'cut off' for monthsThe government has launched a public inquiry into part of a major rail upgrade that is 'crucial' but could leave a thriving local area 'cut off' for months. The Department of Transport has invited representatives to give evidence for and against a section of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, a project aimed at modernising the railway system between York and Manchester.
• North Yorkshire's Transport Chief On Rural Bus LatestNorth Yorkshire Council's Executive Member for Highways and Transportation has addressed the situation regarding rural bus transport in the region.
• Welsh Government's £1 bus fare scheme sees over two million journeys takenMore than two million bus journeys have been taken by young people across Wales since the launch of the £1 bus fare scheme in September last year.

Rail Advent

• Alstom to supply 26 double-decker trains to German regional operatorAlstom has secured a €500m contract from Germany to supply 26 Coradia Max double-decker trains, including their maintenance and servicing until the end of 2055.
• First Caledonian Sleeper runs from Birmingham to the Scottish HighlandsCaledonian Sleeper's first journey from the English West Midlands to the Scottish Highlands took place overnight on Thursday 15 January.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• New CPT Partnerships Director role aimed at shaping local bus policyrouteone speaks to new CPT Partnerships Director Aaron Hill about how he intends to help local leaders make the right decisions for bus
• ZEV levy and tourist tax present opportunity for coach and busThe new ZEV levy and tourist tax could be good news for coach and bus, writes CPT CEO Graham Vidler

The Business Desk

• Leaders to approve £6.5m replacement of accessible bus fleetBus passengers in West Yorkshire should benefit from a £6.5m investment into a new fleet of fully accessible, ultra-low emission buses.

Other News Sources

• Bus journeys hit more than two million since fare scheme introducedMore than two million bus journeys have been taken by young people across Wales since the introduction of the £1 bus fare scheme in September last year, the Welsh Government has said.
• Boost for access improvements at Wymondham Railway StationA situation which means disabled passengers at a Norfolk railway station are not able to get to one of the platforms could finally be tackled.