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

Thursday, 22 January 2026

BBC News

• Heritage railway to expand in Network Rail link-upVolunteers at a heritage railway have teamed up with Network Rail to expand their offering.
• Liverpool's new Baltic railway station delayedPlans for a new train £100m station in part of Liverpool will be delayed, the city's region's mayor has confirmed.
• Designers working on plans for Fort William bus hubDesigners have been commissioned to look at how Fort William's bus station could be improved, including potential options for its relocation.
• Rebuild of old bus depot given green lightA bus company's plans to build a "depot of the future" to improve public transport services for passengers have been approved.
• New London Superloop bus route to launchA new Superloop express bus route linking Abbey Wood and North Greenwich will launch on Saturday, with passengers able to travel for free during its first week.
• Transport review assessing 160 projects for fundsThe future of more than 160 transport projects across the West Midlands will become clearer over the coming months, bosses said. Up to 168 schemes were being looked at through the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) before a decision is made on how to allocate £2.4bn of transport funding.
• Menai Bridge repairs delayed after more problems foundIt shut in 2022 because of defects in the hangers, which link suspension chains and the road.
• Four more strike days to hit 13 London bus routesWorkers at the Lea Interchange Bus Company in Leyton are taking part in further strike action.
• Ryanair boss thanks Elon Musk for 'boost' in ticket sales after online rowMusk and Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary have called each other "idiots" in recent days, but the airline executive says it's helping lift sales
• How tiny Slovakia became a car making heavyweightThe European country is the biggest autos manufacturer relative to the size of its population.
• Bezos' Blue Origin announces satellite rival to Musk's StarlinkBlue Origin will be focused on businesses and governments, while Starlink also offers services to individual customers.
• Decision on Manchester-London 'ghost train' was uninformed, regulator admitsThe Office of Road and Rail says it was missing "critical points" when it made a decision.

Financial Times

• Neither Musk nor WiFi would improve RyanairNeed for connectivity tends to grow the longer the flight, weakening the case for the budget airline

The Guardian

• ‘Exclusively for the elite’: why Mumbai’s new motorway is a symbol of the divide between rich and poorWith 64% of the city’s residents relying on buses and trains so overloaded that up to 10 passengers die a day, anger is rising over a taxpayer-funded road most will never use.
• Four in five blind people struggle with gap at UK train stations, survey findsRNIB research uncovers high anxiety around rail travel with some having fallen into gaps or been trapped in doors‘It was a very lucky escape’: blind man who fell on to tracks calls for rail travel improvementsFour in five blind and partially sighted people in the UK have struggled to cross the gap between trains and station platforms, according to a survey, with some falling and injuring themselves.
• Schools, airports, high-rise towers: architects urged to get ‘bamboo-ready’Manual for building design aims to encourage low-carbon construction as alternative to steel and concreteAn airport made of bamboo? A tower reaching 20 metres high? For many years, bamboo has been mostly known as the favourite food of giant pandas, but a group of engineers say it’s time we took it seriously as a building material, too.This week the Institution of Structural Engineers called for architects to be “bamboo-ready” as they published a manual for designing permanent buildings made of the material, in an effort to encourage low-carbon construction

The Independent

• 'Anxious and unsafe': Half of blind people fear being stranded at train stationsBlind and partially sighted people say they are constantly let down by rail staff not showing up to help them

Times Online

• Ryanair soars, thanks to 'useful idiot' Elon Musk [subscription]eople often ask: how do you take a stand against a petulant, Trump-supporting billionaire lately famous for turning the business formerly known as Twitter into a deepfake porn site And here, at last, is an answer: fly Ryanair. Thank you, Elon Musk, for resolving that little conundrum.

Transport Committee

• Explaining the Manchester-London 'ghost train': Committee publishes regulator's letterThe Transport Committee has published a letter from the Office of Rail and Road, explaining the recent so-called 'ghost train' service from Manchester to London.

City AM

• Northern Powerhouse Rail has more to do with votes than growth With Northern Powerhouse Rail now given the green light, the North-South divide now benefits the North over London, writes James Ford I have long thought that the North-South divide was far more cultural than economic.
• King’s Cross retail sales boom as reinvention continues King’s Cross retail sales rose by double digits last year as the zone’s reinvention attracts significant retail and leisure investment.

Daily Record

• Iconic Caledonian Sleeper hints at potential new stops after starting Birmingham serviceThe overnight train from London to Scotland began calling at Birmingham International last week

i News

• Surprise! The firm tasked with fixing rail chaos in the North is HS2HS2 chiefs will lead work on a new Manchester-Liverpool line - ministers say finding an alternative would cost more for the taxpayer

Mail Online

• Innocent motorists wrongly punished by speed camera glitch on smart motorways going back SEVEN years could have penalties revokedTransport secretary Heidi Alexander this week ordered an independent review into errors that 'resulted in a number of people incorrectly facing enforcement action for speeding'.

Local Government

• Extended routes, later services and better links: Day One improvements to publicly run bus network revealedExtended routes, later running services and better links to hospitals and workplaces are among the immediate improvements passengers will see when publicly-run bus services are rolled out across Knowsley, Liverpool and Sefton.

Office of Rail and Road (ORR)

• ORR response to Transport Select Committee Chair, 7am Avanti service from Manchester Piccadilly to London EustonORR spokesperson: ORR has a good track record of getting the balance right in granting permission to new services and ensuring there is enough room on the rail network to recover when things go wrong.

Birmingham Mail

• The future of more than 160 West Midlands transport projects 'to become clearer'A review into all proposed West Midlands transport projects is currently ongoing

Manchester Evening News

• Calls for bus route axed more than half a decade ago to returnA former Trafford bus route could be reinstated following calls from residents. Since the old 84 route was withdrawn in 2017, Seymour Grove has been covered sporadically by various bus services.

Nation. Cymru

• Secretary of State for Wales criticised for defending 'ridiculous and unfair' rail fundingA Plaid Cymru MP has accused the Secretary of State for Wales of defending a 'ridiculous and deeply unfair' situation on rail funding.

Northern Echo

• Passenger numbers surge at Darlington Station amid £140m upgradePassenger numbers at Darlington Railway Station have risen sharply, making it the fastest-growing station on the LNER network, according to newly released figures.

Wales Online

• Driving test cheating surges 47% in a year as RAC Foundation warns 'road users at risk'Driving test cheating has jumped by 47% in one year, with technology-enabled fraud during theory examinations the most common violation

Yorkshire Post

• Door opened for private investment to electrify rail lines to HullLabour MPs are in conversation with the Government about the potential for private funding to electrify the rail lines to Hull.
• Doncaster Sheffield Airport: 'Approve housing or lose lease' clause revealed by leakDoncaster Council secretly agreed that the lease for its use of Doncaster Sheffield Airport could be terminated if it did not approve plans for more than a thousand houses by the site's owners, a leak to The Yorkshire Post has revealed.

Kent Online

• Thanet Parkway near Ramsgate the fastest growing station on the Southeastern networkThe success of Thanet Parkway station near Ramsgate has defied doomsters who claimed it would be a £44 million flop.

Other Regional Press

• Cumbria MP accuses government of thinking the North 'stops at the M62'In the government's press release entitled 'North West to benefit from multi-billion-pound rail investment' Cumbria is not mentioned once amongst a series of major transport initiatives across the north of England.
• Gatwick Airport legal challenge: Government makes partial concession to Peter Barclay's judicial review claimThe government has published a correction notice responding to part of the claim of Peter Barclay, Chair of GACC.
• Doncaster Sheffield Airport eyes future rail linkDSA is leaving the gate open for a direct rail connection to the East Coast Mainline, part of its long-term vision to enhance passenger and freight access and boost regional economic growth.
• 'North Heathrow' ambitions outlined for Doncaster Sheffield AirportFreight operations and fuel infrastructure are at the heart of Doncaster Sheffield Airport's growth plans, with 'no glass ceiling' being imposed on the site's potential.
• Tower Hamlets bus shelter transformed into Spanish escapeTravellers waiting for the bus at an east London stop have been treated to the sunny smell of oranges.
• TfL admits London bus lanes and LTNs slow down traffic on some streetsExtra bus lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) have increased congestion for private cars on some of London's streets, Transport for London (TfL) officials have admitted.
• Whalsay Community Council says ferry status quo is a 'ticking time bomb'In response chair of the SIC's environment and transport committee Moraig Lyall says work is underway on a new relief vessel project plus a review of the inter-island network

Train Operators

• Kent stations see record growth as Southeastern welcomes more customers back to railSoutheastern is seeing strong growth across its network, with new and established stations welcoming more customers back to rail.

New Civil Engineer

• Rail minister admits new West Midlands to Crewe line may be 'needed sooner' than plannedRail minister Lord Hendy admitted that a new line between the West Midlands and Crewe might be needed sooner than Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) due to capacity issues on the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
• How Northern Powerhouse Rail can turn promise into progressLast week's government's announcement on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) marks a significant moment for the North. After years of uncertainty, the chancellor Rachel Reeves has finally given clarity on the direction of travel, placing NPR at the heart of ambitions to grow the economy, boost productivity and unlock housing where it is most needed.

Rail Advent

• Transport for London makes Oyster card announcementA new announcement regarding the contactless and Oyster ticketing system has been made by Transport for London.

Rail UK

• Publicly owned operators report rapid growth at stations across UKTrain operators in public ownership have shared details of the stations on their networks seeing strong passenger growth according to the most recent ORR station usage figures.

Railway-News

• Zonegreen Cracks Code to Safer Bletchley DepotStaff at Bletchley train maintenance depot near Milton Keynes are benefiting from safer working conditions, thanks to Zonegreen rail safety solutions.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• First Bus launches Glasgow's first 24-hour city serviceAFirst Bus has introduced what is believed to be Glasgow's first round-the-clock bus service, extending operating hours on its 77 route to provide continuous day-and-night connectivity between the city centre, the West End and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

The Business Desk

• Bus franchise system to improve links and services across Liverpool City RegionExtended routes, later running services and better links to hospitals and workplaces have been highlighted as among the immediate improvements passengers will see when publicly-run bus services are rolled out across Knowsley, Liverpool and Sefton this autumn.

Aviation Industry

• London Gatwick airport opens consultation on changes to departure routing amid sweeping UK airspace reformThe airport is seeking views on options for the future operation of Route 4, one of nine departure routes from Gatwick.

Other News Sources

• New Caledonian Sleeper Service Complements Existing Air Connections Between Birmingham Airport and ScotlandBirmingham Airport (BHX) is now further connected to Scotland via a regular direct sleeper train service in a historic schedule change that compliments the regional transport hub's existing air connections with Scotland.
• Labour has revived Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) with a pledge of up to £45bn, setting out a three-stage rail package aimed at improving connections between the North's biggest cities and reversing years of chronic underinvestment.Just over £1bn has been allocated to develop a detailed plan linking cities from Liverpool to Newcastle, with the Treasury imposing a £45bn spending cap in an attempt to avoid the cost overruns that plagued HS2.
• Station preparing for 200 million passengersA new video released by Network Rail offers a first detailed look at what London Liverpool Street station could look like after one of the most extensive transformations ever proposed for a station in the United Kingdom.