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

Thursday, 29 January 2026

BBC News

• Approval sought for new Loch Ness mountain bike trailsThe plans - near Fort Augustus - would also see a café and 40 motorhome pitches put in place.
• Trams set to run through city park again in 2026Manchester City Council invests £480,000 to upgrade safety systems and bring the trams back online.
• London's ebike hire: Parking problems amid surging popularityAs e-bikes surge in popularity, calls are being made for more to be done to stop them from being left on the street.
• Tesla cuts car models in shift to robots and AIMulti-billionaire Elon Musk's electric car maker also said its annual revenue had fallen for the first time.
• Driverless taxis set to launch in UK as soon as SeptemberWaymo has laid out plans for a robotaxi service in London with a pilot scheme due to begin in April.
• Plan to revamp Inverness city centre's Station QuarterInverness' bus and railway stations could be redeveloped to become a new public transport hub.
• 'Long overdue' demolition begins on bus stationThe "long overdue" demolition of an old bus station is taking place. Diggers have moved on to the site of the former Swindon bus station at New Bridge Close.
• Councillor's plea for city bus lane rethinkA councillor, who has long campaigned against bus lanes in Preston, has written to the county's authority begging for a rethink ahead of the cameras being switched on next week.
• Calls to reverse 'isolating' bus route changesMore than 450 people have signed a petition calling for the reversal of changes to bus routes which they describe as "isolating".
• Bus strikes postponed to allow for further talksScheduled bus strikes which would see drivers and engineers in Cambridge walk out have been postponed. Unite the Union confirmed that industrial action planned for its members at Stagecoach East on Wednesday and Friday would be delayed to allow for talks.
• Taking the bus to talk Oxford's congestion chargeIn Oxfordshire there are few issues more contentious than traffic - whether drivers are gridlocked in Oxford, bumper-to-bumper on the A34, or stuck on Cowley Road, the topic seems to be on everyone's minds.
• Government urged to fund ailing bridge replacementA pair of MPs have urged the government to support a £180m project to replace an ailing road bridge over a railway on a busy city route.

Financial Times

• Tesla trims car line-up in pivot to AI as annual revenue falls for first timeElon Musk’s electric-car maker invests $2bn in the billionaire’s xAI

The Guardian

• US robotaxis undergo training for London’s quirks before planned rollout this yearWaymo cars have been earning their stripes by getting used to zebra crossings while awaiting a government green light. American robotaxis due to be unleashed on London’s streets before the end of the year have been quietly undergoing training to understand the city’s quirks, not least the zebra crossings, their promoters said on Thursday as they showed off one of the UK-specific driverless cars for the first time.
• Child-free spaces on trains? This isn’t the family-friendly France I know | Helen Massy-BeresfordManners and respect are the norm for kids here. Treating them like a nuisance won’t do anything to help France’s declining birthrateIn French culture, seven is known as “l’âge de raison”, the age at which children know right from wrong and can take some moral responsibility. France’s national rail operator, it seems, puts the age at which a child can be trusted to behave in a non-annoying way onboard a train a bit higher.

The Independent

• Rock, rail and road: financing a greener, smarter transport futureTransport finance company Rock, through its specialist platforms Rock Rail and Rock Road, is reshaping how public transport assets are financed, delivered and managed aligning the interests of investors, governments, operators, manufacturers and passengers. By combining private capital with long-term, responsible investment principles, Rock is helping to modernise rail and road fleets across the UK and Europe, accelerating the transition to Net Zero transport.

The Telegraph

• Ranked: The best and worst UK cities for public transport [subscription]Rapid transit was born in the United Kingdom, with the opening of the Metropolitan Railway in 1863, followed by lines in Liverpool in 1886 and Glasgow in 1896. Since that heady period, only one new city has received a dedicated urban network, with the Tyne and Wear Metro, serving Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland, opening in 1980.

Times Online

• Elon Musk unveils $20bn Tesla investment in AI and robots [subscription]The billionaire chief executive aims to ramp up Optimus and Robotaxi production and secure the electric carmaker's supply chain
• I rode the suitcase that carries you through the airport [subscription]Chris Humphries was at Shanghai airport when he first saw a passenger whizzing through departures sitting on a motorised suitcase. 'I just thought it was genius,' he said.

Transport Committee

• Engine for growth: securing skills for transport manufacturingManufacturing of motor vehicles, buses, aeroplanes, trains, and ships has deep roots in the UK. Transport manufacturing, including the supply chains that support it, provides high quality, well-paid work which sustains many communities and provides a significant contribution to the UK economy as well as to its transport services.

City AM

• TfL wants to create a publicly owned bus company for LondonTransport for London (TfL) is working on plans to create a publicly owned bus company to compete against private operators in the capital.

Sky News

• Driverless cars are coming to London 'this year'Driverless cars are coming to London some time this year.

Birmingham Mail

• DVSA rumbles thousands breaking law and issues e-scooter warningAA said the rules for e-scooters are either 'misunderstood' or thousands of people are openly breaking the law

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Rail line 'on schedule' to reopen tomorrow morning after devastating fire in tunnelA railway line is on course to reopen tomorrow after a rail vehicle caught fire in a tunnel earlier this week.

London Evening Standard

• Exclusive: Sadiq Khan spends £1.2billion a year propping up London buses as passengers desert the networkSadiq Khan is having to spend almost £1.2 billion a year subsidising London's struggling bus fleet because of soaring costs and a 20 per cent fall passenger numbers, it can be revealed.

Northern Echo

• Lumo trains partner with Geordie water company WataA North East water company has partnered with train company Lumo to provide a 'geordie drink' for travellers.

Carlisle News & Star

• Carlisle railway station among worst-performing in the UKCARLISLE railway station has been ranked among the worst-performing stations in the UK, according to new data from ontimetrains.co.uk.

Kent Online

• First electric HGV (eHGV) travels on Channel Tunnel's LeShuttle freight service en route to GermanyA little piece of transport history has been created after the first fully-electric heavy-goods vehicle (eHGV) travelled through the Channel Tunnel.

Sunderland Echo

• Sharon Hodgson MP: Northern Powerhouse Rail is a huge win for the North East and will be transformative for thousandsFor too long, the North has been held back by a second-class rail network. This Labour Government is changing that.

Other Regional Press

• Oxford rail bridge project faces massive funding shortfallA major project to replace an ageing rail bridge is being delayed due to a massive £71m funding shortfall.
• Better bus network could be 'greater need' than Nottingham - Derby tram, says MayorThe East Midlands Mayor has played down fresh plans for a tram network going to Derby suggesting other transport ideas are in greater need.
• Bournemouth MP Tom Hayes battling for Bournemouth airport bus after winning nearly £8 million of funding to improve servicesAN MP is battling for a Bournemouth airport bus after winning nearly £8 million of funding to improve bus services. Tom Hayes, for Bournemouth East, has been campaigning for better, faster and cheaper buses in the area.
• Liberal Democrats call for summer transport boost to support Mid Wales tourismThe Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling for a summer transport boost to help support tourism across Mid Wales, building on recent successes in improving rail services
• Campaigners call for rail upgrades to link Northampton with new Universal Studios theme parkCampaigners are calling for improvements to Northampton rail services ahead of the opening of the new Universal Studios theme park in neighbouring Bedfordshire.
• Reopen West Watford Station petition - trackless trams investigatedCouncillors have backed calls to reopen the disused West Watford rail route but trackless trams could be more likely than trains.
• Brandon, Lakenheath, Thetford, Brandon and Harling Road railway stations to gain fresh anti-trespass measuresSeveral train stations are set to gain anti-trespass measures after it was revealed intrusion incidents led to 18 days worth of delays in the past year.
• First departure date for new LNER Peterborough to London service revealedThe new 590-seat service, which will leave Peterborough at 7.43am direct for King's Cross, will go into operation from February 16.
• Dereham railway bridge plans could be fast-trackedPlans to build a new two-way bridge over a railway line in Dereham could be fast-tracked to an earlier completion date.
• MP quizzes Prime Minister on funding for rail improvementsPRIME Minister Keir Starmer was probed by a Barnsley MP on plans to double the number of trains using a key line during peak times.

Train Operators

• New real-time bus departure screen installed at Great Yarmouth railway stationGreat Yarmouth is the latest Greater Anglia station to benefit from a live onward bus information screen for its customers.

Business Live

• UK Government again rejects call to devolve rail to WalesThe Liberal Democrat has seen a tabled amendment to the Railways Bill rejected by the Westminster government

New Civil Engineer

• £100M Liverpool Baltic station delayed 2 years as main contractor not yet appointedLiverpool Baltic rail station is facing delays as Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) has admitted it is yet to appoint a main contractor for its construction.

Rail Advent

• Location of maintenance depot for East West Rail confirmedEast West Rail has confirmed that its preferred location for a new Train Maintenance Depot (TMD) will be at Bletchley West.

Rail Magazine

• GWR "hasn't responded" to passenger group's concerns over withdrawn servicesA passenger group has raised repeated complaints of poor performance on Great Western Railway services through Berkshire and Wiltshire.
• Rail schemes feature in new TfL business plan but little funding committedRail has featured prominently in Transport for London's (TfL) new business plan, which will cover the organisations overall investment priorities over the next five years, however there are no new funding commitments attached to many of the schemes.

Railway Gazette

• Rail suppliers welcome report into the rolling stock manufacturing sector's future skills needsUK: The railway supply industry has welcomed a House of Commons Transport Committee report into the skills needs of the train, motor vehicle, bus, aircraft and ship manufacturing sectors in England.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Bus priority failures cited in Stagecoach Cumbernauld closure planOperator gives changes to Scottish Citylink work and extended journey times as further reasons
• TfL to develop proposals for publicly owned bus companyThe idea was a pledge in Mayor Sadiq Khan's re-election manifesto and forms part of TfL's plans and investment priorities leading up to 2030
• Faresaver Buses completes Alexander Dennis Enviro400 arrivalsFaresaver Buses of Chippenham has taken delivery of two more Alexander Dennis Enviro400 double-decks as part of an extensive fleet upgrade programme.

Other News Sources

• TfL sets out ambitious programme for the future of London's transport network as it publishes draft Business PlanNew plan covering until 2029/30 sets out how TfL will continue delivering a vision for London that encourages public transport, active travel, and supports new homes and jobs, building on progress made over the last decade
• University of Bath showcases clean transport innovation and skills during Mayoral visit to IAAPSA visit from Helen Godwin to IAAPS highlighted the University's growing role in driving regional growth through research, innovation and skills.
• UK: Electric Freightway launches with first public eHGV hubsGridserve has opened the UK's first public, turn-up-and-charge electric truck hubs at Extra Baldock and Moto Exeter. The sites mark the start of the company's Electric Freightway, a nationwide network to support zero-emission freight operations.