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

Friday, 22 May 2026

BBC News

• Busiest Tube, Overground and DLR stations revealedTottenham Court Road is the busiest London Underground station, new figures from Transport for London (TfL) show.
• Concern at school transport changes for SEND pupilsLeaders at Derbyshire County Council have approved an overhaul of the authority's home-to-school transport services despite strong objections raised by families whose children have special educational needs.
• First-class rail travel for councillors bannedA local authority has banned councillors from using taxpayer funds to buy first-class trains.
• Train crashed due to human error, say investigatorsAn investigation has found that a collision involving a passenger train in Herefordshire happened because a signaller gave a tractor driver permission to use a level crossing when it was not safe.
• Police to score train firms on tackling sexual harassmentTrain operators will be scored by police on how they tackle sexual harassment on the railways.
• Busy Glasgow street reopens to public after Union Street firePavements along the entirety of the north side of Gordon Street have been blocked off since the fire in March.
• EasyJet boss says summer flights won't be hit by jet fuel shortagesThe airline has seen no problems with fuel, but says people are booking later because of uncertainty caused by the Iran war.
• Prepare for half term queues at Dover due to EU border process, port saysIt is the first holiday period since the EU's new border system was fully implemented.

Department for Transport

• Passengers one step closer to booking taxi and bus-style self-driving vehiclesApplications open for operators to join the self-driving vehicles pilot scheme.
• New mass transit taskforce to reshape the future of transport in towns and citiesThe new taskforce will make recommendations to improve transit systems so they can be delivered more efficiently across the UK.

Financial Times

• Transport for London voices concern over robotaxis as ministers invite bidsLondon's transport authority has raised concerns about congestion and job losses from the rollout of robotaxis in the UK capital

STV

• Driver 'seriously injured' during Caledonian Sleeper shunting operationThe driver's hand got trapped during the operation, which involved two separate portions of the Caledonian Sleeper service.

The Guardian

• Ditched government projects lost taxpayer £6.6bn last year, watchdog saysSpending committee finds MoD most wasteful and also points to cancelled schemes such as Rwanda and StonehengeCancelled government projects such as the Rwanda deportation scheme and the road tunnel under Stonehenge are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money a year, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. About £6.6bn was written off by government departments last year alone – state spending that did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer, the public accounts committee said.
• HS2 is the wildest white elephant in British history. Please put it out of its misery | Simon JenkinsThe government is in thrall to the sunk-cost fallacy. Scrap the project, and use the money for a renaissance in urban transit. So it is official, as if that makes a difference. After a 15-month review by the new chief executive, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has revealed that HS2 will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains may not start until 2039. Alexander called the original design a “massively over-specced folly” and called the increase in time and costs “obscene”. Indeed it possibly ranks as the wildest white elephant in British history.

The Herald

• This Scottish airport just keeps on clocking up milestones with key flight winsThe Scottish airport keeps on clocking up milestones with key flight wins

The Independent

• Does the HS2 reset mean anything new for the railways? Simon Calder’s analysis Travel Correspondent Simon Calder assesses the latest stage of this disastrous flagship rail project

The Scotsman

• Cycle boom in Edinburgh and Glasgow as electric bike hires soar past 1 millionAberdeen has become third Scottish city to launch major rental scheme New electric hire bikes in Edinburgh and Glasgow have been rented more than a million times, The Scotsman has learned.
• I travelled on Lumo's first Stirling-London train - whose journey time could slashed within monthsLumo hopes to slash journey times on its new Stirling-London route within months of carrying its first passengers on Monday, The Scotsman has learned.

Daily Record

• Glasgow Central Station pedestrian routes reopen after devastating Union Street fireCommuters and shoppers can once again use key pedestrian routes around Glasgow Central Station after pavements closed by the Union Street fire reopened for the first time since March.

i News

• Driverless taxis and buses on UK streets by the end of the yearMinisters are launching a pilot scheme for the technology as they believe it could create 'thousands' more jobs

The Mirror

• Major announcement on self-driving cars that could 'transform' British roadsBritish roads are set to be changed forever as the government unveils new plans for self-driving cars - the 'robotaxis' could appear in towns and cities across the UK by the end of the year

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Gwynedd farmer put lives of train passengers at risk by constantly flouting safety rulesRhodri ap Gwyn was 'risking collisions' by ignoring rules at two railway crossings with 'increasing severity and frequency'
• 'Eryri visitors should be offered free bus service to prevent parking chaos'A councillor said popular places elsewhere in Europe 'seem to have a much better system'

Edinburgh Evening News

• Edinburgh Black Cab union calls for taxis to be exempt from Edinburgh Airport drop-off chargesAirport blames £8 million business rates rise for charge increase.

London Evening Standard

• Piccadilly line faces summer-long closures to test new £3.4 billion fleet of trains - see full list of datesThe partial closures are mostly planned for weekends, but there will be some weekday closures too

Manchester Evening News

• The fury over Rochdale's 'spaghetti junction' as residents 'horrified'Roadworks, chaos and traffic are all expected to get worse now work has started on what is fast becoming known as Rochdale's 'spaghetti junction'.
• Signaller who 'forgot' about oncoming Manchester train 'had just four-and-a-half hours sleep' before 80mph horror crashA rail signaller who "forgot" about an train travelling from Manchester to Cardiff before a horror crash left six people injured was exhausted after having just four-and-a-half hours sleep, according to a report.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• £8.8m upgrade to Tyne and Wear Metro control room hailed as 'vital investment to future'Nexus has said that the transport system now has some of the 'most advanced technology' across the railway industry

Northern Echo

• North East funding helps people switch to electric vehiclesA new funding scheme is hoping to help more people make the switch to electric vehicles.

Sheffield Telegraph

• New images of DSA released with operator Fly Doncaster saying passenger flights will resume at Easter 2028New images of how Doncaster Sheffield Airport will look have been released. Despite the uncertainty of recent weeks, work has progressed wherever possible, including terminal redesign, with plans to delive improved customer flow and experience.

Wales Online

• Plan to demolish 'failing' railway bridge as part of major regeneration schemeIf taken forward the plans could see the realignment of local roads as well as the potential demolition of a bridge

Cambridge News

• Popular Cambridgeshire railway needs urgent funding to ‘secure its future’Due to rising costs of fuel and passenger numbers being low, the railway has launched a fundraiser
• Motorists to face year and a half of reduced speed limits on key routesThe speed limits will be in place on sections of a motorway and dual carriageway in Cambridgeshire

South Wales Argus

• New railways bill to 'transform' Wales railway networkThe Government's new railways Bill will 'transform the railway network in Wales' according to Newport and Islwin MP Ruth Jones.

Other Regional Press

• TfL continues push for new rail links to Surrey and Berkshire to support Heathrow expansionSir Sadiq Khan and TfL want improved transport links to ensure Heathrow's third runway leads to no increase in M25 traffic
• Council criticised before new trial bus service launchesSomerset Council has been accused of "undermining" a new bus service to one of the county's busiest railway stations before a new trial has even got under way.
• What train users really think of Great Northern Railway's 'garbage service' from King's Lynn ahead of nationalisationIn just over a week, a railway service in West Norfolk is to be brought back into public ownership. But for West Norfolk passengers, the question is a more local one: what does it actually mean for the Fen Line and what do users want to see changed?
• Councillors reject calls to end overcrowded bus journeysReform UK councillors asked for an end to over-subscription of bus seats ensuring passengers, including students, do not stand on rural routes
• You may be able to book a driverless taxi in the UK later this yearPassengers could book taxi and bus-style self-driving vehicles later this year, as applications open today (22 May 2026) for operators to run cars across Great Britain.
• Mayor launches new £1.2m electric car charger grants planNorth East Mayor Kim McGuinness has paved the way for more than a thousand families to save money on charging their electric vehicles with a new £1.2m grant fund.
• Cumbria MP campaigns for Shap and Tebay stations to reopenAn MP is campaigning for two railway stations to reopen in Cumbria.
• South Holland District Council discusses the need to improve transport to help boost tourismSouth Holland needs better transport before it can attract more tourists, councillors have warned.
• Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter in AF447 crash that killed 228 peopleFlight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 people on board
• GWR to be brought into public ownership in 2026 hailed as 'a positive change'The rail company that operates in and out of Cornwall, Great Western Railway, will be nationalised by the end of the year

Business Live

• Chancellor backs major housing and transport plans for South West and admits region has been 'held back' for 'too long'The chancellor has backed new plans to create a mayoral development zone across north Bristol and South Gloucestershire after admitting the West Country has "had its potential held back" for "too long".

New Civil Engineer

• £140M Darlington station expansion sees two new platforms and a 50t bridge installedDarlington train station has opened to the public, marking one of 'the most significant station investments on the East Coast Main Line in recent years'

Rail Magazine

• HS2 should 'avoid developing new technology', argues Mark WildHS2 'shouldn't be in the game' of developing new technology from scratch, HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Mark Wild has told MPs.
• TfL ramps up Piccadilly line blockade schedule for testing new trainsTransport for London (TfL) has laid out an extensive itinerary of planned part-closures across the Piccadilly line over summer as it ramps up testing of its new Piccadilly Line trains.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Zenobē and Go-Ahead leverage electric bus finance frameworkAgreement gives operator a pre-agreed, scalable credit line that can be drawn down as required

TaxiPoint

• Uber eyes London 'robo-ridehail' launch as Government opens milestone door to operators offering self-driving passenger services Perry RichardsonUber has set itself at the centre of the UK's latest push towards autonomous transport after the Government confirmed passengers could begin booking self-driving taxi and bus-style services later this year under a new pilot scheme across Great Britain.

Aviation Industry

• Wellbeing, safety and teamwork front and centre at London City Airport for national campaign weekOur airport's Health and Safety team worked with partners to deliver a fantastic week showcasing everything LCY does to prioritise the safety of those who work at and use our airport.

Other News Sources

• Mixed-Use Railway gains momentum with launch of new industry platformMembers of the Mixed-Use Railway (MUR) community met in Stourbridge this week to discuss the future direction of the initiative, alongside the launch of a new industry webpage hosted by UKTram.
• Calls for ZEV review to be brought forwardThe Commons Business and Trade Committee (BTC) has called for a review of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate to be brought forward.
• Stephen Flynn takes over Scotland's transport brief as pressure grows over A9 and A96 upgradesFormer SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has been appointed Scotland's new Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Transport and Tourism, immediately placing him at the centre of some of the country's most politically sensitive infrastructure projects.
• Branding a network, not painting a fleetWhen we started working on South Yorkshire’s People’s Network, we quickly realised this was more than just designing vehicle liveries. It was a comprehensive public transport project that connected policy, operations, and the passenger experience.
• Bus SMEs can still find opportunities - NorrisFormer transport minister Steve Norris told last week’s ALBUM Conference that small and medium-sized bus operators will continue to play an important role in their communities, despite the shift towards great public control of local bus services.
• Bus speeds must move up the agenda - GilbertIf we are serious about encouraging people to travel sustainably on public transport, bus speeds must move from the periphery of transport policy to the centre. That is the view of Martijn Gilbert, managing director of Arriva’s UK Bus business.

News from Europe

• CEF Transport is shaping Europe's drone futureThe rapid evolution of drone technology is reshaping Europe's aviation landscape. Coordinated efforts are ongoing to integrate unmanned aircraft safely and efficiently into shared airspace.