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

Monday, 09 April 2018

Financial Times

• French rail strikes boost map and carpool appsWaze, BlaBlaCar, Uber and Chauffeur Privé all reported soaring user numbers this week

City AM

• Department for Transport defends decision to allow more European firms to compete for UK rail franchisesThe government is set to spark a fresh furore after granting bidding rights for UK rail franchises to three EU firms.

Daily Express

• Fury at foreign grab for UK rail network under new franchising rulesBRITAIN’S rail passengers will continue to “subsidise” foreign commuters under new franchising rules, critics claimed yesterday. They hit out after learning that the Department for Transport has cleared three more overseas firms to bid for rail franchises.

London Evening Standard

• Tube passengers air their biggest gripes including not taking your backpack off and annoyingly leaning against the poleLondoners have aired their biggest gripes about the Tube, including people not taking their backpacks off, and leaning against the pole in the middle of carriages.

Manchester Evening News

• New clampdown on tram thugs with CCTV monitored 24-hours a day so that officers are 'always watching'Plans for extra patrols on the Oldham and Rochale line where incidents have occurred

Yorkshire Post

• Is £300m Yorkshire HS2 parkway station about to hit the buffers?The government is set to spark a fresh furore after granting bidding rights for UK rail franchises to three EU firms.

Other Regional Press

• Why Norwich needs a second railway stationIn recent years a number of cities have built new rail stations on their outskirts, either to provide a convenient park-and-ride access to mainline services or to help commuters and others reach business parks.

Rail Magazine

• 7,187 new coaches by 2021 - but up to 3,934 for scrap...some only three years oldAlmost 4,000 currently serviceable vehicles will be withdrawn when their lease ends within the next three years.

Other News Sources

• Rail 848: The scams that cost the railway dearOne of the great mysteries of the current structure of the railways is why does every piece of work, whether undertaken by train operators, Network Rail or the engineering companies cost so much. Network Rail quotes for schemes are sometimes a factor of ten more than might be expected and even the most minor routine job seems to be far higher than comparable work in other industries.
• MP backs case to replace flat crossingThe MP for Newark, Mr Robert Jenrick, has thrown his weight behind aspirational plans to replace the last railway flat crossing of its kind in Britain with a flyover.
• Trams offer superior city transport – why doesn't the UK have more?Edinburgh's tram network has made a profit two years earlier than planned – despite initial delays and overspends – but don't expect them to appear in every city