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

Tuesday, 05 June 2018

BBC News

• Rail crisis: Northern newspapers urge PM to 'get a grip'Newspapers across the north of England have joined forces to call on Prime Minister Theresa May to "get a grip" after chaos on the rail network.
• Rail timetables: Chris Grayling announces compensation and inquiryThe transport secretary also says passengers will be compensated as Labour calls for him to quit.
• Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink and Northern timetable 'failure'Trains are cancelled or severely delayed despite two companies introducing new interim services.

Department for Transport

• Rail timetablingStatement by the Secretary of State for Transport on recent rail timetabling issues.

The Guardian

• Tuesday briefing: North's fury over rail fiascoTop story: ‘Off the rails’ – May told to sort timetable mess

The Independent

• Rail timetables: Labour accuses Chris Grayling of being 'asleep at the wheel' amid travel chaos'The industry remained of the view until the last moment that it would be able to deliver these changes,' says transport secretary

The Scotsman

• Seagull trapped overnight in a Scotrail train A seagull spent a night trapped in a Scotrail carriage according to reports.

Times Online

• Timetable chaos ruining lives, warn MPs [Subscription]Rail commuters are being forced to miss medical appointments and arrive late for work because of a surge in the number of cancelled trains, according to MPs.
• Rail companies face axe over timetables messFailing rail companies could be stripped of their franchises or given multimillion-pound fines because of the chaotic introduction of new timetables that led to the cancellation of almost 400 trains a day.
• Transport of delight to watch this duffer hitting the buffers [Subscription]Well at least the transport secretary turned up early for his kicking. Some expected a ministerial replacement PUS service (parliamentary under-secretary) or for his statement to be cancelled altogether but the 5.30pm Failing Grayling service from Shambles Magna to Much-Chaos-on-the-Mainline rolled into the Commons 28 minutes ahead of schedule.

City AM

• The present chaos is not an excuse for nationalising railBritain is in the grip of train chaos once again, with the pandemonium caused by the new timetable showing no signs of abating.
• Virgin Hyperloop One is expected to launch in London within the next 10 years, but its progress is being hindered by Brexit and HS2London is set to be getting its own Virgin Hyperloop One system between the capital and major UK cities within the next ten years, pending regulatory approvals, but Brexit and HS2 have been its biggest delays, City A.M. has learned.
• Transport secretary Chris Grayling feels the heat as he launches inquiry into 'unacceptable' timetable chaosThe embattled transport secretary Chris Grayling has launched an inquiry into the rail timetable shakeup that has led to "unacceptable" delays for passengers across the country.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• T&A says Grayling must go amid Northern Rail fiascoFOLLOWING a period of unprecedented misery and upset for thousands of people, caused by a broken railway, the regional press across the North of England is today making an historic united stand to demand: enough is enough.

London Evening Standard

• Inquiry into rail timetables shake-up: Chris Grayling announces probe into whether contracts have been breachedAn inquiry will be launched into whether there was a breach of contract after a timetable overhaul sparked major disruption on the rail network, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has announced.

Wales Online

• We need final devolution of rail transport powers [Letter]I’d like to congratulate our government on the new deal for Welsh railways as I believe they have used well the rail powers that have been devolved so far.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• YEP says: We cannot let city’s future be derailed by trains FOLLOWING a period of unprecedented misery and upset for thousands of people, caused by a broken railway, the regional Press across the North of England is today making an historic united stand to demand: enough is enough.

Blackpool Gazette

• Today we take a stand against rail chaos: Enough is enough Following a period of unprecedented misery and upset for thousands of people, caused by a broken railway, the regional Press across the North of England is today making an historic united stand to demand: enough is enough.

Other News Sources

• The East Coast franchise debacle: only the latest problem arising from rail privatisationRobert Jupe provides a history of the East Coast Main Line franchise and examines its latest problems. He concludes that the current debacle illustrates how privatisation, far from improving efficiency, has fragmented an integrated industry into many constituent parts, and an alternative approach is now necessary.