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

Thursday, 09 August 2018

BBC News

• Lakes Line passengers 'treated like cattle'Rail passengers on a rural line in Cumbria are being treated "like cattle", according to a campaign group.
• Manchester Metrolink strike off as drivers win 10% pay riseA proposed strike is called off after a pay deal which will see some drivers paid £33,000 from 2019.
• Signalling fault causes rail travel chaos in central beltScotRail says services may be delayed, cancelled or revised until 21:00 on Wednesday.

The Guardian

• Travelling while disabled is hell. We need major change – and kindnessvery day brings news of novel, cruel and unusual indignities inflicted on a human daring to travel while disabled. In the latest demoralising example, Steve Smithers was prevented from flying for the crime of carrying spanners, in case he used them to “dismantle the plane” instead of adjusting his wheelchair. It would take a time-rich, engineering-genius-meets-world’s strongest man to do that, not someone paralysed from the chest down.

The Independent

• Former paralympian sues TransPennine Express after being stranded on frozen platformA former paralympian is suing the northern rail operator TransPennine Express for £5,000 after he was left stranded on Dewsbury railway station in sub-zero conditions.

Times Online

• Chris Grayling under fire for letting HS2 pay soar [Subscription]The transport secretary faces growing questions over why he ignored warnings and allowed Britain’s new high-speed railway to award six-figure pay packets a quarter of its staff.
• Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop picks Spanish village of Bobadilla to build high-speed pods [Subscription]A tiny village in southern Spain will become the European base for Sir Richard Branson’s attempt to create futuristic pods capable of travelling on the ground at the speed of planes.

Northern Echo

• Hitachi starts work on new East Coast trains in Newton AycliffeHitachi Rail Europe has begun manufacturing London North Eastern Railway's (LNER) Azuma trains at its Newton Aycliffe base.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Major part of tram network to close for more than a weekA number of tram stops will be closed and a replacement shuttle bus service will be in place

Yorkshire Post

• Hours of disruption at Leeds station as morning trains delayed or divertedTrain services running through Leeds station have been delayed or diverted, heaping more misery on morning commuters.
• Tom Richmond: Rail’s own Chuckle Brothers are having a laugh – at us AT least the Chuckle Brothers provided some humour when this Yorkshire double act performed their ‘To me, to you!’ comedy routine. It’s no laughing matter, however, when rail chiefs try it. In fact, it is insulting.
• HS2 a ‘major challenge’ for logistics developers HS2 has become a major challenge to industrial developers in West Yorkshire after putting a blight across sites earmarked for distribution centres, according to one of the region’s biggest logistics developers.

Other Regional Press

• Greater Anglia passengers describe 'horrendous' journeys during cancellation chaosTwo Greater Anglia passengers have described their "horrendous" journeys after being caught up in massive delays earlier this week.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Shocking one in four HS2 staff paid over £100k a yearA quarter of staff members working on the HS2 project are paid over £100 in their yearly salary, startling new data has found.
• LNER Azuma fleet one step closer to completion as work begins in DurhamHitachi’s Newton Aycliffe train factory has begun work on the new Azuma fleet for the East Coast Main Line (ECML), taking passengers one step closer to using the trains on the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) network later this year.

Other News Sources

• Transport Minister reveals plans for digital overhaul of UK’s rail servicesTravel on Britain’s rail network looks set for a major overhaul under new plans for closer ties between train firms and technology companies.
• Developer told it must deliver rail link before it builds energy park near HelsbyA MAJOR developer has been told it must deliver a railway link before it can build a new energy-from-waste plant.