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

Wednesday, 05 December 2018

BBC News

• Chelmsford bus gate: Just one fine decision upheldJust one fine handed out to motorists wrongly using a city's bus gate has been upheld at tribunal, figures show.
• Rail passengers between Shrewsbury and Birmingham left frustratedA train operator blames storm damage for a reduction in the number of rush hour carriages.
• Metrolink passengers asked to push stricken tramPassengers were asked to push the tram to help override a technical fault and get the vehicle moving.
• Rail chaos: GTR ordered to spend £15m on improvements for passengersGTR is ordered to pay out to improve services for passengers by the Department for Transport.

The Guardian

• MPs call for fare freeze for those most affected by rail timetable fiascoSelect committee report highly critical of transport secretary as it blames collective failure
• Govia Thameslink keeps franchise but must pay out £15m over timetable chaosDepartment for Transport also caps profit Go-Ahead Group can make from its contract
• We need a competent transport secretary. We’ve got Chris GraylingHe has presided over chaos on the UK’s railways, but the man with the reverse Midas touch steams merrily on

Times Online

• ‘Profit cap won’t force GTR off the rails’ [Subscription]Go-Ahead Group yesterday shrugged off a government profit cap on its struggling Thameslink and Southern Railway franchise, saying that it did not expect the intervention to hurt its earnings.
• Chris Grayling insists HS2 will keep to its £56bn budget [Subscription]The £56 billion budget for HS2 will not rise despite repeated warnings that spending on the high-speed line is spiralling out of control, the transport secretary said yesterday.

City AM

• Fixing the rail system means putting passengers firstThe headlines yesterday that Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) must spend £15m on passenger improvements to hold onto its franchise will be welcome if overdue news for the droves of commuters whose lives were made hell during the timetable chaos earlier this year.

Network Rail

• TfL 'working on' financing package for CrossrailTransport for London (TfL) has said it is working with mayor Sadiq Khan and the government on a financing package to ensure Crossrail is completed.

Bristol Live

• Work finally complete on two new train lines into Bristol Temple Meads after three-year projectThere will be more direct services between Bristol and London introduced next year

Derby Telegraph

• Burton Railway Station is 'not an architectural masterpiece', admits Rail MinisterRail Minister Andrew Jones has admitted that Burton's Railway Station is "not an architectural masterpiece" as he plans a trip to the site following calls for long awaited improvements.

London Evening Standard

• Chris Grayling orders Govia Thameslink Railway to pay £15m more over timetable chaosThe rail company at the centre of the summer timetabling fiasco was today ordered to pay an extra £15 million in service improvements for passengers.

Manchester Evening News

• The Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston train doesn't stop at Watford - unless you play for Man City'It seems that if you've got the money, you can buy whatever you want', one commuter said

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• £60bn plan to cut rail times between Liverpool and NewcastleMajor plans to improve train journeys in the North of England were unveiled at a seminar in Manchester Work on a new rail network to transform the North of England could begin by 2024.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• YEP says: Who will take responsibility for running Leeds trains on time and with enough carriages?SIX months after The Yorkshire Evening Post teamed up up with rival newspapers across the North to challenge the Government about the chaos on the region’s railways, services here remain a national embarrassment.

Yorkshire Post

• The Yorkshire Post says: The buck stops with Chris Grayling as misery on the trains continuesSIX months after The Yorkshire Post teamed up with rival newspapers across the North to challenge the Government about the chaos on the region’s railways, services here remain a national embarrassment.
• Northern and TransPennine Express blame ‘leaves on the line’ for latest rail woesAutumnal weather has been blamed for repeated train cancellations and services running with fewer carriages than normal by Yorkshire’s two main rail operators - despite punctuality levels plummeting compared to the same time last year.

Other Regional Press

• Residents have their say over ScotRail's end to free rail travel for childrenGLASGOW'S residents have spoken out about the announcement that ScotRail are to end free rail travel for children.
• Train operators scrap lost property charge following concernsCustomers previously had to pay if they wanted to get back possessions, such as keys, wallets and phones, that had been left on trains or at stations – a rule that has left many frustrated.

Construction News

• Crossrail cost 'could rise by £4bn'Crossrail could end up costing as much as £19bn to complete – £4bn more than its original budget, a rail expert has claimed.

London TravelWatch

• Watchdog secures big win for passengers as best kept secrets are revealed on London’s rail and Tube mapLondon passengers are now easily able to see which stations are linked by just a short walk for the first time on the new London rail and Tube map. The latest version, published today, can help save thousands of people time and money and reduce crowding, following suggestions made by London TravelWatch as part of its interchange matters work.
• Watchdog secures big win for passengers as best kept secrets are revealed on London’s rail and Tube mapLondon passengers are now easily able to see which stations are linked by just a short walk for the first time on the new London rail and Tube map. The latest version, published today, can help save thousands of people time and money and reduce crowding, following suggestions made by London TravelWatch as part of its interchange matters work.

New Civil Engineer

• Trans-Pennine tunnel business case to be submitted in the summerThe business case for a shorter Trans-Pennine tunnel will be taken to the transport secretary in the summer next year.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Grayling 'should resign' over 'appalling' timetable chaos as MPs call for fare freezeMPs have demanded a freeze in rail fares and called for the transport secretary to resign over the “chaotic rollout” of the new railway timetables introduced in May, which hit nearly half of all passenger services. A scathing new report from the Transport Select Committee into the...
• May timetable crisis: GTR hit with government profit sanctions and told to spend £15m on improvements Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has been told that it must contribute £15m towards service improvements for passengers as the government announced that the TOC will be hit with sanctions, capping its profits for the remainder of its franchise. The DfT explained that it was “holding...
• Overhaul of Tees Valley's two biggest stations gets £45m boost, but DfT help still neededTees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) has approved a £45m investment to “dramatically overhaul” Darlington and Middlesbrough stations as part of improvements which mayor Ben Houchen told RTM would be “central” to the celebrations of the region’s bicentenary of...

Other News Sources

• Unfair’: Welwyn Garden City’s reaction to government rail fare proposalsWelwyn Garden City folk have reacted strongly to a government body’s recommendation that only people who held a season ticket in 2018 should get a discount on next year’s rail fares hike.
• Terry Morgan is not the problem for HS2The defenestration of Sir Terry Morgan, the chairman of HS2, has been as painfully slow as progress on the scheme. Speculation began on Friday and he was still none the wiser about his fate yesterday afternoon.