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

Monday, 12 August 2019

The Guardian

• Train hits tree near Lincoln as wild UK weather disrupts travelRail passengers had a narrow escape after their train struck a tree that had fallen on to a line near Lincoln. The Lincoln to Nottingham hit the tree shortly before 9am on Sunday, Network Rail said.

The Independent

• Railway ticket barriers could be no more as tech giants develop ways to sense when we’re travelling by our smartphonesAll change for ticket-checking as we know it as technology is developed to sense who is on a train by their smartphones. Railway station ticket barriers could be replaced by sensors which detect when passengers board trains, a manufacturer has claimed.

The Telegraph

• Railway station ticket barriers could be replaced by sensors which detect when passengers board trains [ Subscription ]TThe desperate scrabble for your ticket while running for a train could be a thing of the past, a manufacturer has claimed, with sensors potentially replacing ticket barriers which detect when passengers board trains. Train-builder Hitachi Rail is developing technology designed to ensure travellers are automatically charged the correct fare by recognising their smartphones at both ends of their journey.

City AM

• Southeastern among franchises placed on public takeover watch list The Southeastern franchise is one of six that could go the way of LNER and be taken over by the government as sources warned there was little time for a new operator to be appointed by April next year.

Liverpool Echo

• The three train lines Liverpool has lost and the 34 stations that went with themLarge parts of the city now isolated from the railways used to be linked up by them

Yorkshire Post

• Debacle over Interrail is a taste of what's to come - Jayne DowleDon’t say I didn’t warn you. When I came back from our family adventure to France last year, setting off from Doncaster station with our two teenagers and travelling by train all the way to near Port Grimaud via Paris and Marseilles, I ruminated on the very real possibility that in the face of Brexit, it might be the last time we could enjoy such a jaunt.

Bucks Free Press

• Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve: 'Continuity in rail station funding is so important'THIS week, Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve writes exclusively to Bucks Free Press readers:

Carlisle News & Star

• Cumbrian rail users thanked after West Coast main line closureRAIL users in Cumbria have been thanked for their patience following a 16-day closure of part of the West Coast main line.

Other Regional Press

• Campaign fights train service cuts plan and calls for improvements to Luton stationCAMPAIGNERS fighting plans by train operator Govia Thameslink to reduce the number of trains stopping at Luton station have won praise from a senior Luton councillor.
• Figures reveal extent of train overcrowding on TransPennine Express servicesTrains run by TransPennine Express in West Yorkshire are squeezing in more passengers than the maximum capacity during peak hours, making it the operator’s most crowded service in northern England. New figures released by rail bosses show that during peak hours of 7 to 10am and 4 to 7pm, the operator’s trains are squeezing in nearly three per cent more passengers on average than the stated capacity.
• Families' dismay at plans for new train siding near their homesFamilies unhappy at the prospect of overnight railway engineering works at the bottom of their garden have been invited to a consultation.
• Weather causes 'extensive damage' to railway tracksHEAVY rain has caused extensive damage to the railway at various locations between Ardlui and Tyndrum, disrupting trains between Glasgow Queen Street and Crainlarich/Oban.

Rail Advent

• Work to start this Autumn to allow longer trains to run between Cambridge and Kings LynnWork to sort out congestion on peak train services between Cambridge and King’s Lynn is set to start this autumn.

Other News Sources

• New homes on Oakham allotments would be too near noisy Oakham-Stamford-Corby railway lineA site for planned housing in Oakham would be too near a noisy railway line for its future occupants.
• Camden approves HS2 ‘sugar cube’ at EustonBuilding covered in 13,000 white tiles to reflect light into nearby streets
• Railway station protest planned over train fare hikeRAIL workers are planning to protest when higher rail fares are announced. The biggest rail workers’ union is planning a series of protests on the day higher rail fares are set to be announced.