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Mayors and council leaders call for specific budget for the north

Campaign seeks to secure more money and devolution on infrastructure matters. A group of city mayors and council leaders representing more than 15 million people in the north of England are launching a campaign for the region to have its own specific budget, as a way of spreading economic growth further around the country.

Shapps risks looking a fool on rail bid [subscription]

Chris Grayling was always going to be a hard act to follow. But how nice to see Grant Shapps giving it a go. The new transport secretary had the choice of handing the west coast rail contract to a deep-pocketed consortium of Hong Kong, Chinese and Spanish train operators — or to a combo 70 per cent-owned by the loss-making First Group. No prizes for guessing which one he picked.

Grant Shapps questions whether Heathrow third runway plan ‘stacks up’

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has cast doubt over the Heathrow third runway after he questioned whether the £14bn plan “stacks up”. Shapps, who replaced Chris Grayling when Boris Johnson became Prime Minister last month, said that while parliament had voted in favour of the third runway, there were “questions about whether the whole plan stacks up”.

Thursday, 15 August 2019

BBC News

  • Direct rail connection from Llandudno to London plannedPlans for direct trains between north Wales and London have been announced. First Trenitalia, the new operator of the West Coast mainline, also plans to introduce a new fleet of trains between Holyhead and Wrexham which it says will reduce CO2 emissions by 61%.
  • Midlands Metro's £137m extension delayed by HS2A £137m extension to West Midlands Metro has been delayed by HS2. The Eastside Metro line would reach to the Digbeth area of Birmingham, passing underneath Curzon Street Station - a yet-to-be-built hub for the proposed high speed rail network.
  • Are UK train fares the highest in Europe?The claim: The UK has the most expensive train fares in Europe. Reality Check verdict: The claim is based on very narrow research. The UK has some of the most expensive tickets in Europe if bought on the day of travel but some of the cheapest tickets if bought far enough in advance.
  • FirstGroup replaces Virgin to run West Coast routeFirstGroup and Trenitalia will take over the running of the London-to-Glasgow route in December.
  • Rail fares set to rise again by up to 2.8%From January, commuters could pay on average more than £100 extra a year for rail travel.

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  • Virgin Trains franchise decision - Richard BransonI received the news this morning of the Department for Transport’s decision that the West Coast Mainline franchise will pass to First Trenitalia. I am devastated for the teams – members of our Virgin family – who have worked tirelessly to become the top-rated franchise by customers in the UK today.

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