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

Wednesday, 20 July 2022

BBC News

• Budget trebled for North rail improvementsThe government promises to commit £11.5bn to speed up journeys between Manchester, Leeds and York.
• Train passengers warned not to travel in heatwaveTrains are cancelled and railway lines closed on what is set to be the UK's hottest day on record.

Financial Times

• Ministers wasted £190mn ˜repeatedly altering rail upgrade plansWatchdog finds constant changes have delayed Transpennine project by more than a decade

The Guardian

• North of England rail services to receive £11.5bn investmentFrom 2025, commuters can expect two extra trains every hour between Manchester and York and journey times up to 40% shorter

Times Online

• UK heatwave: Transport chaos as roads melt [subscription]Railways cracked and roads melted yesterday, with disruption expected to extend well into today as the transport secretary conceded that it would be decades until the infrastructure could cope with high temperatures.

Manchester Evening News

• Manchester to Leeds journey times to be slashed as upgrade budget trebles – but government still won't listen to local leadersA long-awaited upgrade for trains between Manchester and York via Leeds and Huddersfield will have its budget tripled, the government has announced. The Transpennine Route Upgrade, which will slash journey times and fully electrify lines, will be worth up to £11.5bn when it is done in the next 15 years.

Wales Online

• 'Soulless and grim' The big changes people in Cardiff want to see made to Central SquarePeople in Cardiff have had their say on the city's Central Square development, five years on from when the huge project began. Previously home to the dilapidated bus terminal, a 1950s office block, fast-food restaurants and charity shops, the area around Cardiff Central train station has been transformed into a vast square, but it seems not many people in the city are too fond of it at present.

Yorkshire Post

• Grant Shapps says passengers will 'see HS2 trains rolling into Leeds'Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has assured passengers they will one day “see HS2 trains rolling into Leeds”.
• Major rail upgrade in the North could be hit by more delays after £190m is 'wasted'The Government has taken “too long” to make key decisions about the Transpennine Route Upgrade and the project could be hit by more delays and run over its new budget of £11.5bn, the Government’s spending watchdog has found.

New Civil Engineer

• National Highways’ £1bn A66 dualling clears planning hurdleThe planning application for National Highways £1bn A66 Northern Trans-Pennine Project has been accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

Railnews

• Doubts remain over Transpennine upgrade, says Audit OfficeThe project to upgrade the railway across the Pennines has received qualified approval from the National Audit Office, but in a new report published today it warns that there are still many challenges to overcome and that is it is not clear how the intended benefits will be achieved.

Other News Sources

• The Transpennine Route Upgrade Programme [National Audit Office Report]Government has put the Transpennine Route rail upgrade on a firmer footing, but there remains a risk of delays and cost increases, and it is not yet clear how the upgrade’s intended benefits will be achieved, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).