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

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

BBC News

• Disused rail buildings to get new community usesDisused railway buildings and spaces across Surrey could become community assets.
• Local leaders vow to fight for landslip fundingPolitical leaders in West Yorkshire have vowed to fight for additional funding to protect the region’s railways from being disrupted by landslips.

Financial Times

• Six years of UK rail reform has "achieved very little", say MPsPromises of overhaul hampered by legislative delays and interdepartmental rows, finds public accounts committee

The Guardian

• Very little achieved on rail reforms in Great Britain in past six years, say MPsPerformance across network still poor as delays and cancellations continue, says public accounts committee. The government has "achieved very little" in reforms to Great Britain's railways six years after identifying the need for big changes to improve the situation for passengers and taxpayers, according to an influential parliamentary committee. MPs on the cross-party public accounts committee said the Department for Transport has not paid enough attention to the needs of passengers or taxpayers, six years after a botched introduction of new timetables led to chaos on the rail network

The Telegraph

• Taxpayer rail subsidies are ’unsustainable’, say MPs. [subscription]Subsidies have not fallen back to pre-Covid levels, despite the end of lockdown and the return to the office

Times Online

• How did trains become a phone noise nightmare? [subscription]Step aboard and you’re simultaneously entering a Zoom conference, a DJ set and the TikTok feed from hell — headphones very optional
• £128m: the bill we’re all paying for delay repay on trains. [subscription]As punctuality worsens, compensation rises — and the money comes from the state, not the rail companies

Public Accounts Committee

• Rail reform: No-one in Government putting needs of passengers and taxpayers first, PAC reportsThe report finds that Government has made little progress in implementing its ambitious plans for rail, with much of the proposed reforms and associated benefits now largely on hold until the next Parliament. In particular, the Department has not yet established Great British Railways (GBR), the new organisation intended to act as the ’guiding mind’ for the whole rail system and which it originally planned to have set up by March 2024.

i News

• Rail reform needs to make difference to travellers and taxpayers now, MPs sayGreater urgency needed to make the railways work better now for everyone as MPs warn of no 'convincing evidence' current reforms will 'bring about the improvements needed'

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Bradford Interchange: Update on review over FOI requestWest Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has

Wales Online

• A Welsh rail line will be closed for 12 days due to engineering works Many people use this line in south Wales

Other Regional Press

• Somerset planning: Railway station works among latest new schemesRepairs to the entrance of a busy railway station, the conversion of offices into flats and new light industrial units are among the schemes people are trying to get planning permission for in Somerset. Every week, hundreds of planning applications are submitted to Somerset Council for determination – and we have selected some of the most interesting proposals.
• Green Park Station marks one-year milestone after 160,000 passengersThe new Reading Green Park station has hit its goal of 160,000 journeys in its first year since opening.

Other News Sources

• Hitachi Rail Retrofits TransPennine Express Train with Battery TechnologyIn collaboration with Angel Trains and Turntide Technologies, Hitachi Rail has retrofitted battery technology on a TransPennine Express train for trials in the UK.
• MPs Declare Rail Subsidies ’Unsustainable’ Amidst Stalled ReformsMPs have warned that rail subsidies are at unsustainable levels, criticising the Government for delays in rail reforms.