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

Tuesday, 15 April 2025

BBC News

• Engineering works to cause rail delays over EasterTrain passengers have been warned of disruption while a track renewal scheme takes place over Easter.
• Inside HS2: Meet London's tunnelling minersThe Northolt tunnels are part of the HS2 project which is 93% complete, the project managers say.

Times Online

• FirstGroup fears Great British Railways will stifle open access [subscription]The UK's largest train operator, warns that GBR could damage competition. Its £223m open access operations generate £37m profit a year
• Edinburgh trams and buses to introduce tap-on, tap-off payment [subscription]Scottish capital is weeks away from launching new fares system on public transport and officials hope more drivers will leave their cars at home

Bolton News

• Borough railway station to get new bicycle storage facilitiesA borough railway station is set to be kitted out with new bicycle storage facilities

Metro

• New £1,000,000,000 Welsh Tube to span 105 miles with trains every 5 minutesCosting a whopping £1,000,000,000, the project is set to span 170 kilometres (105.6 miles) worth of track, introducing 36 tram-style trains across Cardiff and the wider South Wales area.

Other Regional Press

• 'Revolutionary' Coventry Very Light Rail 220m track to be ready by MayRailAdventure UK has hopped on board the £189m project led by Coventry City Council

Modern Railways

• It's now more than 2,000 days since last rail enhancements pipeline announcementIt is now more than 2,000 days since the last official announcement regarding the rail enhancements pipeline was made.

Rail Business Daily

• RailAdventure UK to drive Coventry's revolutionary Very Light Rail testRailAdventure UK, a specialist transport company in the West Midlands, will operate the Coventry Very Light Rail (CVLR) vehicle for the on-road test in the city centre in May and June this year.
• TfW announces details of Wales's first Public Transport SummitTransport for Wales (TfW) has announced that Wales' first Public Transport Summit will take place on May 22 and 23 in Wrexham, North Wales.

Rail Magazine

• Interview: Ian Yeowart of GCR fame on the future of open accessIan Yeowart was instrumental in setting up the Grand Central Railway operation, and more than 25 years later he's still submitting successful applications. He talks to Peter Plisner about open access and changes on the railways.

Railtech

• Germany's 'grand coalition' has grand rail ambitions but without the numbers to matchGermany's conservatives under Chancellor-designate Friedrich Merz have secured a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). So what does that mean for rail? More Deutschlandtickets, Deutsche Bahn 'reform', and digitalisation a priority. But with funding gaps running into the hundreds of billions, critics say the new CDU-SPD coalition is long on promises and short on specifics.

Other News Sources

• Ziegler launches 'fastest rail connection between China and Europe'A new rail freight service between China and Europe is born. Logistics company Ziegler is taking goods from Xi'an (China) to Duisburg (Germany) by train, and then covers the last leg by road to Welkenraedt, Belgium. The company calls it the fastest rail connection between China and Europe
• The role of DAC in optimising European rail freight: Challenges and opportunitiesHugo Tabouret, Technical Affairs Manager at UNIFE, sat down with Global Railway Review's Halimah Haque to discuss the potential of Digital Automatic Coupling and its impact on the future of European rail freight.