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

Friday, 20 June 2025

BBC News

• Station relocation for new town moves step closerProposals to relocate a train station to accommodate the building of a new town have moved a step closer.
• Be grateful for Welsh rail cash, UK minister saysA UK government minister has told a Welsh MP he "might want to be a little more grateful" for the £445m promised for Welsh railways in the spending review.
• TfL activates hot weather Tube plan for heatwaveTfL says it has a "comprehensive" hot weather plan in place during the current heatwave.

The Guardian

• Ministers set out plans to spend £725bn on UK infrastructure over 10 yearsDarren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, set out plans on Thursday to spend a minimum of £725bn over 10 years to boost UK-wide infrastructure and achieve a 'national renewal'.
• How bad is the HS2 fiasco now? So bad it's time to listen to Nigel Farage | Simon JenkinsLabour now says the botched high-speed rail project will be further delayed. Why not just scrap it, as the Reform leader suggests?Stop it now. Stop spending sums that you admit are out of control. Show common sense and send everyone home. HS2 is a bad joke, a fiasco.Labour’s second transport secretary in a year, Heidi Alexander, claimed on Wednesday to be shocked by HS2. She was clearly new to the subject. After being briefed on the latest delays and cost overruns by the latest CEO, Mark Wild, she said that the project was “an appalling mess … a litany of failure

The Independent

• HS2 trains could run slower than expected to cut spiralling costsHS2 is now expected to open after 2033 as transport secretary Heidi Alexander called its management under the Tories a 'litany of failure'
• How HS2 squandered billions to become a national embarrassmentTrains may run between Birmingham and somewhere near London by 2036 a decade late, and slower than planned as Simon Calder explains

Times Online

• CMA to review wrong turns on road and rail building projects. [subscription]The competition regulator will examine 'persistent' failings over costs and delivery as the government sets out its ten-year infrastructure strategy

i News

• New HS2 link to Manchester could still happenSo-called 'HS2-lite' rail link between Birmingham and Manchester is still on the cards

Local Government

• Mayor and Minister visit Coventry as part of Better Transport WeekRichard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and Local Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, have been in Coventry to view the city's Very Light Rail project - an innovative project to create a highly affordable, accessible and sustainable rail-based travel system.

Network Rail

• Network Rail enlists hawks to prevent a halt in station's £14m overhaulMeet Maverick a feathered enforcer whose job is to ensure nesting birds don't cause costly delays to Network Rail's £14 million upgrade of Scarborough station.

Bristol Live

• Mayor expects Portishead Railway to be approved within daysGovernment confirmation of the reopening of the Portishead Railway could be just days away, West of England Metro Mayor Helen Godwin has said.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Manchester Airport travel to get easier for holidaymakers in parts of North WalesA direct rail service is planned right across the region

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• New system developed in West Midlands could ‘revolutionise’ public transport worldwide, says mayorA ‘cutting-edge’ new travel system could potentially ‘revolutionise’ public transport in the West Midlands.

Yorkshire Post

• Scarborough Railway Station: Network Rail enlists hawks to prevent delays in station's £14m overhaulNetwork Rail has taken on two new employees as it continued work on its £14m overhaul of Scarborough Railway Station - but they might not be what you expect.

Other Regional Press

• Rachel Reeves non-committal on full Leamside rail line openingThe reopening of the Leamside line would provide critical connections both passenger and freight to towns and cities across the North East
• Call for legal action over rail and NI 'funding shortfall' from UK GovernmentAdam Price urged ministers to consider legal action over £432m 'owed' to Wales by the UK Government for rail spending and increased national insurance costs.
• Full steam ahead with railway improvementsKEY schemes to improve Barnsley commuters' experiences of local rail travel including plans to increase services, build a new station and create a long-awaited direct link to London are set to be signed off.
• St Athan left out of plans for south Wales rail stationsThe omission comes despite calls for improved transport links for the growing community, which has not had a train station in 60 years.
• West Wales gets nothing: Reopening railway lines would cost £2 billionThe Welsh Government has said the cost of reopening railway lines between Carmarthen and Aberystwyth and Afonwen would be in the region of £2 billion.

Train Operators

• Greater Anglia unveils new integrated train and bus information board at Norwich stationA new eight-metre-long information board has been installed at Norwich station. The new high-definition board has been unveiled by train operator, Greater Anglia, and will display train and local bus information.

Rail Business Daily

• Decade long Infrastructure Strategy to deliver stability, investment and national renewalThe Government has published its 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, which sets out a long-term plan for how it will invest in infrastructure and ensure that funding is spent effectively and efficiently. It says it marks a new approach to how projects are planned and delivered and includes £1 billion to carry out maintenance on key transport infrastructure, including crumbling bridges, flyovers and crossing.

Rail Magazine

• East West Rail working timetable drawn up as first freight train uses routeA provisional working timetable for services on East West Rail (EWR) has been created, just as the first freight train traverses the route.
• Rail industry only training half the number of people it needs, MPs toldThe railway is training only half the number of people it needs, MPs have been told.

Railnews

• United South Eastern Railway is first step towards GBR The managements of operator Southeastern and the Kent Route of Network Rail are being combined, and the Department for Transport says it is a ‘significant milestone’ towards Great British Railways, creating ‘clear accountability’ for performance. The new organisation will be known as South Eastern Railway, and is being led by managing director Steve White.

Other News Sources

• New approach needed to Rail Investment Pipeline after Conservative cuts TSSA has told the Transport Select Committee of MPs that the 'rail network enhancements pipeline has had its day' because it had been used by previous Conservative governments to conceal how they were actually cutting enhancement work.
• Industry welcomes government's 10-year infrastructure strategyPlan sets out how £725bn will be spent on infrastructure over next decade

News from Europe

• More rail competition in France as Trenitalia launches Paris-Marseille serviceFrance's high-speed rail market is becoming increasingly competitive with the launch of a new Trenitalia line connecting Paris to Marseille.