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

Friday, 24 January 2020

BBC News

• London Underground staff agree pay deal after strike threatTransport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) threatened industrial action after rejecting a 2.5% pay rise.
• South Western Railway guards vote for more strikesServices were disrupted for 27 days last month in a dispute over the future role of guards.
• China's travel industry counts cost of coronavirusAirlines and hotels are having to pay out refunds to tourists affected by the deadly outbreak.
• HS2 risks not priced in at the start, say auditorsNo-one took full account of how complex the project was going to be, says the spending watchdog.
• Flybe Guernsey-Heathrow link cancelledGuernsey is losing its air link to Heathrow, Flybe has confirmed. The route will not be part of the summer 2020 schedule and the last flight will be on 28 March.

ITV News

• New fears over where HS2 is goingThe UK is building a railway which is heading to fantasy land. The taxpayer is funding this journey, which has already cost more than £7 billion.

Financial Times

• Final cost of HS2 ‘not yet clear’, warns watchdogNAO assessment will add to questions as to whether rail project should proceed
• Uber strikes deal with Nissan in electric vehicle pushNissan will make 2,000 of its Sunderland-made electric Leafs available to Uber drivers

The Guardian

• HS2 was only ever about politics. And the battle will reach the heart of No 10 | Simon JenkinsOn the one side, the lobbyists; on the other, Boris Johnson’s closest advisers. This will be a major test of his mettleWill it be yes or no to HS2? Within the next fortnight the answer is due on whether Britain needs a fifth rail pathway to the north from London. At more than £100bn, it would be the country’s biggest peacetime infrastructure project. HS2 no longer has anything to do with trains, let alone economics, politics or the north-south balance. It is about Boris Johnson and what sort of leader he intends to be. That is why HS2 is tearing Downing Street apart. Related: Grant Shapps dela...
• HS2 late and billions over budget due to Tory failures, report findsGovernment failed to understand risks of the project, NAO concludes The planned construction of HS2 is billions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule because of the failure across government to understand the risks involved, according to a damning independent report.In the first official indication that spending on the controversial rail project could escalate beyond £100bn, the National Audit Office has raised the possibility of a further increase by admitting that it is “impossible to estimate with certaintyâ€� how much it will eventually cost. Continue reading...
• South Western Railway staff vote for fresh wave of strikesCommuters on the South Western Railway face further disruption after staff voted for more strikes in a long-running dispute over the use of guards.

Times Online

• Grounding of Boeing 737 Max costs Southwest Airlines $828 million [subscription]The top operator of the Boeing 737 Max has warned that the prolonged grounding of the jet will hit its finances “significantly” this year.
• New buses to suck in killer particles [subscription]A generation of “pollution-busting” buses that suck in dangerous particles will be introduced nationwide under plans to improve air quality.
• Time to derail this costly HS2 line [subscription]Who’d have thought it? “The High Speed Two railway is over budget and behind schedule.” And who’s come up with this revelation? The National Audit Office, no less, specialising in statements of the notoriously astoundingly obvious.
• Glasgow to introduce 20mph city speed limit [subscription]A 20mph speed limit will be introduced on most roads in Glasgow to improve safety after plans were approved by the city council.
• Uber deal puts spark in Nissan plant [subscription]Nissan is to provide thousands of discounted electric vehicles to British Uber drivers in a boost for the carmaker’s Sunderland plant.
• HS2 running a decade late and with total cost unknown [subscription]HS2 is running ten years behind schedule and it is impossible to know how much it will ultimately cost, parliament’s spending watchdog has found.
• Mark Thurston, head of troubled HS2, is paid £625,000 a year [subscription]The chief executive of HS2 was paid four times more than the prime minister last year, topping the list of highly paid executives and civil servants funded by the taxpayer.

City AM

• Time ticking on HS2: Work 'must start within 67 days' to avoid further delay to £106bn projectThe controversial HS2 rail project was delivered a stark deadline this morning, as the government spending watchdog declared the scheme would be delayed even further unless construction begins in the next 67 days.
• Uber ramps up British charm offensive with sweeping Nissan dealNissan and Uber have signed a deal that will provide the ride-hailing giant’s drivers with a fleet of new electric [...] The post Uber ramps up British charm offensive with sweeping Nissan deal appeared first on CityAM.

Daily Record

• Most roads in Glasgow will now have 20mph speed limitThe policy will see Glasgow follow the lead of Edinburgh with the new speed limit adopted in most of the city's streets.

Mail Online

• Boss of delayed and over-budget HS2 project rakes in colossal salary of £625,000Mark Thurston, chief executive of the controversial HS2 project earned £625,000 last year according to new figures. He was one of more than 500 public servants earning more than £150k.

The Mirror

• HS2: Blundering ministers blasted over spiralling costs of high speed rail lineThe National Audit Office blasts the Government and HS2 Ltd after new estimates suggested the final cost of the controversial project could be £106billion

Sky News

• HS2 behind schedule because complexity and risks 'under-estimated'HS2 is over budget and behind schedule because the complexity and risks of the multi-billion pound project were under-estimated, according to the Whitehall spending watchdog.

Birmingham Mail

• Watchdog warns HS2 construction must begin by end of March, as government continues to ditherThe National Audit Office says HS2 will be further delayed if construction doesn't begin soon

Birmingham Post

• HS2 risk and complexity 'were underestimated' says spending watchdogNew report published today by the National Audit Office says the costs of the high-speed rail project remain uncertain and could yet change

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Disgusting lack of alternative parking during station workCar-driving commuters will be left high and dry when work begins next month on a long-awaited new 250-space multi-storey car park at a railway station on the Airedale line.

Bristol Live

• Friends of popular teen killed by train call for improvements to be made to level crossingEvie Wright died after being hit by a train on a level crossing in Weston-super-Mare

London Evening Standard

• Union accepts four-year pay deal for London Underground workersAn above-inflation four-year pay deal has been agreed between a leading rail union and London Underground.
• South Western Railway workers vote to continue strike action over guard disputeWorkers on South Western Railway have voted to continue taking strike action in the long-running dispute over guards on trains.
• HS2 over budget and behind schedule because complexity and risks under-estimated, watchdog saysHS2 is over budget and behind schedule because its complexity and risks were under-estimated, a spending watchdog has said.

Manchester Evening News

• HS2 is billions over budget and behind schedule because of government failings, says independent audit reportIt is 'impossible to estimate with certainty the final cost' of getting high-speed rail to Manchester

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Government warned HS2 construction must begin by April or face further delaysMore than 120 business leaders from the North and Midlands have written to the Prime Minister urging him to build HS2

Northern Echo

• 'Major milestone' for Teesside Airport as daily Dublin and Belfast flights announced NEW ROUTES from Teesside International have been announced this morning, marking exactly one year after the airport was brought into public ownership.

The York Press

• 19 LEP chairs urge PM to press on with HS2 in joint letter BUSINESS leaders across the region have urged the Prime Minister to throw his weight behind the full HS2 network.

Wales Online

• Rail line breaks and trains cancelled as Transport For Wales issues disruption warning - live updatesRoad transport is being arranged

Burnley Express

• Boeing deal major boost for Burnley firmANOTHER major aerospace supply deal has been confirmed by an East Lancashire manufacturer.

Leeds Live

• Leeds Bradford Airport wants night time flight restrictions to be relaxedThe airport says it currently faces "a competitive and economic disadvantage compared to almost every airport in the UK"

Other Regional Press

• BMW Mini plant Cowley opens apprenticeship scheme for 2020A CAR factory that has become a part of Cowley's identity is seeking talented teenagers to join its team.
• Plan to ban cars in town centresA radical proposal to ban cars from Kent town centres in light of the climate change emergency appears to be gathering support.
• Lorry ban on rural roadsA system to restrict lorry drivers from using rural roads is set to be trialled in Kent.
• Pacer trains finally being put to good use as Platform1 men's mental health charity wins oneA celebrity train enthusiast gave Platform 1 the good news on the BBC One programme The One Show
• Weymouth to Bristol rail line closed for engineering work Passengers travelling on the Weymouth to Bristol line this weekend are warned they will have to get a bus for part of their journey.
• Heathrow chief slams loss of Cornwall route after Flybe moves to GatwickThe boss of Heathrow airport has slammed FlyBe’s decision to move its Newquay-London services to Gatwick.

Coach and Bus Week

• Managing Director issues an open letter to First Bristol customersThe delays being experienced by First Bristol customers due to traffic congestion and roadworks have increased in recent weeks, the result is that the Managing Director of First Bristol has issued an open letter to them
• Local buses clock the lowest mileage in decadesAccording to the latest annual figures released by the Department for Transport, buses in England travelled a distance of 1.18 billion miles in 2018/19 – down from 1.33 billion in 2008/09.
• Stagecoach announces operational leadership changesStagecoach has announced a number of moves within its bus businesses in the north of the country, which will see four Managing Directors taking up new roles. The moves are part of Stagecoach’s ongoing business change programme, which is designed to ensure that the company is fit for the future across its business.
• Transdev sells Flygbussarna to concentrate on core businessAs a consequence of Transdev Group’s strategy since 2018 to re-focus on its core businesses, it has sold operations such as Isilines, Eurolines and SuperShuttle, as well as taxi operations in the United Kingdom and United States. In line with this strategy, Transdev is to exit the airport coach business in Sweden by selling its Flygbussarna activity. The company operates 85 buses, and has 450 employees.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Engineering expertise in Northern's £100m investmentRail operator, Northern, has published insight into the processes and engineering expertise involved with its current £100m investment into its trains. The ongoing modernisation programme is working to fully refurbish 268 diesel and electric trains at six train depots across the...
• New tech-enabled trains are putting passengers in control Source: RTM Dec 19/Jan 20 Robert Nisbet, director of Nations and Regions at the Rail Delivery Group, looks ahead at the future of Interconnectivity of the Rail Industry. This year, nine operators are introducing new and upgraded trains with better technology on board, which are part of the...
• Transform a Pacer competition winners announced Aired on television last night (Jan 22) the lucky winners of the Transform a Pacer competition were announced. The competition means that after 30 years of service to northern communities Pacer trains will now serve them in a new way, focused on bringing the community together. The judges were...

Railnews

• HS2 still faces ˜significant risks™, says Audit Office report The project to build high speed lines between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds is falling years behind schedule and costing a lot more than forecast, because both the Department for Transport and the government™s developer HS2 Ltd ˜widely underestimated™ the budgets and completion dates, according to a new report from the National Audit Office. The DfT and HS2 Ltd also failed to manage the risks adequately, the report finds, saying ˜if these risks had been recognised and managed earlier, then the significant activity in a pressured environment over the past year trying to understand a...

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Transdev names Mark Dale as new Finance DirectorMark Dale has been appointed as the new Finance Director for Transdev in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
• Minister launches environment initiative at The Big LemonThe Minister for the Future of Transport, George Freeman MP, visited The Big Lemon in Brighton to launch the ‘Clean Start to 2020’ Go Ultra Low initiative.
• Stagecoach reorganises regional MDsStagecoach UK Bus has juggled some of its regional Managing Directors (MDs) as the group continues its ongoing business change programme.
• Buses could play huge roleInvestment in buses could be a huge benefit, can the government hard wire this into their new strategy?

Other News Sources

• South Western Railway needs to 'step up or step aside’, says MPs HAMPSHIRE MPs and campaigners are calling for change following speculation a major south coast train operator could be nationalised.
• South Western Railway workers vote for more strike action over train guard dispute Over the past two years, SWR staff have held dozens of strikes, including 27 in December and on New Year's Day