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

Monday, 16 October 2017

BBC News

• Uber regulations to be strengthened to protect driversTransport secretary Ken Skates says taxi drivers should be able to earn a
• Precious cargoCambridge has the highest concentration of box bikes of any place of its size outside the Netherlands.
• Transport 'not affordable' for many ScotsSustrans Scotland says a lack of choice forces many people into
• Airbus boss 'would step down if needed'The aircraft maker is dealing with corruption investigations in the UK and France.
• Vauxhall plans 400 job cuts at Ellesmere Port as sales fallThe carmaker says the 400 job losses at its Ellesmere Port factory are needed to stay competitive.

ITV News

• New high speed train suffers delay on first dayThe region's first new high speed train for more than 40 years is now on its way after its the first service was delayed. The £5.7 billion pound project is aimed at revolutionising travel. Mike Pearse reports.

Department for Transport

• All aboard the new Intercity Express trains that will transform journeys across BritainTransport Secretary travels on the first of the brand new £5.7 billion Intercity Express fleet of trains from Bristol to London.

Financial Times

• UberEats a bright spot on menu with $3bn potential salesFood delivery app builds sizeable revenues for company battered by several crises

The Guardian

• Vince Cable accuses Network Rail and HS2 firm of being secretiveLib Dem leader says companies’ failure to publish up-to-date minutes of board meetings amounts to lack of transparency
• Our cities need fewer cars, not cleaner carsElectric cars won’t eradicate gridlocks and air pollution, but carbon footprints could be cut by favouring pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit
• New HS2 fears as large crack opens up on land where train line will runResidents claim high-speed rail company has not taken West Yorkshire area's coal mining legacy into accountResidents in West Yorkshire have raised concerns about plans to build the HS2 rail line through a former mining area, after an eight-metre-long crack opened up in the ground along the proposed route.

The Scotsman

• Drone put 130 lives at risk with Gatwick plane near missA drone “put 130 lives at risk” after it nearly hit an aircraft approaching London Gatwick, a pilot said.

The Telegraph

• Drone 'put 130 lives at risk' after near-miss with plane approaching Gatwick

Times Online

• Things are looking up for Settle-Carlisle line [Subscription]The £23 million rescue of the Settle-Carlisle line, possibly the most photographed railway in the world, is almost complete after 20,000 tonnes of boulders were shipped in to shore up the Eden Gorge into which it almost fell.
• It’s hard to spend a penny at worst service station [Subscription]A motorway service station near Heathrow is the worst in the country, according to England’s first league table of rest stops.
• West Yorkshire coal-mining fissure opens beneath ‘crazy’ HS2 train route [Subscription]A 26ft-long crack spotted in a former coal area has raised doubts over the site chosen for part of the £56bn high-speed rail line

City AM

• Vauxhall is cutting 400 jobs at one of its UK plantsCar maker Vauxhall is planning to cut 400 jobs at its Ellesmere Port operation by the end of the year.
• Transport secretary Chris Grayling to face grilling by MPs over Monarch collapse and scrapping electrification plansChris Grayling will be grilled on collapsed airline Monarch, UK aviation's fate post-Brexit, and the scrapping of rail electrification plans when he faces the Transport Select Committee today.
• Tube repair work delayed due to exodus of Transport for London agency workers after tax changesWork on a critical London Underground programme repairing Bakerloo Line trains has been delayed due to an exodus of agency workers in the wake of tax changes earlier this year.
• Crossrail 2 boss Michèle Dix says without it London can't cope with the extra passengers the £56bn HS2 will bringThe managing director of Crossrail 2 has warned that without the project, London will not be able to cope with the surge of passengers expected from HS2.

Mail Online

• Drone near Gatwick risked the lives of 130 passengers The lives of 130 people were put at risk by a drone that nearly hit an aircraft as it approached Gatwick Airport, investigators have revealed.

The Mirror

• 'World's most useless airport' finally gets its first commercial flight - and it's LATE The British island of St. Helena - in the middle of the south Atlantic - welcomed its first 78 commercial airline passengers at just before 2pm on Saturday, 45 minutes behind schedule

This is Money

• England's best motorway service stations revealed A customer survey of 8,700 visitors who have visited all 112 motorway services in the UK in the last year has been conducted, asking for a rating of the facilities and how it made you feel.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• £2.7m just to keep pothole-riddled roads in state they're in now ... and the money's not there Council says it doesn't have the cash to maintain "deteriorating" road network
• Up to 400 Vauxhall jobs facing axe at Ellesmere Port plant Job losses could shrink workforce at the plant - which is made up of around 400 North Wales workers - by up to 25%

Liverpool Echo

• Liverpool MP Dan Carden frogmarched onto a train by security after bank closure protestThe MP had joined protesters in London to rally against the closure of a Liverpool bank

London Evening Standard

• Flying drone 'put 130 lives at risk' after near miss with plane at Gatwick Airport, pilot saysA drone "put 130 lives at risk" after a near-miss with a plane preparing to land at Gatwick Airport, a pilot has said.

Wales Online

• Train delays expected as Hurricane Ophelia hits Wales Arriva Trains Wales said that due to poor weather expected today, services will run at reduced speed from midday for safety reasons.
• Demolition work starts on 121-year-old bridge for railway upgradeDemolition work will start on a 121-year-old bridge in Cardiff this weekend.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• New buses, upgraded rail services and road improvements: Multi-million pound Sandwell transport plans revealedRapid buses, upgrades to a main road and roundabout and a new train station platform all form part of ambitious proposals to dramatically improve transport in Sandwell over the next decade.

Other Regional Press

• Anger over plans by Kirklees Council to axe some free school bus transportKirklees Council is considering axing some free school transport for children who live more than three miles from their school.
• Low rail adhesion causes problems on Metro There are problems on the Metro again this morning, due to low rail adhesion.

The Business Desk

• Greater Government support needed to deliver infrastructure growth say elected mayorsThe devolved regions of the North West and West Midlands need greater support from national Government to deliver vital infrastructure requirements, the elected mayors for both areas have said.

Other News Sources

• New Stagecoach service and additional journeys announced for ChesterfieldLeading bus operator Stagecoach has announced changes across Chesterfield including new direct links to the rail station and college
• Humza Yousaf in plea for political unity over funding for railwaysHumza Yousaf is writing a letter to opposition parties at Holyrood urging them to join him in “standing up” for the rail network, as he voiced concern over what Scottish ministers say is a funding shortfall from the UK Government.
• ScotRail cancellations cause chaos for morning commutersRail passengers are facing rush hour disruption thanks to a late freight train at Motherwell.
• New analysis shows how TfL's free open data boosts London's economyThe provision of free, accurate and real-time open data by Transport for London (TfL) is helping London’s economy by up to £130m a year, new research reveals.