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

Saturday, 22 October 2022

BBC News

• Carlisle train derailment caused by damaged wheel, inspectors thinkA freight train derailment which has closed a line was "almost certainly" caused by a damaged wheel hitting part of the track, inspectors have found.
• Bristol Airport passengers face 'unacceptable' security queuesPassengers have reported continued disruption after "unacceptable" queues through security at Bristol Airport.
• The flying car that could turn into a biplaneAn American start-up reveals a novel design, but what is the future of flying cars?
• Light show to mark Caledonian Canal's 200th anniversaryThe Caledonian Canal's Neptune Staircase and Gairlochy Lighthouse are to be illuminated on Saturday.
• Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone: More than £60m spent on schemeThe plan to charge the most polluting vehicles on Manchester's roads was paused earlier this year.

Financial Times

• Airlines hit by jet shortages in new challenge for aviationSupply chain crunch disrupts deliveries as carriers are forced to reduce flights

The Guardian

• Airline hired for UK's Rwanda deportations pulls out of schemeExclusive: Privilege Style causes problem for Home Office as it bows to pressure from campaigners. A charter airline hired to remove people seeking refuge in the UK to Rwanda has pulled out of the scheme after pressure from campaigners.
• 100m highly polluting cars could appear on Europe's roads after EU moveExclusive: Efficiency recommendations of experts rejected in European Commission Euro 7 proposals. Almost 100m highly polluting cars could appear on Europe's roads over the next decade after the European Commission moved to disown its own experts efficiency recommendations in a leaked proposal seen by the Guardian

The Telegraph

• Why we'll be driving a record number of older cars in the next five years [subscription]

Times Online

• Nicola Sturgeon to give evidence on Ferguson ferry debacle [subscription]The first minister will face a Holyrood committee to answer questions about Scotland’s ferry services after claims that the awarding of a shipbuilding contract was rigged.

City AM

• Civil Aviation Authority chief steps down following a summer of travel chaos The chief of the UK Civil Aviation Authority will stand now next year after a rocky few years of pandemic transport chaos and strike action drama. Richard Moriarty has worked for the organisation for more than ten years, in senior roles including Director of Competition and Economic Regulation, Director of Consumers and Markets, Deputy Chief Executive [...] The post Civil Aviation Authority chief steps down following a summer of travel chaos appeared

Birmingham Post

• Bristol clean air zone financial assistance scheme announcedGrants and financing are being offered to help reduce the cost of replacing non-compliant cars
• More jobs at Myenergi as green-tech specialist enters domestic battery market25 new roles as Libbi is added to range featuring flagship Zappi electric vehicle charger - all made in Grimsby

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• ’Hold your nerve’ - Mayor has strong words for bus companies amid more service cutsWest Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin has hit out at bus operators for pulling more services across the region, despite the government extending support funding.

Bristol Live

• Bristol arena transport delays could cause 'gridlock' as train station won't open for a yearNorth Bristol could face “gridlock” as construction work for two new train stations will begin a year after the new arena opens. A giant 17,000-spectator arena will open at Filton Airfield in 2024, while building work for stations next to the arena and in Henbury will begin in 2025.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Edinburgh bus campaigners’ last chance to save lifeline routeIt's the 'last chance' to help save a crucial bus route from Edinburgh to Dumfries. Campaigners are still fighting to keep their bus service beyond Spring 2023.

Manchester Evening News

• Smart motorway 'madness' as M60 drivers end up stuck in roadworks for hours due to 'some cones and no one working' Reports of multiple collisions and breakdowns, cars on hard shoulder blocking ambulances - and delays of five hours 'for some cones and no one working'

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• 'Disappointing' delay to huge overhaul that could make Newcastle the UK's rail headquartersThe city was one of six to make the shortlist to house Great British Railways (GBR), with hopes that the bid could bring hundreds of new jobs to Tyneside

Wales Online

• Bristol Airport chaos as early morning 'carnage' sees 'unacceptable queues' and people waiting up to three hoursThe airport is blaming a shortage of security staff for queues of up to three hours through security

Yorkshire Post

• Doncaster Sheffield Airport: 1,000 people set to take to streets in attempt to save Doncaster Sheffield AirportUp to 1,000 people are set to march in a protest to save Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2's Calvert cutting excavation kicks offExcavation works to create the high-speed railway’s two longest cuttings began this week.

Leeds Live

• These European cities are putting Leeds' transport system to shameIt's not exactly a secret that Leeds is the biggest urban area in Western Europe without a rapid mass transit system - or metro - to get people to surrounding towns and cities.

Other Regional Press

• Angry Glasgow councillor hits out at 'terrible' bus service in cityEast End councillor and Glasgow Conservative leader Thomas Kerr said he had waited over an hour for a service and had seen buses on the time table "vanish off the face of the earth" while trying to commute.
• Harrogate Bus Company says it remains confident of improvements despite “lethal cocktail’ of economic pressuresAward-winning Harrogate Bus Company says it remains confident about improving services for passengers despite facing a “lethal cocktail” of pressures from the cost of living crisis and a squeeze on government funding.

New Civil Engineer

• ICE calls for national transport strategy to improve rail infrastructure deliveryThe Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure (APPGI) have recommended that that government create a national transport strategy and improve delivery of rail infrastructure to deliver strategic transport goals such as levelling up and net zero.
• Tracklaying train returns from retirement for East West RailNetwork Rail has brought back a retired tracklaying train to help the East West Rail (EWR) Alliance lay track on phase two of the project.

Railnews

• Derailed train likely to block lines for weeks Train services between Carlisle, Newcastle, Appleby and Skipton may be disrupted for weeks after a cement train was derailed at Petteril Bridge Junction, where the Settle and Carlisle line leaves the route towards Hexham and Newcastle. The derailment was destructive. Several wagons left the track and came to rest on the embankment, and at least one landed in the River Petteril, according to Network Rail, which also said no-one was injured. The infrastructure was seriously damaged, including the track, a bridge, signals and other lineside equipment.

Other News Sources

• There are plans to build tram lines under the Thames between Essex and KentLondon’s transport has been glowing up and up over the past year. First we had the Lizzie Line, then new DLR trains, and now there are plans to build a tram under the Thames, creating more links from Essex and Kent to east London. Get ready for KenEx (see what they did there?). 
• Cabinet asked to progress new railway station for RedditchWORCESTERSHIRE County Council’s Cabinet will decide at a meeting next week (October 27) whether to allocate £10million of funding towards a new railway station in Redditch.
• What Hereford's new transport hub will look likeDetails have emerged of Hereford’s planned new central transport hub, which will now cost an extra £6.3 million.
• RIA's October 2022 RNEP The Railway Industry Association (RIA) has today published its own Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP), three years after the last announcement was made public by the UK Government.