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

Wednesday, 04 October 2023

Government

• PM redirects HS2 funding to revolutionise transport across the North and MidlandsA revolution in the country’s transport infrastructure will see billions of pounds redirected from spiralling HS2 costs to build the daily connections that people depend on – unlocking potential, driving growth and transforming communities.

BBC News

• HS2 scaled back as Rishi Sunak makes new transport pledgesThe prime minister has pledged billions for transport projects across the country after scrapping the northern leg of the HS2 high speed rail link.
• Reprieve for West Midlands bus station community hubsThree community hubs supporting homeless and lonely people will remain open thanks to new funding.
• Axed south Cumbria bus routes to be restoredAxed bus routes in south Cumbria are set to be restored, with other services seeing an increase in frequency after councillors agreed on which routes most merited financial support.
• HS2: Wales must get cash if scheme scaled back, says Mark DrakefordThe first minister says Wales is entitled to a windfall if the Manchester to Birmingham leg goes.
• HS2: What is the route and why is the Manchester link in doubt?The high-speed railway between London, the Midlands and North of England could be scaled back.
• HS2 West Midlands-Manchester line to be scrappedRishi Sunak is expected to set out alternative projects in his Conservative Party conference speech on Wednesday.
• Tube strikes: London Underground walkouts cancelledThe London Underground walkouts scheduled for 4 and 6 October will no longer go ahead.
• Train strikes: What days in October will rail travel be disrupted?Train drivers walk out again on Wednesday, but action by London Underground staff has been suspended.

Financial Times

• Therabidly anti-HS2 aide who has Rishi Sunak's earFormer journalist Andrew Gilligan has long railed against the HS2 project and its managers
• UK rail passengers face disruption as drivers go on strikeWalkout at 16 train operators on Wednesday expected to close almost all of network
• UK HS2: northern exposure should not give Sunak cold feetCancelling Manchester leg would reduce connectivity gains needed to justify the project
• Scandinavian airline SAS wipes out shareholders as part of rescue dealAir France-KLM and private equity group Castlelake become investors alongside Danish government
• Rishi Sunak runs the gauntlet with plan to axe northern leg of HS2PM set to announce the scaling back of the flagship UK infrastructure project in Tory conference speech
• Jeremy Hunt pushed for HS2 rail line to end in central LondonUK chancellor argued successfully for a Euston terminus as Rishi Sunak prepares to axe the route’s northern leg

The Guardian

• HS2: how the costly rail project ran out of trackIt started out with high hopes and a higher budget. It’s been more than a decade in the making – and was supposed to help connect English cities like never before. Now, delayed, over budget and more controversial than ever, HS2 ambitions have hit the buffers.
• HS2 firms and West Midlands mayor in 11th-hour push to save Manchester legBritain’s biggest HS2 contractors have launched an 11th-hour effort to convince Rishi Sunak not to cancel the high-speed rail line to Manchester, pledging to find cost savings and private investment to make the scheme feasible.
• Rail passengers in England face another day without trains on WednesdayMembers of Aslef union strike for second time in four days meaning no trains will run on most English routes

Times Online

• Tory party conference live: West Midlands mayor ’considers quitting’ over HS2 decision. [subscription]Andy Street accused Rishi Sunak of ’cancelling the future’
• Jobs at risk as new train orders hit the buffers. [subscription]Britain’s four rolling stock companies are set to be left with little or no work by the end of next year because of the government’s failure to order any new main line trains for almost four years.
• Delayed CalMac ferries will carry 150 fewer passengers than expected. [subscription]Safety measures have cut the capacity of the over-budget vessels, the Glen Sannox and Glen Rosa

City AM

• Cost of rail strikes mounts to £716m as taxpayers forced to support struggling industry Industrial action has cost the rail industry £716m since the feud between unions and operators began, new figures have revealed.

Network Rail

• New coffee shop and charging points for Piccadilly platforms 13 & 14Passengers using platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly station will soon benefit from a revamp of the waiting area.
• Catching the fall: Network Rail gearing up to ready the railway for AutumnAcross Network Rail’s Southern region – which covers the railway in the south of England from Weymouth to Brighton to Dover – a fleet of ’leaf-busting’ trains will be in action to keep the railway leaf free and running reliably this Autumn.

Sky News

• HS2: PM confirms northern Birmingham-Manchester leg will be scrapped - to instead offer 'Network North' to votersRishi Sunak has confirmed the long-rumoured decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2.
• HS2 won't be high speed between Manchester and BirminghamHS2 will start at Euston rather than Old Oak Common - but between Birmingham and Manchester it will not be high speed, Sky News understands.

Birmingham Mail

• Raft of new 20mph roads approved in Solihull as entire estate has limit slashedA whole estate has effectively been turned into a 20mph zone after the council approved reducing the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph

Birmingham Post

• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to scrap HS2's northern legSeveral notable organisations – including Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the University of Manchester and Co-operatives UK – signed a joint letter warning the Prime Minister he was risking the 'prosperity' of the North

Bolton News

• Clean Air Zone issue addressed in Bolton by Andy BurnhamA clean air “charging scheme” will only be imposed on Bolton if the national government forces it through, Andy Burnham has said.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Wales 'owed billions' if HS2 Manchester leg is scrappedPlaid Cymru claim the UK Government's 'sham excuse' that the high speed rail-link benefitted Wales with a connection at Crewe would 'collapse'

Derby Telegraph

• Free train travel for pensioners: Government asked to rethink after petitionThe Government has been asked to rethink its stance on free train travel for pensioners after a petition reached almost 22,000 signatures. The petition to include train travel as part of concessionary benefits for those of State Pension age was rejected in August, reported the Daily Record.

Manchester Evening News

• LIVE HS2 updates as Rishi Sunak to announce Birmingham to Manchester leg will be SCRAPPEDRishi Sunak will be speaking in Manchester today

Wales Online

• Councillors call for former 30mph roads to be re-introduced in Cardiff amid 20mph backlashA motion has been tabled but no date has yet been given for a debate

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• With an impassioned intervention on HS2, Mayor Andy Street gives PM a dilemmaThe cost of HS2 has spiralled out of control because the Government has managed it as a 'statist project', and failed to engage properly with the private sector.

Yorkshire Post

• Stand-off between Stagecoach and council over withdrawal of bus service to Yorkshire village that was under 'sustained attack' by yobsSouth Yorkshire’s mayor has called on Stagecoach to reinstate its evening service through Thurnscoe – but the bus company says it has ’never faced such a prolonged campaign of anti-social behaviour’.

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 | Timeline of a mistreated megaprojectHigh Speed 2 (HS2) was supposed to be a game changer for the UK’s transport network, truly ’levelling up’ neglected parts of the nation and adding capacity to its already oversubscribed railways – after years of revoked promises, it now stands as a sorry symbol for what has happened to the country’s ambition.

Railnews

• HS2 to Manchester ‘set to be scrapped today’ It is being reported that the Prime Minister will announce the scrapping of HS2 Phases 2A and 2B from Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester today, and that Rishi Sunak will announce a series of alternative transport projects in England and Wales when he addresses the Conservative Party conference in Manchester on its final day.

Other News Sources

• Private firms including Arup and Siemens leading Andy Street’s coalition to save HS2, mayor saysMace and Arcadis also backing proposal as West Midlands leader floats idea of phase 2 to Manchester being bankrolled by overseas wealth funds
• Alstom presents hydrogen train to FMN in ItalyThe hydrogen Coradia Stream train will enter service on the Brescia - Edolo line in 2024-25.
• Why are fuel prices going up? RAC answers as new figures publishedDrivers were hit by an 8p per litre surge in the price of diesel in September, new figures show.