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

Wednesday, 21 February 2024

BBC News

• Wakefield bus passengers to benefit from more frequent servicesMore direct and regular bus services have been introduced in West Yorkshire. Eight services will run more frequently in Wakefield, while new routes connecting Huddersfield and Halifax have been created.
• Metro fines manufacturer £1.4m for train failuresThe firm responsible for getting the Tyne and Wear Metro’s trains into service every day has been fined £1.4m for underperformance.
• Martin Lewis's East Midlands Railway rant leads to apologyEast Midlands Railway has apologised to broadcaster Martin Lewis after he complained about his overcrowded train on social media.
• Bus fare compensation for passengers - mayorGreater Manchester's mayor says compensation is available if bus fares rise under network changes.

Channel 4 News

• England has lost 28% of local bus provision per person since 2011You know how the old joke goes: you wait ages for a bus and then three come along at once. But across swathes of England, you could be waiting a very long time indeed.

Department for Transport

• Ministers set out blueprint for future of the railways through draft Rail Reform BillDraft bill sets out blueprint for bringing track and train together under a new Great British Railways, leveraging private sector innovation to benefit customers.

Financial Times

• Boeing's crisis may open gap for Chinese jets to fly throughDemand for air travel is booming in south and south-east Asia, which are less sensitive to US-China tensions
• Mobico shares sink on results delay National Express owner to review accounting judgments relating to German trains business

The Guardian

• Draft rail reform bill published ’fittingly late’, Labour saysA draft bill to reform Britain’s railway has been published by the government – derided by Labour as “fittingly late” and with no prospect of becoming law.
• Welsh 20mph speed limit is a success, claims governmentFigures show speeds on many roads have dropped by 4mph, but critics say policy is a monumental waste of money. Welsh ministers have claimed their controversial 20mph limit rollout has proved successful after figures suggested speeds on many roads had dropped by 4mph.However, opponents of the scheme say the modest reduction shows the policy has been a monumental waste of money and called for it to be scrapped.

The Independent

• Draft Bill sets out plans for major rail reformLong-awaited plans to overhaul Britain’s railways have been published by the Government in a draft Bill. Proposals include the creation of a new public sector body named Great British Railways (GBR) to hold responsibility for rail infrastructure and awarding contracts to operate trains.

The Telegraph

• UAE sovereign wealth fund plots Heathrow investment. [subscription]The UAE is in talks to buy a stake in Heathrow Airport amid deepening economic ties between the Gulf kingdom and Britain.

Times Online

• Parking charges to be extended to 10pm across Glasgow [subscription]The measure is designed to raise over half a million pounds each year for the city council
• National Express owner held up by German rail business [subscription]Mobico’s auditor wants to take a closer look at “certain accounting judgments”
• Borders chief sacked for revealing security threat from private jet passengers. [subscription]The home secretary has fired the border watchdog boss for leaking reports showing thousands arriving by private jet are avoiding physical passport checks

City AM

• Heathrow turns first profit since pandemic amid Middle East takeover speculationHeathrow Airport has turned its first profit in four years amid speculation that a consortium of Middle Eastern, state-backed investment funds could become prominent shareholders in the hub.
• Great British Railways: Here’s what the draft bill to bring ’track and train’ together will doThe government has today unveiled its draft bill for reforming Britain’s beleaguered railway network through a state-owned unifying body.
• No more excuses: We need transport projects connecting South LondonSoft clay. That’s always been the excuse for the London Underground’s shameless disregard for the badlands south of the Thames. The slightly wetter earth in south London made building tunnels there more expensive back in the day, so the network was focused on north of the river.

Local Government

• An update on our Transport budget proposalsBack in December, Nottingham City Council put forward a number of proposed budget cuts, including a variety of potential changes to how public transport.

Birmingham Post

• Wales Week in London 2024 launches with a programme of more than 120 eventsSince launching in 2017 some 600 events have attracted 70,000 attendees
• Humber hydrogen project H2H Saltend secures planning permissionThe 600MW scheme is presented as a catalyst for wider decarbonisation plans in the Humber region

Bolton News

• Big shake-up as several bus routes to be renumberedSeveral bus routes will get new numbers as part of a TfGM scheme to 'simplify' the system.

London Evening Standard

• Heathrow Airport turns a profit for first time since 2019The £38 million profit is small compared to its £4.5 billion losses over three years, but is a milestone in Heathrow’s post-Covid rebound
• Bakerloo Line ’in state of managed decline' and at risk of 'critical failure' due to 52-year-old trainsThe Bakerloo line clocked up a total of 630,500 ’lost customer hours’ in 2022/23, up 370 per cent on 2012, due to 589 train cancellations

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Tyne and Wear Metro operator hits Stadler with £1.4m worth of penalties over train failuresNexus has confirmed that it has withheld more than £1 million in contractual payments to Stadler, the firm responsible for maintaining the Metro's ageing train fleet

The York Press

• York Bus Forum says no progress made on 'key' bus issuesA PRESSURE group calling for improved bus services in York has called a committee set up between the council and York’s local bus operators a ’useful talking shop’ - but said progress has not been made on key issues.
• YORK: Diesel buses replace electric due to power issuesDiesel buses were brought in to replace electric buses in York due to charging infrastructure work being delayed at First’s James Street depot.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Scrapped: Key direct rail service from West Midlands to London is to endThe direct rail service connecting Shropshire to London will be scrapped in June due to falling passenger numbers and cuts in funding, the Express & Star can reveal. The Department for Transport has confirmed that Avanti West Coast will be scrapping the service from June 2, after this newspaper obtained a leaked internal memo.

Yorkshire Post

• Doncaster Sheffield Airport: Mayor of Doncaster tells MP to apologise for 'blatant lie'A Yorkshire mayor has released a statement following accusations over the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport from an MP.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2 removing some concrete in new viaduct for repairsA section of concrete in a new viaduct set to carry the HS2 railway between London and Buckinghamshire is being removed, a contractor has admitted.

Doncaster Free Press

• Doncaster Sheffield Airport: MP launches 5 days of claims against mayor’s “radical green agenda”Conservative Don Valley MP shared yesterday (19 February) that he is set to launch five days of posts relating to the role of local and regional mayors in the closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Other Regional Press

• 3 London Underground stations to be overhauled as TfL reviews 10 stopsTfL has announced that work will resume at Northolt Tube station on the western end of the Central line to make it step-free. This is due to start again early next year after it was paused due to the Covid pandemic.
• Southern train services doubled on West Coastway routeThe number of trains running along the coast is set to double as part of a timetable shakeup.
• Scrapped: Direct Shrewsbury-to-London rail service is to endThe direct rail service connecting Shropshire to London will be scrapped in June due to falling passenger numbers and cuts in funding, the Shropshire Star can reveal.

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Newport orders seven Yutong GT12s for FlixBus expansionNewport Transport has ordered seven Yutong GT12s for use on its expanding FlixBus services.

Coach and Bus Week

• Flintshire e-buses still awaiting deploymentFlintshire County Council is ’still investigating’ how its two new electric buses will be used, says North Wales Live, the two vehicles having reportedly been unused for months. Purchased with grant funding from Welsh Government, local media reports that they have been parked since purchase without being put into regular service., although the local authority says it is investigating options for their use.

New Civil Engineer

• Draft Rail Reform Bill published to move sector towards ’guiding mind’ of Great British RailwaysManagement of the UK’s rail infrastructure and services has moved closer to being unified under the “guiding mind” of Great British Railways (GBR) with the publication of the draft Rail Reform Bill today, 20 February.
• Transport secretary backs new railway station for the Vale of Glamorgan in South WalesThe government has announced it is backing the proposal to construct a new train station in St Athan, a village in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales.

Rail Forum

• Rail Forum welcomes publication of the draft Rail Reform BillRail Forum statement in response to the publication of the draft Rail Reform Bill – published on 20 February 2024.

Rail Magazine

• Porterbrook takes stake in Brodie EngineeringRolling stock financier and asset management company Porterbrook is taking a minority (49%) stake in Kilmarnock based company, Brodie Engineering.
• Draft Rail Reform Bill publishedMinisters today put forward a draft bill for the future of the railways for pre-legislative scrutiny. Subject to approval by each House of Parliament and it receiving Royal Assent, it would create the biggest rail reform programme in a generation, to become the Rail Reform Act 2024.

Railnews

• Leasing company invests in engineering firmRolling stock leasing company Porterbrook is buying 49 per cent of Scottish railway firm Brodie Engineering, based in Kilmarnock. Porterbook said Brodie is the ’only active rail engineering business in Scotland, specialising in heavy maintenance, refurbishment and overhauls’. The Caledonia Works were previously occupied by Wabtec and before that Brush-Barclay, the successor to Hunslet-Barclay. Porterbrook CEO Mary Grant said: ’A healthy supply chain is fundamental to a reliable and efficient railway.’

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• English £2 bus fare cap reaches 60 million users for Go-AheadThe Go-Ahead Group has carried 60 million passengers under the national £2 bus fare cap in England since the scheme’s introduction in 2023.
• UK coach, bus and minibus registrations rose in 2023The number of registrations of coaches, buses and minibuses in the UK rose in 2023 compared to the previous year, led by a sharp increase in sales of double-deckers, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

RMT

• RMT Responds to Draft Rail Reform BillResponding to the government's draft Rail Reform Bill, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "This bill in its current form will do nothing to address the 30 year long decline in our railways since privatisation.

Aviation Industry

• Investigating alternative aviation fuels: an AEF webinar seriesCould ammonia have a role in decarbonising aviation? Green hydrogen and so-called ’Sustainable Aviation Fuels’ currently make up a large part of the alternative fuels debate. But could ammonia also … The post Investigating alternative aviation fuels: an AEF webinar series appeared first on Aviation Environment Federation.

Other News Sources

• Youth fares hit major milestone – ten million journeys takenMore than ten million affordable green journeys have been made by young people in the North East, thanks to a region-wide £1 single and £3 day ticket for those aged 21 and under using public transport.
• Government Accused Of Leading Railways To A "State Of Paralysis"Shadow rail minister Stephen Morgan has said railways are in a “state of paralysis,” and claimed that the sector has been subject to “tinkering and meddling” by government ministers.

News from Europe

• Germany to halt subsidies for electric buses (and trucks)Germany has stopped subsidizing electric trucks and buses. Such a decision follows a similar one concerning electric cars, taken not long ago. The Government used to subsidize the purchase of heavy-duty vehicles with alternative drives so to cover about 80 percent of the price difference compared to a diesel vehicle. Germany placed second in Europe in 2023