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

Thursday, 12 December 2024

BBC News

• Region's bus fares to be capped at £2.50Bus fares across large parts of the region will be capped at £2.50 from January.
• Kentish Town Tube station reopens after 18 monthsKentish Town Tube station is due to reopen on 23 December - before closing early the next day for Christmas.
• New train time table adds services and more seatsTrain operator Great Western Railway has announced new routes and more carriages to key routes.
• Free bus scheme is good value for money - mayorRichard Parker says the initiative supports the region's night-time economy and its high streets.
• Quarter of all 20mph speeders caught on two roadsThere are hotspots for roads which have seen the most 20mph offences in Wales - where are they?
• Christmas train travel could be hit by staff shortages Lord Hendy says the transport department is going to "keep a close watch on staffing" over the festive period.

Financial Times

• St Pancras owner lays out plan to boost Channel passenger numbersStudy shows it’s possible to increase capacity from 1,800 travellers an hour to nearly 5,000, says HS1
• Heathrow predicts Christmas travel boomUK airport forecasts record December as United Airlines expects festive surge

The Guardian

• Euston station is incredibly unpopular – but is there light at the end of the tunnel?After a barrage of criticism, Network Rail is reversing its decision to replace Euston’s train information boards with adverts – with more changes to comeName: Euston station.Age: 187 years. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• Christmas getaway chaos fears amid record traffic and crippled train servicesLong queues are expected on major road during the festive period with 23.7 million people planning a trip on Dec 20

City AM

• HS2: Rail minister reveals new plans for Euston terminus Lord Peter Hendy, the rail minister, appeared in front of the Commons' transport committee on Wednesday alongside senior officials from the DfT.

Daily Express

• 'Congested' UK railway to get huge £1.5bn facelift as crucial station revampedThe plan aims to deliver better services for customers with more capacity alongside a huge project.

i News

• HS2 bat farce will happen again without key Tory policy, Labour MPs tell RaynerThe MPs warn that the current planning system 'slows building but doesn?t maximise the protection of nature either'

Birmingham Mail

• Avoid the M6 on this day as AA reveals worst 24 hours for Christmas congestionThe motoring organisation also highlighted several motorway locations were it expected to see hold-ups

Birmingham Post

• TransPennine Express boosts Manchester to Liverpool train services with new timetableOperator said services will increase to two trains every hour between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria
• Heathrow Airport to cap off year in record style as passenger numbers soarThe Hounslow hub said it served 6.5m passengers in November, up 6.1 per cent year-on-year, and on Wednesday forecast December would also be a record breaker. Christmas day is expected to see close to a quarter jump in passenger numbers, it added.

Bristol Live

• Ryanair, easyJet, Jet2 and BA rules as 'hidden' fee costs up to £69Travel expert Simon Calder says 'you have to comply' as almost a third of holidaymakers have been caught out

Daily Post (North Wales)

• North Wales rail passengers face Christmas disruption with Avanti West Coast workers set to strikeStrikes are scheduled to take place before and after Christmas Day in a dispute over rest day working

London Evening Standard

• Euston station: Redesign will mean shared concourse for HS2 and mainline trainsExtending HS2 to the North of England depends on successful opening of first section between Birmingham and London, admits rail minister

Nation. Cymru

• Welsh Secretary accused of flip flopping on HS2 funding for WalesThe Welsh Secretary has been accused of flip flopping on the issue of HS2 funding for Wales after being challenged on comments she made claiming the project was no longer in existence

The York Press

• Major York and Leeds rail upgrade latestTHE results of major ongoing work to help transform rail travel between York, Leeds and Manchester have been published.

Wales Online

• Mark Drakeford in roads row after saying there is no difference between Welsh language only road signs and English onesMark Drakeford said it was 'no different whether somebody who would prefer to get their information in the Welsh language has to rely entirely on an English road sign than it is if somebody who prefers to get their information in English sees a sign in Welsh'

Other Regional Press

• Glasgow station upgrade a 'missed opportunity' to make rail line more wheelchair and pram accessibleGreen Dennistoun councillor, Anthony Carroll, said he was "disappointed" by the "surprise" plans as they don't include a way to make Alexandra Parade a more accessible station for the city's east end.
• MP: HS2 South West rail disruptions deeply concerningDavid Reed, MP for Exmouth and Exeter East, has voiced his worries about the significant impact of the ongoing HS2 construction and the development of Old Oak Common station.
• Taunton and Wellington MP GIdeon Amos in station pleaLiberal Democrat MP for Taunton and Wellington, Gideon Amos, has called for the government to reopen Wellington and Cullompton train stations.
• 'Disappointment' as county gets lowest funding in region to improve public transportCampaigners say they are ‘very disappointed’ after Dorset received the lowest amount of government in the south west funding to improve public transport
• 'Just another folly' cry as trees to be axed to make way for Coventry cycle route The 26 trees on Clifford Bridge Road will be axed to make way for a two-way track, with work set to start next year

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• First Group acquires RATP London in £90 million bus network expansionBritish transport company First Group has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire urban and intercity transportation system operator RATP Dev Transit London in a £90 million deal. RATP London is one of the primary bus operators in the capital, operating 10 depots across Central and West London with a total fleet of 1,000 buses, a third of which are fully electric. The acquisition, announced on 10 December and published on the London Stock Exchange, will be financed with £45 million from First Group's existing cash reserves and the assumption of RATP London...

New Civil Engineer

• Control lost over HS2 Phase 1 due to lack of ministerial attention says HendyConstruction of Phase 1 of High Speed 2 (HS2) spiralled out of control due to a lack of ministerial attention, according to new rail minister Lord Hendy.

Rail Magazine

• Remodelling and roof work to transform Huddersfield and remove bottleneckHuddersfield station faces two 30-day blockades, one in September 2025 and a second in January 2027, as Network Rail remodels tracks to create more capacity as part of its Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU).

Railnews

• Avanti train managers plan Christmas walkouts Train managers on Avanti West Coast who belong to the RMT are set to strike on three days over the Christmas period, in a dispute over rest day working. The union said the company’s proposals had been ‘inadequate’, and that staff had rejected them in a vote by 92.8 per cent, on a turnout of 81 per cent.

Railway Gazette

• 'We grow, they grow': FirstGroup sets out open access rail aimsFollowing FirstGroup's announcement that it is to order more trains to support its growth drive in the open access market, First Rail Managing Director Steve Montgomery explains the next steps to Rail Business UK.