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

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

BBC News

• Musk promises '10km Hyperloop tunnel' in 2020The Hyperloop project aims to transport people inside high-speed pods along underground tunnels.
• Edinburgh Trams to run all night at weekends during festivalAll-night tram services are put on in the capital on Fridays and Saturdays during the Edinburgh festivals.
• Third 24-hour Hial airport controllers strike beginsThe action is the final in a series that has already affected flights from Inverness, Sumburgh and Kirkwall.
• Growing concerns for Harland and Wolff Belfast shipyardThe business has been up for sale amid financial problems at its Norwegian parent company.
• Arrest after CS gas released on Tube at Oxford CircusPassengers were left coughing and short of breath following exposure on a Tube train on Saturday.
• Heathrow third runway campaigners get High Court go-aheadThe legal case fighting airport expansion is being brought against the transport secretary.
• Volvo recalls 70,000 cars in the UK over fire riskThe car maker says a plastic engine part can in
• BA pilots vote in favour of strike action over key summer periodThe British Airline Pilots' Association says 93% of its members have voted in favour of industrial action.

Department for Transport

• Rail Minister visits zero-emission technology driving the future of railwaysRail Minister Andrew Jones reiterated the Department for Transport’s commitment to cleaner and greener rail journeys today (22 July 2019), as he visited a pioneering government-backed project which will develop a modern, zero-emission steam-powered system onboard a train.

The Guardian

• There must be a point at which HS2 is just too expensiveThe CBI and BCC wring their hands at a budget overrun of £30bn – but then keep on insisting it must be built. One thing as predictable as an increase in the projected cost of building HS2 is the response from business lobby groups. Sure enough, as the high-speed railway was reported last week to be hurtling towards a potential cost overrun of almost £30bn, trade bodies barely paused to consider this astonishing figure and instead insisted that HS2 should be built anyway.

Times Online

• Second-hand electric cars ‘twice as expensive’ [Subscription]The cost of second-hand electric cars has soared since the start of the year because of a shortage of new models being sold in the UK, research suggests.
• British Airways strike vote: Holidaymakers face chaos after pilots protest over pay [Subscription]A summer of disruption for holidaymakers moved a step closer yesterday after British Airways pilots voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action, saying that the airline had refused to change its position despite three days of intense negotiations.

City AM

• Holidaymakers face ‘perfect storm’ this summer as British Airways pilots vote in favour of strike actionBritish Airways pilots have voted strongly in favour of industrial action in a dispute with the airline over pay. Ninety-three per cent of those balloted voted in favour of strike action, on a turnout of 90 per cent.

Birmingham Mail

• Labour demands HS2 high speed rail inquiry after warning that cost could soar to £86 billionThe chair of HS2 Ltd has reportedly told the Government that the rail network could go £30bn over budgetLabour has stepped up demands for an inquiry into the HS2 high speed rail line following reports it's set to cost £30bn more than expected.

Edinburgh Evening News

• Higher bus fares fear over 2.7 per cent pay rise offer to Lothian driversBUS chiefs have been challenged to guarantee a pay rise for bus drivers will not mean a fare increase for passengers.

London Evening Standard

• Roads could be taken from councils that block Mayor’s safety measuresCouncils that block attempts to cut road deaths and injuries in London could have key roads taken out of their control, the Standard can reveal.
• BA pilots vote overwhelmingly in support of strike action over payBritish Airways passengers could face travel chaos this summer after its pilots voted overwhelmingly for strike action.
• Anti-Heathrow expansion campaigners given go-ahead to challenge ruling over third runway plansAnti-Heathrow expansion campaigners have been given the go-ahead to challenge a High Court ruling over controversial plans for a third runway.

Wales Online

• The managing director of Cardiff Bus Cynthia Ogbonna is quittingThe managing director of Cardiff Bus will stand down. Cynthia Ogbonna has been managing director for seven years and worked for the company for 15 years.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• 'This project should be abandoned immediately': Calls for police probe into cost of HS2Campaigners have called for a police investigation into HS2 over fears its cost could rocket by £30 billion.

Yorkshire Post

• Watch: Train driver's poignant horn blast as retiring LNER locomotive leaves York for the final timeA train driver gave a farewell blast of his horn as his 30-year-old locomotive left York Station for the last time today. The Class 91, registration number 91108, is being retired after its final journey from London to Edinburgh today.

Other Regional Press

• Partner appointed to take forward Windermere Gateway projectA partner has been appointed to help develop land next to Windermere's train station into a 'gateway to the Lakes'.
• New rail parkway could reduce Pembrokeshire to Cardiff journey timeA NEW railway hub near Swansea announced today could cut the time of journeys between Pembrokeshire and Cardiff, according to the government.
• Team behind Chalres Burnett steam car is working on trainsTHE team who built the world’s fastest steam-powered car are planning to use the same technology to drive trains. Rail minister Andrew Jones visited Steamology in Lymington, which received a £350,000 grant earlier this year to develop its idea for taking carbon emissions out of train travel.
• Plans to convert disused railway into cycle path on right trackA PLAN to convert a disused railway line into a cycle route has been given a boost after it was raised in the House of Commons by MP John Woodcock.

Train Operators

• Brand new intercity on maiden voyage into LondonOne of Greater Anglia’s brand-new intercity trains has successfully completed a daylight test run between Norwich and Liverpool Street.

Bikebiz

• New £7.9 million Leeds city centre cycle superhighway opensThe scheme, which adds an extra four kilometres of segregated routes to Leeds’ growing cycling network, has been delivered through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s CityConnect programme, aimed at encouraging more people to travel by bike or on foot, in partnership with Leeds City Council.

Rail Technology Magazine

• RSSB: Railways crucial in UK becoming net zero-carbon by 2050The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) has said that Britain's railways have a crucial role to play in helping the UK economy decarbonise by 2050.
• Up to £58m funding commitment for Cardiff Central Station upgradeUp to £58m funding to upgrade Cardiff Central Station has been confirmed today, 22 July, by the transport secretary Chris Grayling.
• HS2 Director says on schedule to get Royal Assent HS2 Director told delegates at the prestigious TransCityRail Midlands event the project was

Aviation Industry

• British Airways pilots back strike actionPilots at UK carrier British Airways (BA) have voted 93% in favor of strike action, after three days of arbitration talks yielded no progress. read more
• Airbus, EASA warn of A321neo excessive pitch-up conditionAirbus has urged A321neo operators to implement a temporary center-of-gravity (CG) limitation to eliminate an already-remote risk of an excessive pitch-up condition while it finalizes a software update that addresses the issue. read more

Other News Sources

• Transport Committee calls for Government ambition and leadership on cycling and walkingMore leadership and ambition are required to champion walking and cycling in England, according to the Transport Select Committee, which has issued a new report – Active Travel: increasing levels of walking and cycling.
• First Bus responds after being ranked 'worst bus operator in UK'A study found that the bus company received more negative tweets than any other operator in the UK
• New glass façade to be installed at Glasgow Queen Street stationNetwork Rail is about to begin the next phase of the redevelopment of Glasgow Queen street with the installation of the new glass façade at the West George Street side of the station.
• Regulator had Railways Pension Scheme on ‘watchlist’ since 2016The Railways Pension Scheme (RPS) has been on The Pension Regulator’s (TPR) watchlist since 2016, its chief executive Charles Counsell has revealed. In a letter to the Work and Pensions Select Committee chair, Frank Field, dated 12 July, Counsell said that RPS has been on its ‘watchlist’ since it started monitoring schemes in June 2016, assessing the covenant, funding and investment of the scheme.
• HS2: Wales’s losses stuck in lock-step with spiralling costs - Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru Transport Spokesperson, Jonathan Edwards MP, has said that HS2 must be scrapped, after further evidence of soaring costs and its “deeply damaging” direct and indirect effects on Wales.
• Crossrail opening dates ‘still uncertain’, MPs warnPublic Accounts Committee says entire line may not be ready until spring 2022 Londoners may not be able to use Crossrail in its entirety until 2022, MPs have warned.