Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver’s licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head
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A “Pastafarian” in rural Queensland has vowed to fight to keep his driver’s licence featuring a photo of him wearing a colander on his head, arguing it’s a matter of freedom of religion.
But the state government has told him he must hand it in and get a new one, as it was issued “in error”.
Continue reading...IAG reports record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at British Airways and sister airline Iberia
British Airways’ owner, International Airlines Group, has announced a sharp rise in annual profits to almost £4bn despite a slight fall in passenger numbers in 2025.
Pre-tax profits across IAG increased by 20% to €4.5bn (£3.9bn), with record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at BA and its sister airline Iberia.
Continue reading...Cars with higher real-world consumption may add to Australia’s difficulties in reducing transport emissions
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Another 10 cars have failed to live up to fuel efficiency promises when tested in the real world, adding to Australia’s difficulties in reducing emissions from transport.
The Australian Automobile Association’s latest test confirmed 76% of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles are still using more fuel on roads than in mandatory lab testing.
Continue reading...Transport minister Catherine King will pledge $230m for planning work for the first phase of a bullet train on Australia’s east coast
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Long-mooted plans for high-speed rail could be “shovel-ready” within two years, according to the federal government, which will on Tuesday announce another $230m for further planning work for fast trains between Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the first phase of an eventual east coast bullet train.
Rail journeys on the new fast train could take as little as one hour between Sydney and Newcastle, and 30 minutes between Sydney and the Central Coast, the transport and infrastructure minister, Catherine King, said. It currently takes more than 2.5 hours to travel by train from Sydney to Newcastle, and almost 1.5 hours from Sydney to the Central Coast.
Continue reading...Avanti service was to have been axed from mid-December but would have still run because of needs out of Euston
The express Manchester-London 7am Avanti service will take passengers after all, after the rail regulator conceded defeat in the face of public outcry over a ruling that would have left it running as an empty “ghost train” each day.
The 7am train, the only service linking the cities in under two hours, was set to be axed from the passenger table from mid-December – but would, as the Guardian reported on Saturday, have kept running empty from Piccadilly each day so it could run morning trains back out of Euston.
Continue reading...Tryout of system, which switches between signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites, could lead to wider rollout
Train wifi in the UK, long a source of frustration for passengers, is about to get radically faster – for a lucky few at least.
A two-month trial has begun on one Great Western Railway (GWR) train, fitted with technology from Formula One that switches between the signals from 5G masts to low Earth-orbit satellites to provide almost seamless, superfast wifi.
Continue reading...Campaigners say train image of two wheelchair users does not reflect reality of single wheelchair space in standard class
Campaigners have accused one of the UK’s leading train companies of “virtue signalling without the virtue” after it used images of wheelchair users that they say do not reflect the reality of travelling with a disability.
Baraka Carberry, a digital artist, created a new livery for Avanti West Coast, which provides rail links between London and Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, that shows “scenes of people, culture, colours and joy”. Titled Together We Roll, the images stretch across all seven carriages of the new Evero train, which the company says reduces carbon compared with the old fleet of trains.
Continue reading...In effort to tackle severe backlog and end resale market, only learner drivers will be able to make bookings
Bots and third parties will be banned from booking driving tests as part of a government shake-up to tackle a severe backlog of almost 670,000 learners booked in for a practical assessment.
The Department for Transport (DfT), which recently consulted on how to crack down on touts reselling test slots at inflated prices, said that only learner drivers themselves and not their instructors would be able to make bookings.
Continue reading...Agreement that will increase drivers’ pay to nearly £80,000 by 2027 comes after strike action in September
The RMT union has accepted a three-year inflation-plus pay deal for London Underground workers, ending the dispute that led to travel chaos in London in September and increasing drivers’ pay to nearly £80,000 by 2027.
The deal, with an initial 3.4% increase backdated to this April, means London Underground staff pay will rise in line with RPI inflation – higher than the CPI rate normally used for index-linked pay rises – with guaranteed minimum rates if inflation falls, making the total deal worth at least 9.2%.
Continue reading...UK rail regulator approves Richard Branson firm’s application to use Temple Mills site in London
Richard Branson’s train company is a step closer to challenging Eurostar’s monopoly on transporting passengers across the Channel after the UK rail regulator approved Virgin Train’s application to use a key depot in east London.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) approved Virgin’s application to use the Temple Mills depot in Leyton – which is used for maintaining and storing trains. It said the move would unlock £700m of investment in new services and create 400 jobs.
Continue reading...Customers urged not to go to domestic airline’s airports as customers and staff offered train travel on suitable routes
The UK domestic airline Eastern Airways has suspended operations and all of its flights have been cancelled.
Customers of the airline, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, are urged not to go to the airport as flights will not be operating, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said.
Continue reading...Former Paralympics champion says inaccessible charging points show government ‘has forgotten about us’
Campaigners including Tanni Grey-Thompson have warned that disabled drivers are at risk of being locked out of the electric car transition because of inaccessible chargers.
The former Paralympics champion and the Electric Vehicle Association England are pushing for the government to introduce standards to ensure chargers are easy to reach.
Continue reading...Operator signs €2bn deal with Alstom amid boom in international rail travel from UK
Eurostar is to start running doubledecker trains through the Channel tunnel to meet growing demand for international rail travel from the UK.
The rail operator announced it had signed a €2bn (£1.7bn) deal for at least 30 – and up to 50 – new trains from the manufacturer Alstom.
Continue reading...One expert says a cyclist hit by a car travelling 50km/h has about a one-in-ten chance of surviving, while at 30km/h it was a nine-in-ten chance
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Reducing residential speed limits from 50km/h to 30 km/h would protect cyclists from danger and make riding less stressful while not causing traffic delays for cars, according to new research.
Researchers from RMIT University rated traffic stress levels for every road in greater Melbourne and modelled the effect of lower speed limits on bicycle and car travel.
Continue reading...Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency says learners booking tests earlier has contributed to rising demand
More driving test slots are being made available to tackle a severe backlog as figures show a 15% increase in learner drivers with future tests booked compared with this time last year.
Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) figures show 668,128 people had a practical driving test booked in Britain at the end of September, up from 579,138 a year earlier.
Continue reading...Ashford and Ebbsfleet have been shut to cross-Channel services since 2020, with Eurostar calling them unviable
Hopes that international rail services could return to UK stations abandoned by Eurostar have grown, with the government backing new competitors who plan to serve stops in Kent.
Ministers have been leaning on the rail regulator to give crucial space on the railway to prospective entrants who pledge to bring cross-Channel services back to Ashford and Ebbsfleet stations – and possibly London’s Stratford International.
Continue reading...Nationwide survey in London, Manchester and Glasgow shows pandemic trends may be reversing as more people return to office
People buying homes in London 500 metres from a tube or railway station pay £42,700 more than buyers of similar properties 1,500 metres away from transport hubs, according to new data.
The figures indicate that despite the reshaping of the housing market sparked by the coronavirus pandemic and dramatic changes to working patterns, the traditional estate agent mantra of “good transport links” continues to wield its power over buyers.
Continue reading...Zaventem asks airlines to cancel half of Monday departures, while most of Heathrow flights expected to operate
Hundreds of thousands of passengers at Heathrow and Berlin airports faced flight delays on Sunday after a cyber-attack hit check-in desk software, while cancellations at Brussels airport suggested that disruption of Europe’s air travel would continue into Monday.
Airlines were forced to revert to slower manual check-ins from Friday night after the attack hit Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in desk technology to various airlines.
Continue reading...Attack raises questions over security as Brussels and Berlin airports’ check-in and boarding systems also affected
Flights have been delayed and cancelled at three leading European airports – including London’s largest, Heathrow – after the company behind the software used for check-in and boarding said it was hit by a cyber-attack.
Airports in Brussels and Berlin are also experiencing delays and disruption as a result of the problem affecting Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at airports across the world.
Continue reading...Network Rail says train named after public vote will join fleet of ‘unsung hero’ leaf-busters this autumn
If Boaty McBoatface taught us one thing, it’s that the public do not take a naming ceremony particularly seriously.
Cue the newly named leaf-removal train: Ctrl Alt Deleaf.
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