Category Archives: Transport

Rail strikes: Aslef announces industrial action in December

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Drivers to stage fresh series of 24-hour strikes and overtime ban, as RMT signals possible breakthrough

The train drivers’ union, Aslef, will stage a series of one-day strikes and call an overtime ban across England’s operating companies at the start of December, ratcheting up the national rail dispute again.

Drivers at each company will strike for 24 hours on dates between Saturday 2 and Friday 8 December, and will refuse to work overtime between Friday 1 and Saturday 9 December, causing more disruption for operators that rely on rest day working.

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‘We deserve our fair share’: state Labor leaders clash with federal government over infrastructure plan

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Albanese government move to make states pay at least 50% of new infrastructure project bills receives pushback from premiers

State Labor leaders are at odds with the Albanese government over its plan to split the cost of building nationally significant infrastructure.

On Tuesday, the federal minister for infrastructure and transport, Catherine King, announced it would no longer be “the default” for the federal government to pick up the bulk of the tab for new roads, rail and other major projects.

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Regional roads in dire state as Australian councils made to waste money on grants tribute signs: report

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Grattan Institute says Australia’s regional roads are a ‘dangerous disgrace’ due to paltry federal funding

Regional Australian roads have become a “dangerous disgrace”, according to a new report that warns they will get worse due to paltry funding that favours cities and forces poorer regional councils to waste repair money erecting signs in tribute to government grants.

In a new report, the Grattan Institute has found that roads across the country have become riddled with potholes and other hazards because inadequate federal and state government funding has left councils under-resourced and without sufficient knowledge or data to maintain the roads they are responsible for.

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‘Poverty pay’: travellers may soon face airport disruption as Virgin Australia crew close in on striking

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Transport Workers Union chief says ground crew and pilots fear ‘mistakes being made due to their unsustainable working conditions’

Travellers could be hit with unexpected disruptions as Virgin Australia’s cabin crew and ground workers close in on strike action over claims of “poverty pay” and “unsustainable” conditions.

On Monday, the Virgin cabin crew members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) will apply to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for a protected action ballot, which, if granted, means they can vote to take industrial action that they have been threatening to do over claims of “poverty pay, job insecurity and unsafe conditions”.

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As the federal government prepares to scrap road and rail projects – find out what is being funded in your area

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The government is backing hundreds of infrastructure projects across Australia, however some may now be cancelled due to cost overruns

The Australian government has committed to hundreds of infrastructure projects around the country, mostly road and rail projects.

However, as many as 250 projects that have yet to begin construction may be scrapped or delayed as a cost-saving measure to pay for at least $33bn in cost overruns.

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Air fares likely to stay stubbornly high as travel-hungry Australians’ tastes change

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Higher prices see the phenomenon of ‘revenge travel’ turn into a willingness to spend more on bigger trips, industry watchers say

International air fares are set to remain stubbornly high throughout the first half of next year, but the preferences of travel-hungry Australians are shifting.

After the broad reopening of borders by mid-2022, international airlines have largely enjoyed bumper profits by operating fewer flights than an average pre-pandemic year, all while Australians’ pent-up demand for travel meant they were able to charge eye-watering amounts for tickets.

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Flood warnings issued for south England amid heavy rain after Storm Ciarán

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Met Office issues yellow weather alert as heavy rain forecast to fall on already saturated ground

Heavy rain is forecast across south and south-west of England, with 38 flood warnings and 160 flooding alerts in place days after Storm Ciarán hit the UK.

Although Storm Ciarán has largely eased, the Met Office issued a yellow weather notice on Saturday to last until 11.59pm, stretching from Kent to Cornwall.

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Storm Ciarán: schools closed and travel disrupted in UK amid ‘danger to life’

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Amber warnings in place for wind across southern England with north Wales forecast to receive most rain

Winds of more than 70mph and heavy rain have hit parts of south-west and southern England as Storm Ciarán began to disrupt parts of the UK.

Hundreds of schools were shut, roads closed, flights and bus and rail routes affected, with “danger to life” amber warnings in place for wind across southern England.

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Ticket office U-turn ditches hated rail policy but where will savings come from now?

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Unpopular proposal for England came on back of crisis that has engulfed the industry in Britain since Covid hit

So, welcome back, ticket offices – not yet four months after their wholesale closure across England was announced by train operators. Back then rail executives breezily assured us that virtually no one bought an actual ticket from a person in an office: just for 13% of journeys, in an era of trains filled by happy smartphone users.

But then it turned out, according to the passenger watchdogs who compiled and analysed 750,000 responses to the public consultation, every single one of the 1,007 menaced offices needed to stay open after all. Transport Focus – independent, but not notable for outspoken condemnation of either industry or government – said serious concerns remained despite long discussions over the detail of options proposed by train operators to serve all passengers.

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Rail ticket office closures in England scrapped in government U-turn

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Watchdogs say they received 750,000 responses to consultation, 99% of which were objections

Plans to close railway station ticket offices in England have been scrapped, in a government U-turn.

The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the “government had asked train operators to withdraw their proposals”.

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Firebombing death of bus driver in Brisbane could have been avoided with better decisions, coroner finds

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Decision to discharge ‘low risk’ Anthony O’Donohue from mental health service in 2016 found to be ‘not satisfactory’

The firebombing death of a young bus driver “might not have occurred” if different decisions had been made about the care of the mental health patient who had been deemed “low risk” before killing him, Queensland’s state coroner has found.

Terry Ryan handed down his findings a day before the seventh anniversary of the death of Manmeet Sharma, a 29-year-old from India who had been working as a bus driver for the Brisbane city council for just three months.

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Dozens of homes to be eligible for free insulation to dull western Sydney airport sound

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Government draft environmental impact statement reveals thousands will be impacted by noise as loud as washing machine five or more times a day

Noise from the new western Sydney airport won’t force the acquisition of nearby properties, but dozens will be eligible for free home insulation to dull sound.

Only about 100 properties will be eligible for free insulation to dull the noise of 480 weekly flights out of western Sydney airport under a preliminary plan.

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TfL suspends tube driver who began ‘free Palestine’ chant

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Video footage posted online appeared to show a driver using the PA system to lead a chant with passengers

A tube driver who appeared to lead a chant of “free, free Palestine” on a train has been suspended while Transport for London investigates the incident.

TfL said it had identified the driver responsible for the incident on a central London service on Saturday, as about 100,000 protesters took part in a pro-Palestine demonstration and demanded an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

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Danger to life warnings issued for Retford as Storm Babet flood waters rise

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Major cleanup operations get under way in worst-hit areas after storm that left four people dead

Fresh danger-to-life flood warnings have been issued as water levels continued to rise in the wake of Storm Babet, while cleanup operations got under way in some of the worst-hit areas.

All weather warnings triggered by the storm had expired on Sunday morning, with drier and brighter weather forecast, but flooding was expected to last for days and two severe flood warnings, signalling danger to life, were later issued for Retford in Nottinghamshire.

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More Australians head back to the office and most prefer Thursday or Friday, study finds

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Exclusive: Transport Opinion Survey says in September workers spent 21% of their week working from home, down from 27% in March

As an increasing number of Australians favour the office over working from home, Friday has emerged as one of the most popular days to commute and be among colleagues, new research shows.

On average Australian workers spent just 21% – or between one and two days – of their work week at home during a two-week survey period in September, down from a corresponding data point of 27% in March. This is according to the latest Transport Opinion Survey conducted by the University of Sydney’s Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, based on data from 1,029 respondents, who were also asked about priorities and transport attitudes.

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England’s biggest cities should introduce congestion charges, says commission

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Government advisers say congested roads and inadequate public transport constrain economic growth

England’s biggest cities outside London should introduce some form of congestion charge to reduce car traffic and boost their economies, according to the National Infrastructure Commission.

The commission called on the government to invest £22bn into public transport in Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Leeds, warning that “congested roads and inadequate public transport … constrains their economic growth”.

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The £30bn question: will Tories embrace infrastructure report or stick with rhetoric?

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Sober assessment of UK failings from body set up by a Conservative chancellor poses ideological problem for government

The cost of upgrading the UK’s infrastructure to make it fit for the future is likely to be £30bn a year of public money, plus about £40bn-50bn a year of private sector investment, the National Infrastructure Commission has said.

That figure of £30bn is strikingly similar to the Labour party’s promised investment of £28bn a year to meet the UK’s net zero targets, shift the economy permanently to a low-carbon footing, and create new green jobs.

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Australia may increase standard car parking spaces as huge vehicles dominate the streets

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Critics say boom in sales of SUVs and dual-cab utes has been disastrous for safety and the environment – and car parks may be at risk of collapse

Parking spaces in Australia may soon become bigger as a response to the nation’s love affair with SUVs and large cars, but planners fear parking lots are at risk of collapse under the weight of increasingly enormous vehicles.

For the past few decades, the standard size for car spaces on streets and in parking lots has been 5.4 metres long and 2.4 to 2.6 metres wide – big enough to allow a Ford Falcon or Holden Commodore to park comfortably.

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Spanish rail firm planning London to Paris service to rival Eurostar

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Evolyn says route is ‘strategic and high demand’ and it intends to launch its first service in 2025

A Spanish rail company has announced plans to launch a Paris to London high-speed train service to rival Eurostar.

The company, Evolyn, said the route was “strategic and high demand” and that it intended to launch its first service in 2025. It had reached an agreement to buy 12 high-speed trains from the French manufacturer Alstom and had the option of acquiring four more, it added.

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Keir Starmer to promise new powers for all of England’s towns and cities

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Exclusive: Labour leader to pledge biggest expansion of devolution since party was last in power

A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, deliver thousands of new homes and create high-quality jobs, Keir Starmer will announce.

In the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power, he will pledge that councils and combined authorities would get more control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport of the kind currently held by London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.

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