Category Archives: Transport

European governments shrinking railways in favour of road-building, report finds

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Rail networks in most countries have been starved of funding while motorways lengthen, study shows

European governments have “systematically” shrunk their railways and starved them of funding while pouring money into expanding their road network, a report has found.

The length of motorways in Europe grew 60% between 1995 and 2020 while railways shrank 6.5%, according to research from the German thinktanks Wuppertal Institute and T3 Transportation. For every €1 governments spent building railways, they spent €1.6 building roads.

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Flights cancelled at Gatwick after short-notice staff absences

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Temporary air traffic control restrictions led to 22 flights being cancelled and others diverted

Flights have been cancelled, delayed and rerouted at Gatwick due to short-notice staff absences in the air traffic control team, the airport has said.

The transport hub in West Sussex has apologised to those affected by the temporary air traffic control restrictions enforced on Thursday evening which led to 22 flights being cancelled.

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HS2 at risk of further cuts to route north of Birmingham amid budget squeeze

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Fresh uncertainty for high-speed line as leak suggests Sunak and Hunt have discussed cost implications of Manchester phase

The HS2 high-speed rail line is at risk of further cuts to its route north of Birmingham as the government considers whether it can afford high-cost projects in advance of the autumn budget.

The project has been mired in fresh uncertainty after the prime minister’s spokesperson refused to guarantee on Thursday it would run to Manchester, after publication of a photographed document suggesting further cuts were under discussion.

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‘Find a spot on the floor’: overcrowding complaints grow as Victorians take advantage of rail fare cap

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V/Line passengers are used to delays, slow journeys and rail-replacement buses. Now they face a new challenge: finding a seat

Travelling by train to Melbourne from her home in regional Victoria, Rhona Rose says she has grown accustomed to long delays, slow and bumpy journeys, and the dreaded rail-replacement bus.

But since the government capped the price of V/Line tickets at $9.20 a day, she has begun to face an entirely new challenge: finding a seat.

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Seatbelt camera glitch: hundreds of Queensland drivers had licences taken away by mistake

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Design fault blamed for drivers, who were caught with a passenger breaking seatbelt laws, being issued double demerit points

A design fault in Queensland’s mobile phone and seatbelt cameras led to almost 2,000 people being incorrectly fined and more than 600 drivers losing their licence.

Transport minister Mark Bailey said he was made aware of the issue on Wednesday, with his department requesting urgent legal advice.

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Australia politics live: Kylea Tink calls out ‘overly aggressive and personalised’ question time debate

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If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here

The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.

I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.

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Ignoring call to halt new airports would be ‘electoral carnage’, Sunak warned

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Campaigners speak out amid suggestion government could reject Climate Change Committee’s advice

Rishi Sunak faces “electoral carnage” if the government rejects its climate advisers’ recommendations on halting airport expansion, a coalition of community groups have warned.

The prospect of a renewed political battle around airport growth in various parts of England has been reignited amid concern from campaigners at suggestions the government could reject the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) advice that all such expansions must be halted.

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‘Only at Qantas’: workers express disbelief at CEO Alan Joyce’s $10m share windfall

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Unions say bonus payments, revealed to the ASX on Friday, ‘reward management for short-term thinking and cost cutting’

The unions representing Qantas workers have reacted incredulously to the news outgoing CEO Alan Joyce has pocketed more than $10m in shares for meeting the company’s Covid-19 goals.

On Friday Qantas announced to the ASX that Joyce had received 1.74m shares, valued at just over $10m, under the company’s long-term incentive and Covid recovery retention plans. Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson, Joyce’s likely successor, also took home $2m worth.

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Covid cycling boom has ended with just one-third of Australians riding in 2023

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Riding most popular in Victoria and the Northern Territory with Tasmania at the bottom of the pile, new survey suggests

A pandemic bicycle boom has faded, with the latest statistics showing many people feel it is too dangerous to ride on Australian roads.

There has been a steady decline in people cycling at least once during a 12-month period over the past decade, from about 40% in 2011 down to 34.2% in 2017.

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Gatwick passenger numbers soar as strikes hit flight punctuality

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Demand for travel results in 41% rise but air traffic control industrial action across Europe affects timings

Passenger numbers at Gatwick airport soared to 19 million during the first six months of the year, according to its operator, although air traffic control strikes across Europe contributed to an increase in delayed departures and landings.

Demand for travel resulted in 41% more passengers travelling through the airport between January and June compared with 2022 – when Covid restrictions were still in place – Gatwick said as it released half-year results.

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Tories accused of hypocrisy in Ulez row after call to extend congestion charge

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Ministers have claimed Ulez is cash-raising ploy – but letter reveals Grant Shapps backed a separate charge for same reason

Ministers have been accused of hypocrisy in claiming Sadiq Khan expanded London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to raise revenue after it emerged the Department for Transport urged the mayor to extend the city’s congestion charge for the same reason.

On the first day of Ulez covering every London borough there was renewed bickering between the Labour mayor and the government, with Khan castigating Mark Harper, the transport secretary, for what he called factual mistakes after the pair crossed paths at a TV studio.

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Network Rail axes bonuses for union members who strike

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Move is likely to further sour relations after months of industrial action over pay dispute

Network Rail has withheld annual bonuses from its union members who took part in strikes, in a move that threatens to further sour industrial relations.

The state-owned railway infrastructure manager settled the pay dispute with its workforce in March this year, after RMT members voted to accept a rise worth 9% over two years.

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Clean air ‘a right not a privilege’, says London mayor as Ulez is expanded

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Sadiq Khan defends expansion of ultra-low emission zone as government continues to criticise it

Clean air is “a right not a privilege”, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said as the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded to include the outer boroughs of London.

People who drive in the zone in a vehicle that does not meet minimum emissions standards are required to pay a £12.50 daily fee or risk a £180 fine, reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.

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Air passengers face further delays after UK air traffic control failure

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Transport minister rules out cyber-attack after hundreds of flights to and from the UK cancelled

Flight passengers will be affected by UK air traffic control failures for days, the transport secretary has warned as he urged airlines to step up and fulfil their responsibilities to passengers.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mark Harper said National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which provides the air traffic control systems in the UK, had apologised for the disruption, adding: “I’d like to add my apology to that.”

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Government to use Ulez expansion to attack Labour over ‘war on motorists’

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Ministers hope anti-green message will impress voters, as London mayor says he is ‘a doer, not a delayer’

The government is to use the expansion of London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to go on the attack over what it has called “Labour’s war on motorists”, part of a wider battle against green policies it hopes could prove popular with voters.

With the extension of the clean air scheme to every London borough beginning at midnight on Monday, Sadiq Khan, the capital’s Labour mayor, said that while the decision was difficult, the devastating health effects of toxic exhausts trumped other considerations.

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Issue with UK air traffic control system ‘identified and remedied’ but thousands still face major delays after fault – as it happened

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National air traffic services say they have fixed the issue that has caused a network-wide failure but significant flights backlog remains

Here are some photos from Heathrow airport after a network failure caused issues with UK air traffic control, leading to major delays.

The Liberal Democrats have said the prime minister should call a Cobra meeting after a technical fault hit air traffic control in the UK.

Rishi Sunak and his ministers need to get a grip on this issue urgently and hold a Cobra meeting.

Millions of holidaymakers could be facing huge disruption in the coming days due to this fault and we can’t risk this government being missing in action yet again.

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Five key moments from Qantas boss Alan Joyce’s Senate grilling

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Outgoing CEO faces fiery questions on the airline’s credibility, executive pay and ‘hoarding’ of flight slots

Alan Joyce has refused to answer questions related to his lobbying efforts, while delivering combative responses to allegations of Qantas misconduct, as he was grilled by a Senate committee on Monday.

At an explosive public hearing of the select committee on the cost of living, which Joyce had to be summonsed to after repeatedly refusing to appear, the outgoing Qantas chief executive defended the record $2.47bn full-year profit he announced just days earlier.

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Public consultation ‘overwhelmingly’ supports fuel efficiency standard for cars, Labor says

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Chris Bowen says the standard is needed to improve access to cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars in Australia

The Albanese government’s promise to introduce a fuel efficiency standard for cars has been “overwhelmingly” supported by a public consultation process, Labor says.

Labor will now complete an impact analysis and release details of its preferred model for a standard “before the end of this year”.

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Australia news live: Federation Square axed as Women’s World Cup live site after fan misbehaviour

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Melbourne lord mayor threatens to cancel Federation Square viewing site due to rowdy behaviour of small group of ‘idiots’

And sticking with the flares, Melbourne’s lord mayor, Sally Capp, has threatened to cancel the live viewing site at Federation square due to the rowdy behaviour of a small group of supporters.

If we could find those idiots and make sure they don’t attend, then Fed Square will be going off again, but unfortunately sometimes the few ruin it for the rest of us.

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Rail fare rises in England will not exceed 9% inflation figure in 2024

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Government confirms ticket price rises will be delayed until March and will be below retail prices index

Rail fare rises in England will not exceed 9% next year and will be delayed until March, the government has said.

Ticket costs used to increase in January in line with inflation as measured by the retail prices index over the 12 months to the previous July. On Wednesday the Office for National Statistics revealed last month’s RPI rate was 9%.

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