Category Archives: Transport

Passengers trapped on cold, dark trains as travel chaos hits west London

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Faulty electric cables cause hours of disruption for passengers and many people are still trapped onboard trains

Hundreds of passengers have been stuck on cold, dark trains in west London for hours as travellers suffered significant delays due to damaged overhead electric cables.

All trains have been stopped between London Paddington and Reading, Network Rail Western confirmed. Great Western Railway said disruption was expected on the London Paddington to Reading line until the end of Thursday. The disruption also affects the Elizabeth line.

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TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over summer

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Regulator says figures show much of Britain’s railway is ‘still not delivering reliable journeys’

TransPennine Express cancelled more than one in eight trains over the summer, according to figures that show much of Britain’s railway is “still not delivering reliable journeys”.

Nationally, fewer than seven in 10 trains ran on time and 3.5% of trains were cancelled on the day between 1 July and 30 September, which was slightly better than the same period last year, figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) showed.

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Electric plane set to deliver mail across New Zealand in decarbonisation push

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Air New Zealand says using the ALIA electric cargo plane to deliver parcels will help plot route towards zero-emissions passenger flights in a ‘new age of propulsion’

Parcels and letters will soon be distributed by electric aircraft between regions of New Zealand as the sparsely populated country embarks on a “new age of propulsion” in its attempts to decarbonise its reliance on aviation.

On Wednesday, Air New Zealand announced it had purchased a battery-powered, all-electric five seater cargo aircraft, which will be put to use running mail between airports with New Zealand’s postal service from 2026.

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Cumbria police declare major incident after heavy snowfall

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Drivers urged not to make unnecessary journeys as cars stuck in traffic and some roads impassable

Cumbria police have declared a major incident and warned against unnecessary journeys after heavy snowfall on the county’s roads, as freezing conditions hit the UK.

Police said a “multi-agency response” is under way, with reports of cars stuck in traffic and some roads in the South Lakes area impassable due to the snow.

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Rail strikes: passengers face weekend of disruption in England

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No trains will run on East Midlands and LNER services from London to Scotland will have a limited service

Rail passengers face severe disruption this weekend as two 24-hour strikes by train drivers from different companies halt many long-distance routes.

Saturday’s strikes by members of the Aslef union at LNER and East Midlands kick off a series of similar actions running until Friday, while an overtime ban across all operators in England will also hit services nationwide until next weekend. The action will also affect some cross-border services into Scotland and Wales.

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‘A tsunami of traffic chaos’: the new Sydney motorway prompting calls for a royal commission

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Top expert says bungled opening of Rozelle interchange is bad enough to warrant a formal inquiry into the $20bn WestConnex project

Sydneysiders had been promised “nirvana” would be delivered by the $20bn WestConnex motorway so they are rightly bemused – if not bitter – about how they seem to have ended up in the other place.

The bungled opening of the final stage of WestConnex, the Rozelle interchange, is bad enough that veteran transport experts such as Michelle Zeibots at the University of Technology Sydney say only a royal commission can open the lid on how such debacles can happen.

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Lab tests v the real world: how does the fuel consumption of Australian SUVs compare?

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The Australian Automotive Association has found some SUVs use up to 13% more fuel on the road than reported in laboratory tests. Is your vehicle underperforming?

A real-world testing program at the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has shown that some SUVs have much better fuel consumption than others.

The program, which compares the fuel consumption and emissions of vehicles in Australian driving conditions with each vehicle’s laboratory test result, showed some SUVs used up to 13% more fuel on the road than reported in laboratory tests.

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At least 33% of women suffer sexual offences while commuting, BTP finds

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British Transport Police survey respondents said most incidents took place during evening rush hour

Over a third of women have been subjected to sexual harassment or sexual offences while commuting by train or tube, according to a survey commissioned by British Transport Police (BTP).

It found that 51% of those who have been victims of sexual offending said that other passengers tried to help them, however, only 18% of people who witnessed an incident reported it to police.

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Melbourne has waited decades for an airport train. But is a federal funding commitment enough to get it done?

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Unlike governments interstate, Jacinta Allan was uncharacteristically subdued about Canberra’s funding review

Throughout her decades in politics, Jacinta Allan hasn’t been afraid to pick a fight with the federal government – no matter which party was in power.

But on Thursday, when the Albanese government announced it would cut $4.8bn worth of infrastructure funding in Victoria after a months-long review, the premier was uncharacteristically subdued.

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Flight delay compensation would stop Australian airlines from acting like a ‘mafia of the skies’, MP says

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Exclusive: Independent MP Monique Ryan ramps up calls for proposed scheme after Sydney airport CEO accuses airlines of ‘slot hoarding’

Australian airlines are acting like a “mafia of the sky” in continuing to strategically cancel flights they never intended to operate, an MP has claimed, arguing for the urgent introduction of compensation laws so carriers are deterred by immediate penalties.

Monique Ryan, the independent member for Kooyong in Melbourne, has ramped up her calls for a mandatory compensation scheme for airline passengers, saying allegations levelled by Sydney airport this week showed such laws were needed as a matter of urgency and could not wait until the government’s aviation white paper, which is due by the middle of next year.

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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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