Category Archives: Transport

NSW premier casts doubt on key Metro West line in Sydney, saying he won’t let it ‘destroy the budget’

Posted on by

Chris Minns stands firm in refusing to commit to rail project as Labor claims costs will blow out by $17bn

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has continued to cast doubt over the future of a key metro line connecting Sydney’s western suburbs with the east, as he insists he won’t let the project’s ballooning bill “destroy the budget”.

On Wednesday morning, Minns stood firm in his resistance to committing to the Metro West project as he awaits the findings of a review into the line which he claims has seen costs overrun by $17bn to a total of $25bn.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

MPs launch inquiry into prosecution of Norton Motorcycles pension fraud

Posted on by

Regulators to be asked about how £10m scam was investigated, as Guardian Today in Focus podcast raises fresh questions about case

Financial regulators are to be summoned to parliament to explain how they prosecuted the case of a multimillion-pound pensions fraud whose victims have yet to receive compensation and which has not led to anyone serving prison time.

Sir Stephen Timms MP, chair of the work and pensions committee, said he was launching an inquiry into how watchdogs and prosecutors handled the case, in which £10m of pension savings disappeared after being invested in the heritage brand Norton Motorcycles.

Continue reading...

Three-hour delays at Dover as bad weather and train strikes hit summer getaway

Posted on by

Saturday expected to be busiest day for travel this year as millions take to UK’s roads, airports and ports

Holidaymakers face delays of up to three hours at the Port of Dover as poor weather and train strikes hit Britain’s summer getaway.

Saturday is predicted to be the year’s busiest day for travel after schools in England and Wales broke up for the six-week summer holiday. Abta, the travel association, said more than 2 million UK holidaymakers will head overseas this weekend.

Continue reading...

Heathrow failed to meet minimum accessibility standards, CAA report finds

Posted on by

Airport only one to be rated as ‘poor’ and ‘needs improvement’ over all four quarters in year to March

Heathrow failed to meet the minimum accessibility standards for disabled passengers in the year to March, the sector’s regulator has said.

The airport was the only one in the UK to be rated as “poor” and “needs improvement” by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over all four quarters in the period, according to the report.

Continue reading...

‘A bit disturbing’: investigations launched after freight train collides with excavator in Brisbane

Posted on by

Aurizon confirms driver was not injured in crash at Fairfield station on Saturday night

Rail regulators are investigating whether laws were breached during a “serious” train crash in Brisbane, after a freight train ploughed into an excavator at Fairfield station on the weekend.

The rail line was completely closed for 12 hours to accommodate works on Cross River Rail on Saturday.

Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning

Continue reading...

Rural bus services hit new low after losing out on post-Covid funding

Posted on by

More than a quarter of routes in English county and rural areas have been lost over 10 years

Endangered rural bus services have dwindled to a new low after losing out on funding after the pandemic, analysis for councils has shown.

More than a quarter of routes in county and rural areas of England have been lost in the past decade, with passenger numbers falling sharply.

Continue reading...

RMT leader says government has not contacted him since January

Posted on by

Mick Lynch downplays prospects of a resolution to dispute over pay, jobs and conditions

The RMT leader, Mick Lynch, has claimed he has not met a government minister since January as he downplayed prospects of a resolution to the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The next strike by members of the of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union takes place on Thursday, with strikes also scheduled for Saturday and 29 July.

Continue reading...

Pro-LTN councillors do not suffer at ballot box, research suggests

Posted on by

Voicing support for traffic schemes has no statistically significant effect on re-election chances, study finds

Councillors who publicly declare support for low-traffic neighbourhoods do not suffer at the polls as a result, research suggests, indicating that the schemes might not be as politically divisive as is often believed.

The study also indicates that local politicians who openly express displeasure about LTNs do not suffer consequences in elections, although Labour councillors may benefit from a slightly positive effect.

Continue reading...

HS2 chief executive resigns from delayed and scaled-back rail project

Posted on by

Mark Thurston to leave government-owned company as construction moves ‘into an exciting new stage’

The chief executive of the HS2 railway has resigned amid severe delays and soaring costs that have seen the project scaled back.

Mark Thurston announced on Wednesday he would be departing the government-owned company at the end of September after six and a half years at the helm – making him the firm’s longest serving chief executive.

Continue reading...

London Underground train drivers to join strikes in late July

Posted on by

Aslef union announces industrial action on 26 and 28 July to coincide with tube strike by RMT members

London Underground drivers will strike on Wednesday 26 July and Friday 28 July in a dispute over pensions and working conditions, the Aslef union has announced.

The latest industrial action will coincide with previously announced strikes by RMT members who work on the capital’s tube network, causing more disruption for commuters and tourists.

Continue reading...

London Underground staff to take week of industrial action at end of July

Posted on by

‘Rolling action’ by RMT members between 23 and 28 July likely to cause widespread disruption across capital

London Underground staff will take industrial action over a week at the end of July, spelling widespread transport disruption in the capital.

Members of the RMT union will take “rolling action” between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July. The RMT said there would be no strike on Monday 24, with staff in different sections and grades halting work on different shifts on each of the other days.

Continue reading...

Carmakers double spending on ads in Australia for SUVs and utes

Posted on by

Exclusive: Data shows huge jump in promotion and an 80% increase in sales of larger and more polluting vehicles, leading to calls for ban on ads

Carmakers have doubled how much they spend advertising SUVs and utes to Australians over the past decade, which has coincided with surging uptake of larger cars, triggering calls for a ban on advertising the highest polluting vehicles.

Advertising spends for SUVs and light commercial vehicles – a category which includes four-wheel drive utes – jumped from about $100m in 2010 to about $197m in 2022, according to analysis of digital, television, outdoor, radio, cinema and print advertising compiled by climate advocacy group Comms Declare.

Continue reading...

Time to worry about car tyre pollution, Chris Whitty tells MPs

Posted on by

Chief medical officer says move to electric cars can reduce impact of exhausts, but may bring different problem to the fore

Ministers need to start looking seriously at the health risks from vehicle tyre wear as the impact of pollutants from car exhausts gradually reduces, Sir Chris Whitty has told MPs.

Giving evidence to the environmental audit committee, England’s chief medical officer said improvements in emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles, and a shift towards electric cars, were reducing the extent of dangerous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides.

Continue reading...

Court hears councils’ legal challenge over London Ulez expansion

Posted on by

Five Tory-led councils seeking to block mayor’s plans to extend ultra-low emission zone to whole of capital

A legal challenge to plans to expand London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to the whole of the capital will be heard in the high court on Tuesday as five Conservative-led councils seek to block the proposals.

The Ulez is due to expand at the end of August from the boundary of the north and south circular roads to throughout Greater London, requiring drivers of the most polluting vehicles to pay a fee when using them in the area.

Continue reading...

UK airports say they can reach net zero and still expand. Is it just pie in the sky?

Posted on by

Despite the Climate Change Committee’s warnings to stop growing capacity, Gatwick is gearing up for another try at a second runway

So what bit of “no new airport capacity” did airports not understand? The Climate Change Committee (CCC) spelled it out again on Wednesday: flying accounted for 7% of UK carbon emissions last year, the trend is upwards, and more airport capacity is “incompatible” with national net zero targets.

Of course, they’ve said it before: but as the committee noted in its 2023 progress report, airports have since have been racing to expand. This time, hammering it home, the CCC says that no expansion at all should go ahead until the government sorts out a proper way to manage it.

Continue reading...

Strong winds cause travel chaos in Sydney as passengers hospitalised after ‘severe turbulence’ on Hawaii flight

Posted on by

Airlines warn of disruptions as Sydney airport braces for single runway operations for a second day due to worsening conditions

Strong winds in Sydney continued to cause chaos for holiday travel plans around Australia on Saturday, while passengers have been hospitalised after “severe turbulence” on a flight arriving from Honolulu.

Airlines were warning of flight disruptions on Saturday morning, as they braced for one of Sydney airport’s runways to be closed for the second time in as many days after a warning from air traffic controllers of worsening winds.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Councils in England hit by ‘unsustainable’ £450m bill for free bus passes

Posted on by

LGA says services being put at risk by huge cost and calls way Whitehall funds scheme not fit for purpose

Councils in England are being hit by a “completely unsustainable” annual bill of more than £450m to prop up the free bus pass scheme, according to an analysis.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which calculated the figure, said the enormous cost was putting services at risk.

Continue reading...

Boy died in bus collision after friend unlocked e-scooter, inquest told

Posted on by

Family calls for more restrictions on underage access to electric scooters after Mustafa Nadeem was killed last December

A 12-year-old boy was killed while riding a hired Voi e-scooter unlocked by a 14-year-old friend using their father’s account, an inquest has heard, as his family called for stricter measures to prevent children using loopholes to access them.

Mustafa Nadeem suffered fatal injuries when he rode an e-scooter along the pavement and accidentally collided with a pedestrian causing him to fall on the road into the path of a bus in Birmingham on 6 December last year.

Continue reading...

Western Sydney airport flight paths reveal suburbs to face vacuum-level noise 100 times a day by 2040

Posted on by

Modelling along planned flight paths suggest zones will be subject to noise pollution in excess of 70db, or washing machine-level

A 20km stretch of land surrounding the future western Sydney airport will be subjected to noise levels similar to or louder than a washing machine or vacuum cleaner more than 100 times a day by 2040, preliminary flight path analysis shows.

Proposed flight paths released on Tuesday have been designed to avoid areas either currently or projected to be densely populated in coming decades, ahead of the airport beginning operations in late 2026.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Fast-growing BYD launches Dolphin EV, Australia’s cheapest electric car. Here’s how it compares

Posted on by

Latest vehicle from Build Your Dreams, which in less than a year has become the counry’s second-biggest electric vehicle seller, has a starting price of $38,890

Many Australians haven’t heard of BYD, the Chinese brand now selling the country’s cheapest new electric car.

BYD, or Build Your Dreams, is the biggest threat to Tesla globally and has garnered a cult-like following that’s translating to sales success locally.

Continue reading...