Category Archives: Transport

Britons face another day of disruptions as train crews stage strike

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Most networks will have limited service as RMT members at 14 companies in England walk out

Passengers faced a second day of disruption on Britain’s railways on Saturday as the union leader Mick Lynch insisted the 24-hour strike had not targeted the Eurovision song contest.

Train crews are staging another 24-hour strike, immediately after Friday’s action by drivers, disrupting people travelling to Liverpool for the Eurovision final, as well as National League football fans heading to Wembley in London.

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State to take control of TransPennine Express after ongoing poor service

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Northern rail network to be run by state-owned operator of last resort when contract expires on 28 May

TransPennine Express (TPE) is to be run by the state after ministers announced that the failing rail company would not have its contract renewed.

The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said the northern rail network would be run by the state-owned operator of last resort after passengers experienced disruption, cancellations and a significant decline in the extent and reliability of the service.

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Archbishop of Canterbury’s attack on illegal migration bill ‘wrong on both counts’, says minister – as it happened

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Justin Welby says bill is ‘morally unacceptable’ and rules on protection of refugees are not ‘inconvenient obstructions’. This live blog is closed

In the House of Lords peers are just starting to debate the second reading of the illegal migration bill.

Simon Murray, aka Lord Murray of Blidworth, is opening the debate. He is a lawyer who was made a Home Office minister, and a peer, when Liz Truss was PM.

We now face a perfect storm of factors driving more people into homelessness while giving us fewer good options to help them when they do. These factors include soaring private rents (above the benefit cap), private landlords leaving the sector, a national shortage of affordable housing, and a backlog of court cases after Covid-relating housing support was removed. At the same time, we have a cost-of-living crisis which is reducing real-term incomes and putting further strain on relationships.

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Birmingham airport had longest delays in UK last year

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Passengers faced average 30-minute wait, slightly worse than Manchester during 2022’s travel chaos

Passengers flying from Birmingham airport experienced the longest delays in the UK last year, official figures show.

Flight departures from Birmingham were on average half an hour behind schedule in 2022, marginally worse than Manchester, in a year marked by chaos for travellers.

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National Trust criticised for plans to build Peak District’s biggest car park

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Heritage body wants to build 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park despite net zero by 2030 pledge

The National Trust has been criticised for its “car-dependent business model” after revealing plans to build the Peak District’s biggest car park while pledging to be net carbon zero by 2030.

The heritage body wants to build a 1,065-space car park at Lyme Park, a stately home set in 560 hectares (1,400 acres) on the fringes of the national park, just outside Greater Manchester.

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Heathrow remains loss-making despite rise in passenger numbers

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Airport says people will be able to ‘travel as normal’ in peak period around coronation despite strike

Heathrow airport has warned that it is still loss-making, even as it continues to be Europe’s busiest airport, welcoming almost 17 million passengers in the first three months of the year.

The airport also said that passengers would be able to “travel as normal” during the peak getaway period around the coronation of King Charles III, taking place on 6 May, despite a fresh planned strike by security staff.

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Eurostar urged to carry adrenaline injectors in first-aid kit after medical alert

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A doctor was shocked to find no anti-allergy pens on board the train, though operator says law forbids it at present

A junior doctor is calling for lifesaving adrenaline auto-injectors to be carried on Eurostar after caring for a young child who suffered an allergic reaction on the service.

Dr Raphaelle Debray, 26, who is French and works for the NHS, was en route to Paris when she responded to an appeal for a doctor. She requested the onboard medical kit and found it contained only some plasters and a defibrillator. In contrast, international guidelines state that commercial airlines should carry emergency medical kits, with equipment and medication including adrenaline. British Airways and easyJet said they carried adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) on all flights.

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Strikes at Heathrow could disrupt travel to UK for King Charles’s coronation

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Action by Terminal 5 security guards to take place on 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 25, 26 and 27 May in dispute over pay


Security staff at Heathrow airport are to strike on eight days next month in a dispute over pay.

The action by members of the Unite union will take place on 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 25, 26 and 27 May, and follow strikes over Easter.

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Australia’s coming national electric vehicle strategy will be ‘quite ambitious’, experts say

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Chris Bowen is expected to introduce an EV and vehicle fuel efficiency standards policy next week

Australia’s long-awaited national electric vehicle strategy is expected to be released next week, finally detailing the introduction of pollution standards that should accelerate the uptake of electric cars.

Industry sources say the federal climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, will release the strategy ahead of an event in western Sydney on Wednesday.

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Inland rail review supports concerns raised by regional communities

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Wagga Wagga and other towns on the inland rail route have been asking for a bypass and say that is supported by Dr Kerry Schott’s review

Communities along the inland rail have welcomed Dr Kerry Schott’s damning review into the National party’s key infrastructure project, saying they have felt dismissed for years over concerns around the route selection, traffic disruption and noise.

Schott’s long-awaited report found “astonishing” cost blowouts in the 1,700km line, now estimated to cost more than $31bn.

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Rishi Sunak scraps plans for new smart motorways in England

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Fourteen smart motorways removed from government road-building plans over cost and safety fears

The building of new smart motorways is being cancelled as Rishi Sunak acknowledged concerns about safety and cost.

Fourteen planned smart motorways – including 11 that are already paused and three earmarked for construction – will be removed from government road-building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the lack of public trust.

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EU motorist fined almost £11,000 after falling foul of London Ulez rule

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French hire car met emissions standard but had not been registered with TfL, resulting in penalty notices

A motorist was fined nearly £11,000 for driving his French rental car in London’s ultra-low emission zone on a three-day trip to the UK, despite the fact the vehicle met the environmental standards to enter the Ulez for nothing.

Christian Ducarre received four penalty charge notices (PCNs) after falling foul of a little-known requirement under which foreign vehicles must be registered with Transport for London (TfL) or else be deemed non-compliant by default.

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Cheap flights, Brexit, now Dover chaos – is this the end of the road for continental coach tours?

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While many operators still ply the cross-Channel route, some businesses are focusing instead on domestic trips

It was once the staple for group travel abroad, favoured by school trips and touring retirees alike, but it now looks like Britain could be falling out of love with the continental coach journey.

Many are likely to have been put off for life by chaos at Dover, as people try to get away for the Easter holiday. An estimated 20,000 people got caught up in gridlock last weekend alone after delays in border processing that forced vehicles to queue for up to 14 hours.

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Pat Dodson takes leave from Senate – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Former Tasmanian Liberal premier condemns party’s opposition to voice

Tasmania is the last Liberal state government left in the country and its former premier has taken to social media this morning to speak out against the federal party’s decision to oppose the voice to parliament.

Should the Liberal party maintain its opposition to the voice it will simply accelerate its increasing irrelevance.

I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.

I will no longer be using TikTok.

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‘Astonishing’: cost of Inland Rail doubles to $30bn as review savages Coalition over project

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Dr Kerry Schott warns she is not confident her assessment captures the full extent of cost blowouts and delays

The predicted price tag of the Inland Rail megaproject has almost doubled in two years to more than $30bn, as an independent review savages the former Coalition government’s handling of the plan.

In her independent review of the Inland Rail, commissioned by the Albanese government last year and released on Thursday, Dr Kerry Schott also flagged further delivery delays of at least four years.

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Wreckage of plane carrying pilot and his pregnant wife found in central Queensland

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Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife, Maree, were on their way to visit family when their Piper Cherokee crashed

A man and his pregnant wife have been found dead after their plane crashed during a heavy storm in central Queensland.

Stockman Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife, Maree, were on their way to visit family when their Piper Cherokee crashed in the Mount Hector Range south of Proserpine on Sunday.

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Thousands queue at Dover for second day as Braverman accused of denial

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Home secretary says Brexit did not cause chaos seen at port as angry customers see trips cancelled

Thousands of people have faced a second day stuck in queues at Dover, as Suella Braverman denied post-Brexit checks were to blame for the chaos.

Despite extra sailings put in place overnight on Saturday, P&O Ferries said on Sunday afternoon that coaches arriving at cruise terminal 1 would likely face a total wait of over 10 hours.

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‘Gutted and livid’: parents vent anger over children caught in Dover chaos

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Families of pupils whose foreign trips were cancelled owing to the delays blame border staff, Brexit and ferry companies

Among those angered by the delays at Dover were parents of children setting off on school trips who had to wait for hours on coaches, in some cases only to have to turn back.

Nicola Eslick, 51, from Brighton, pointed the finger at those in charge of border controls after her 14-year-old son had his school trip cancelled on Sunday morning as a result of the chaos at Dover, approximately 14 hours after departing.

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Port of Dover adds overnight sailings to help clear severe coach backlog

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School holiday delays of up to 14 hours blamed on ‘French border processes and sheer volume’

Extra sailings are to run overnight at the Port of Dover to try to clear a backlog that left passengers stuck in Easter school-holiday traffic for hours on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the port, which declared a critical incident on Friday, said it was hoping to clear the backlog by lunchtime on Sunday as some travellers said they had been held up for 14 hours.

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NSW transport minister announces investigation into ‘serious problems’ on Sydney trains

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‘What I have learned alarms me,’ says Labor’s Jo Haylen but she insists independent inquiry will not be a ‘witch-hunt’

An independent investigation into repeated failings on Sydney’s train network will be launched by the New South Wales Labor government, but the state’s new transport minister insists it will not be a “witch-hunt”.

Jo Haylen said the dire state of the state’s heavy rail system had been laid bare in the urgent briefings she received in the days since being sworn in.

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