Category Archives: Transport

Johnson urged to back £3.5bn plan to overhaul railways in Midlands

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Plan aims to boost speed and frequency of existing trains and introduce new services

Politicians and businesses in the Midlands have urged the prime minister to back a £3.5bn plan to overhaul the region’s railways with “long-overdue investment” in better connections between its cities.

Following the success of Transport for the North in securing Boris Johnson’s support for parts of its strategic plan, including significant rail investment, a coalition of local authorities, universities and companies is hoping for a similar endorsement for the Midlands Engine Rail scheme, which would be integrated with HS2 to directly benefit 60 towns and cities in the region.

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Gove watches no-deal Brexit practice run in Port of Calais

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New systems to ensure smooth transit of goods are tested in France before UK’s exit from EU

The Port of Calais has staged a no-deal Brexit rehearsal to test new systems ahead of the UK’s anticipated departure from the EU on 31 October. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal planning, witnessed the practice run during a visit to France on Friday afternoon.

Related: Rebel MPs confident they have time to stop no-deal Brexit

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Passenger plane in near-miss with drone at Gatwick airport

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Pilot of Airbus A320 aircraft with up to 186 passengers was forced to take avoiding action

An airliner carrying up to 186 passengers was forced to take avoiding action after a drone was spotted, a near-miss report has revealed.

The incident involved an Airbus A320 approaching Gatwick airport and a dark-coloured drone, the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) said.

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Jet2 plane diverted to Porto after pilot falls ill at the controls

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Flight from Manchester to Madeira rerouted amid reports a passenger assisted landing

A pilot fell ill at the controls of an aeroplane flying from Manchester to the Atlantic island of Madeira, forcing the flight to be diverted to northern Portugal.

The airline, Jet2, confirmed that the aircraft had to land in Porto on Monday, adding that a replacement aircraft and crew had been dispatched to get passengers to their proper destination.

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Boy aged 12 dies from injuries after electric shock on railway track

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Police say boy died on Saturday night, a week after coming into contact with power lines

A boy injured when he came into contact with overhead power lines on a railway track a week ago has died.

The 12-year-old was being treated for severe electric shock after the incident in Glasgow last Sunday. He died in hospital on Saturday night, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

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MPs call for tougher penalties on drivers using mobile phones

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Committee says ban on hands-free use should be considered amid rise in road deaths

Tougher restrictions on drivers using mobile phones, including extending the ban to hands-free devices, should be considered, MPs have said.

The transport select committee said using any type of mobile phone while driving had potentially catastrophic consequences. The MPs called for more severe penalties “commensurate with the risks”, as road deaths linked to phone use have risen steadily over the past decade.

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UK energy watchdog demands answers after major power cut

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Outage caused travel chaos and cut electricity to almost 1m people in England and Wales

The energy watchdog, Ofgem, is demanding answers from the National Grid after a power cut left people stuck in trains for up to nine hours and cut electricity to almost 1 million people in England and Wales.

The biggest power outage in a decade caused widespread disruption on the rail network during the evening rush hour on Friday. Traffic light systems stopped working, causing gridlock in some areas, and Newcastle airport was left in darkness. Power had been restored to 900,000 customers by Saturday, but the rail network was struggling to get services back to normal.

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Transport chaos across England and Wales after major power cuts

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Failure on National Grid network affects train services and road users

Large parts of England and Wales have been left without electricity following a major power cut, electricity network operators have said, with a serious impact reported on rail and road services, including city traffic lights.

Passengers were shut out of some of the country’s busiest train stations during the Friday evening rush hour, while hundreds of thousands of homes were left without electricity after what the National Grid described as a problem with two generators.

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Secret report reveals government fear of schools chaos after no-deal Brexit

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Risk of axed exams and food shortages, while informing the public ‘may cause panic’

Schools may have to close, exams could be disrupted and fresh food for pupils’ meals could run short because of panic buying with prices soaring by up to 20%, according to a secret Department for Education analysis of the risks of a no-deal Brexit obtained by the Observer.

The five-page document – marked “Official Sensitive” and with the instruction “Do Not Circulate” – also raises the possibility of teacher absences caused by travel disruption, citing schools in Kent as particularly at risk.

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Boris Johnson appoints arch-critic of HS2 as transport adviser

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Journalist Andrew Gilligan has long argued for a slower, cheaper rail line to be built

The prospects for survival of the high-speed rail line HS2 look slimmer after the prime minister, Boris Johnson, appointed an arch-critic as transport adviser.

The journalist Andrew Gilligan, who was cycling tsar in Johnson’s London mayoralty, has long opposed what he says is a “disastrous scheme”, arguing for a slower, cheaper line to be built instead.

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Gatwick suspends flights for two hours over control tower problem

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Services began again at 7.10pm but airport warns that there may be further delays

Gatwick airport suspended all inbound and outbound flights for around two hours on Wednesday due to an “air traffic control system issue”.

Eight flights into Gatwick, in West Sussex, were cancelled and 26 diverted before operations resumed at 7.10pm and passengers were warned there would be further delays into the evening, with the airport advising them to check with their airlines.

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Stonehenge £2bn road tunnel project funding uncertain, MPs warn

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Public accounts committee says plan at mercy of spending review delayed by Brexit

A £2bn project to open a road tunnel beneath the Stonehenge world heritage site in 2026 is being put at risk by uncertainty over how it will be financed, MPs have warned.

Ministers have claimed the scheme is affordable, deliverable and will improve Stonehenge by taking the sight and sound of lorries and cars away from the ancient monument and reducing traffic congestion.

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Northern’s Pacer trains to run into 2020 despite retirement pledge

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Rail firm privately backtracks on vow to MPs that fleet would be retired by end of year

Northern rail promised MPs last week its fleet of hated “buses-on-rails” would be retired by the end of the year, but it has emerged the firm had already privately warned the transport secretary it might have to keep some of them in service well into 2020.

Rob Warnes, the rail firm’s network planning director, told the all-party parliamentary group (AAPG) on rail in the north that all of its antiquated fleet of Pacers would be gone by the end of the year, according to Ian Mearns, the Labour MP who chairs the AAPG.

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Public to have say on renaming White Hart Lane station Tottenham Hotspur

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Exclusive: FoI request reveals proposal was at advanced stage after lobbying by Tottenham Hotspur football club

The public will be given a say on controversial plans to rename a train station near Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium after it was revealed the proposal was at an advanced stage after intensive lobbying by the club.

The Guardian reported in March that White Hart Lane station was to be rebranded after the football club lobbied the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL). The transport body had been insisting the club should pay more than £14.7m for the privilege, in the face of vigorous resistance from Spurs.

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Business heads urge next PM to commit to finishing HS2

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CBI among industry groups to sign open letter amid concerns over project’s future

Business leaders are calling on the next prime minister to commit to completing HS2, adding that if they do not they risk blocking future investment in the north.

In an open letter, more than 20 figures from industry and commerce have called for the next Tory leader to back the project in full.

It comes amid speculation that the next prime minister – with Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson now the final two MPs vying for the position – could decide to axe the second phase of the project due to concerns over spiralling costs.

Johnson is reported to have asked a former boss of the £56bn scheme to carry out a review if he is made prime minister, while Hunt has said HS2 is “absolutely vital” and he would not scrap the project in its entirety.

Signatures of the letter include the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors, the British Chambers of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses and London First, the BBC reports.

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Uber to launch Jump bike hire scheme in Islington borough

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Ride-hailing company hopes to expand to other London boroughs if local trial goes well

Uber is to launch its electric bike hire scheme in the UK, trialling Jump bikes in London through its app.

The global ride-hailing firm will be battling with Lime for the e-bike market, after the retreat of dockless bicycle firms from the UK.

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Eco wonder or safety nightmare? Germany to vote on e-scooters

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Electric scooters could be on roads by June, leaving UK last major European country not to have approved use

Germany’s upper house of parliament is due to vote on Friday on whether to allow electric scooters on to the country’s roads, following a feverish debate spanning everything from road safety to air quality.

The transport minister is behind the plan, but he has faced a barrage of protests from lobby groups, representing both car drivers and bike riders, who have warned of chaos and accidents if the so-called e-scooters – known locally as e-rollers – are allowed.

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‘Climate emergency’ edict in UK to shape decision on Heathrow expansion review

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Britain’s net zero by 2050 goal may have impact on whether existing policies are reassessed

Britain’s move to “net zero” carbon and the declaration of a climate emergency in parliament will be “given careful consideration” in deciding whether to grant a review of Heathrow airport’s expansion, the government has said.

The new approach falls well short of any commitment to review Heathrow’s expansion, but means the decision on whether to grant campaigners’ request for a review will include the net zero target and the climate emergency among its criteria.

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