Category Archives: Transport policy

Court hears councils’ legal challenge over London Ulez expansion

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Rail strikes: Hopes of a resolution have been indefinitely delayed

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After a year of walkouts and failed talks, the unions, ministers and operators are as far apart as ever

Almost a year since the first national rail strike was called, another series of stoppages loom. Passengers who have been spared the usual round of disruptive bank holiday engineering works this weekend won’t be so lucky in the second half of the half-term break. Strikes by drivers and crew will more or less wipe out services on Wednesday and Saturday, shred schedules on Friday, and add a bit of scattergun disruption in between.

This time in 2022, the mere prospect of the biggest rail strike in decades was causing consternation. Now, though, the latest guaranteed upheaval has not even produced a round of talks between unions and industry – let alone ministers – to try to head off the disruption.

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RMT to hold rail strike across England on eve of FA Cup final

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Latest action on 2 June comes between two days of strikes by Aslef and will bring further disruption to football final

The RMT has announced another rail strike on Friday 2 June, the day before the men’s FA Cup final, warning that the government “cannot wish the dispute away”.

About 20,000 RMT members working for the 14 major rail companies in England will strike for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

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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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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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Plans for rail pass for UK staycationers axed over cost concerns

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Exclusive: extensive consultations since idea was proposed 18 months ago have found it would not be commercially viable

Plans to boost domestic tourism by introducing a rail pass for British staycationers have been axed, the Guardian can reveal.

The idea was initially heralded by the government as a way to help struggling businesses get back on their feet as the final Covid restrictions were being lifted in the summer of 2021, but extensive consultations since have found that the plan would not be commercially viable.

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Dieselgate: millions of ‘extremely’ polluting cars still on Europe’s roads, says report

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The research group that first exposed the scandal say ‘it’s not over’ and that governments must act

Thirteen million diesel cars producing “extreme” levels of toxic air pollution are still on the roads in Europe and the UK, according to a report, seven years after the Dieselgate scandal first exploded.

The non-profit research group, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), revealed in 2015 that many diesel cars were highly polluting, emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in official testing. The scandal led to a more rigorous test being introduced in the EU in 2019.

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Internal government briefing admits HS2 delays will increase costs

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DfT document appears to undermine ministers’ claims, saying jobs are likely to go and construction firms could be at risk

An internal Department for Transport briefing on the HS2 project has admitted delays to the high-speed railway will increase costs, appearing to undermine ministers’ claims.

The document seen by the Guardian says the decision to delay the project is also likely to cost jobs, put construction firms at risk of going into administration and that the department could face compensation claims.

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London Underground drivers to strike on 15 March

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The 24-hour strike kicks off on budget day in dispute over pensions and working arrangements

London Underground drivers are to strike on 15 March – budget day – in a dispute over pensions and working arrangements.

The Aslef union announced on Wednesday that members would strike for 24 hours, in a row over changes to working arrangements and pensions.

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Self-driving vehicles from overseas face ban in England and Wales

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Delivery of rental cars using remote driving could be outlawed after Law Commission recommendations

The remote driving of vehicles from overseas, such as for the delivery of rental cars, could be banned following a government-commissioned review.

The review was carried out by the Law Commission of England and Wales, which recommended ministers regulate the technology.

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Four English councils bring half of legal actions for blue badge misuse

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Two-thirds of local authorities did not prosecute anyone for disabled parking scheme fraud, data reveals

Four councils are responsible for bringing more than half of the prosecutions in England for people abusing the use of disabled parking badges.

Figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT) show that Lambeth, Birmingham, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Bromley carried out 54% of all legal cases for people misusing the blue badge system, for the year up to the end of March 2021.

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Almost one in 10 local bus services axed over last year in Great Britain

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Exclusive: cuts come despite government’s levelling up promise to improve transport connectivity

Almost one in 10 local bus services were axed in Great Britain in the last year despite government promises to improve local transport connectivity being a key pillar of its levelling up agenda.

The reductions – equivalent to more than 1,000 registered routes – follow the publication of a national bus strategy for England in 2021, aimed at improving routes and service frequencies. The figures suggest the “bus back better” strategy, conceived under the then prime minister Boris Johnson, has failed to halt the decline in local bus services.

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£2 cap for many bus fares in England expected to save 2m car journeys

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Campaigners welcome DfT’s temporary £60m subsidy to cut emissions and congestion, but say it should go further

Bus fares in many places across England will be capped at £2 for the winter under a government-backed campaign to encourage people back on to public transport.

Single fares on most major operators’ services will be limited from January until March under the scheme.

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Rail strikes: passengers face fresh wave of weekend disruption

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People urged only to travel if absolutely necessary on last weekend before Christmas

Rail passengers face another day of reduced services on Saturday as thousands of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) staff continue a 48-hour strike.

People have been urged to only attempt travel if absolutely necessary on the last full weekend before Christmas, with only a skeleton service running and all train journeys ending by early evening.

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Avanti West Coast rewarded with over £4m in taxpayer-funded bonuses

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Payout awarded for period in which Avanti was UK’s worst train operator for delays, Labour analysis found

Avanti West Coast was handed millions of pounds of taxpayer-funded bonuses for a period in which it was Britain’s worst train operator for delays, according to Labour party analysis.

The analysis, which used Department for Transport (DfT) figures published on Thursday, found the company was awarded the highest possible rating for “operational performance” and “customer satisfaction” between 1 April and 18 September last year. Those ratings contributed to a bonus payout of £4.1m.

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Mark Harper refuses to deny No 10 or Treasury pushed for driver-only trains

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MPs question transport secretary about reports government stipulation may have scuppered rail deal

The transport secretary, Mark Harper, has refused to deny reports that the government pushed rail companies to include future use of driver-only trains as a condition of a pay deal, thus potentially scuppering an agreement.

Under sustained questioning before the Commons transport committee, Harper at first said he had not seen the report, before repeatedly declining to engage with the subject beyond saying that reforms in how the railways were run were necessary to make savings.

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