Yearly Archives: 2024

Transport should be for everyone

  It’s ‘Catch the Bus Month’ and we’re asking bus operators to pick up the pace of change in making their services accessible to all   Caroline Stickland is the CEO of Transport for All   Almost 30 years on from the laws that made buses accessible in the UK, let’s mark ‘Catch the Bus Month’ with a look at…

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Mixed messages on transport policy

  It’s not unusual to see contradictory policy positions across government when it comes to transport, but I’d hoped for better   The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, seems willing to grab at any private finance that is around for transport projects, even if this runs contrary to government policy on, for example, climate change   August is traditionally regarded as the…

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Will this be Labour’s blueprint for transport?

‘We have a unique opportunity to reshape our transport infrastructure,’ says chair of review commissioned by the party in opposition in December   The review calls for an ambitious transport infrastructure plan to ensure a greener, more inclusive, and efficient UK transport network   A report commissioned by the Labour party while in opposition in December 2023 has called for…

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Out now: Issue 320 of Passenger Transport

Issue 320 of Passenger Transport is published on September 6. Contents include:     LEAD STORY Will this be Labour’s blueprint for transport? ‘We have a unique opportunity to reshape our transport infrastructure,’ says chair of review commissioned by the party in opposition in December   NEWS Haigh promises reform with shadow launch Transport secretary Louise Haigh has initiated major…

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Will ‘Re-Set’ Resolve Bust-Ups About Mixed BTOM?

Dan Culverhouse, UK&I managing director of Customs Support, considers if the new government’s ‘re-set’ on Europe will reduce border confusion In August, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told us he was in ‘re-set mode’ for the UK’s relationship with Europe when he met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the sixth time since taking office in July. On the table for…

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Alstom Anxious : Hitachi Hopeful (1)

Firstly : Metro-Cammell Moribund Railway modellers, train enthusiasts and maybe a few normal people will recognise the venerable Class 101 diesel train seem in all quarters of the British mainland. They were made by … … Metro Cammell at Birmingham.  Historically, they built the Brighton Belle trains. The company had premises at Saltley, but the main site was at Washwood…

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Public Ownership Rail Reform on Track

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh fired the starting gun on rail reform – ushering in a new era for our railways which puts passengers first. Yesterday’s launch of Shadow Great British Railways (Shadow GBR) will set in motion a huge overhaul of the running of the rail network, bringing together leaders from the Department for Transport, Network Rail and publicly-owned operators.…

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Let’s Make A Train (3)

Quite A Few Bits Missing? We have been following the “manufacture” of Anglia Railways’ class 720 trains at Litchurch Lane works in Derby. Our slightly unreliable guide has been Gregg (Wow!) Wallace as presenter of the BBC2 series “Inside the Factory”. Yesterday saw the completion of a raw body shell, the aluminium “tube” that constitutes the main structural part of…

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Let’s Make A Train (2)

 What Does “Make” Mean”? In the 1870s, The Pullman Car Company of the USA sent kits of parts to the Midland Railway for assembly at the Litchirch Lane Carriage Works. Effectively, the Railway was gluing together a giant Airfix kit, although not plastic! But the ebullient Gregg Wallace fronted an episode of “Inside The Factory” first broadcast in 2022 and…

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