Order for new trains for Cardiff - Portsmouth route cancelled

The Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed that, following the announcement to electrify the Great Western Main Line, it has decided not to proceed with the procurement of two hundred and two new diesel train carriages - the cancelled order included forty-four new carriages for the route between Cardiff Central and Portsmouth Harbour via Bristol, Bath and Salisbury, operated by First Great Western.

CrossCountry implements cost-saving initiatives

Arriva has announced that during the first six months of 2009, revenue generated by the CrossCountry train operating company, grew by just 1.8 per cent, against a target of ten per cent - taking account of recent fare rises, the result indicates a decline in passenger numbers. Arriva state that cost saving measures have been implemented at the CrossCountry subsidiary in areas such as replacement bus and coach services, sales commission, marketing, station services, catering and cleaning. The CrossCountry subsidiary is eligible for revenue support from the Department for Transport (DfT) from December 2011.

Smartcard for ULink services

A smartcard ticketing system has been introduced on the ULink bus services in Greater Bristol which are operated by Wessex Connect on behalf of the University of the West of England. Customers using smartcards benefit from reduced fares - new smartcards cost one pound and customers can ‘top-up’ the value of the card by a payment to the bus driver.

South West Trains revenue growth stalls

Stagecoach has announced that during the twelve weeks ending July 26, revenue at the group’s two wholly-owned train operating companies, East Midlands Trains and South West Trains, increased by just 0.9 per cent.

London Midlands withdraws service

The train operator, London Midland, has announced the withdrawal from 13 December 2009 of the company’s Monday to Saturday service between Gloucester and Worcester Shrub Hill via Cheltenham Spa and Ashchurch - the current London Midland service comprises five return journeys on Monday to Friday and six return journeys on Saturday. From 13 December, the only train operated by London Midland in the South West region will be the 2300hrs Birmingham New Street to Gloucester service, which operates on Friday only.

Major transport scheme analysis flawed

Two leading consultants have claimed that the current system for the appraisal of major transport schemes is based on analytical techniques that contain ‘intractable weaknesses’. Tom van Vuren of Mott MacDonald and Alan Wenban-Smith of Urban and Regional Policy state that the current appraisal system fails to deal adequately with changes in patterns of economic and social behaviour or land-use policy arising from transport interventions - the consultants consider that the current appraisal system is ‘only reliable’ for forecasting change up to ten years ahead and therefore is unsuited to the official GB evaluation period of sixty years.

Babbacombe Cliff Railway

Torbay Council has transferred ownership of the Babbacombe Cliff Railway, which commenced operations in 1926, to a ‘not-for-profit’ community interest company, which intends to operate it commercially - the council has applied for a lottery grant of one hundred and forty thousand pounds for refurbishment work.

And finally,

Customers on trains operated by South West Trains have complained that their journeys are been ‘ruined’ by the large number of announcements over the loudspeaker systems in carriages. Passengers have complained to South West Trains about the high frequency of automated announcements relating to tickets, stations, luggage and catering facilities - campaigners have also expressed their annoyance at the duplication between the automated announcement and messages broadcast by the train manager.