From the BBC:

Here's an idea - why not convert it to a railway line    >

No, it's not on the Isle of Wight ... there are / were at least one other "St Lawrence"

I assume 5 is the closed St Lawrence Station on the Isle of Wight (as that's the name on the station sign!).

I scrolled down to look wondering if that was a serious suggestion until I saw what picture that was!

Is number 4 Taunton?

'Carspreading' is on the rise - and not everyone is happy about it

Critics call it "carspreading". In the UK and across Europe, cars are steadily becoming longer, wider and heavier. Consumers clearly like them – a lot. Big cars are seen as practical, safe and stylish, and sales are growing. So, why are some cities determined to clamp down on them - and are they right to do so?

Paris is renowned for many things. Its monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. Its broad, leafy avenues and boulevards, its museums and art galleries, its fine cuisine. And it's truly appalling traffic.

Over the past 20 years, the city authorities have been trying to tackle the problem, by introducing low-traffic and low-emission zones, by promoting public transport and cycling – and most recently by clamping down on big cars.

Continues

A cynic might wonder which MP's, BBC execs & senior civil servants were regular users of the train.

An uber-cynic might wonder if the ORR had been set-up to fail on this one and fell for the bait!

Roads closed around Southgate Avenue in Crawley after fire destroys bus


Pictures at the scene show the bus has been completely destroyed

A cordon has been put in place and nearby buildings evacuated after a bus caught fire in Sussex.

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service was called to Southgate Avenue in Crawley on Tuesday afternoon.

Police said emergency services would remain on scene "for some time".

The force said the evacuations were a precaution, but people were being asked to avoid the area.


Police said roads would be closed "for some time" and people should avoid the area

Marks Tey station in Essex has been labelled the least accessible station on the Greater Anglia network

An MP's call to make a train station accessible has been turned down by a government minister.

James Cartlidge, Conservative MP for South Suffolk, wrote to the government in October asking for lift access to be installed between all platforms at Marks Tey train station, near Colchester in Essex. He said the lack of step-free access between the Sudbury branch line and the main line was causing difficulties for many of his constituents with disabilities or those travelling with heavy luggage.

Addressing the letter, Lord Peter Hendy, the rail minister, said there were "no current plans" for such a scheme at Marks Tey and suggested getting financial contributions from developers. "Ensuring the accessibility for all passengers is at the heart of our passenger-focussed approach," Lord Hendy said. "However, I am sorry to advise that there are no current plans for an accessibility scheme at Marks Tey."

He suggested securing financial contributions from developers to ease pressures around accessibility, as well as engaging with key stakeholders to ensure Marks Tey was a priority in any future rounds of government funding.

Mr Cartlidge's letter came against the background of the government bringing Greater Anglia into public ownership, under the control of the Department for Transport. The MP said he was disappointed, but promised to continue calling for a lift to be installed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. "Ultimately, my constituents travelling from Sudbury use the interchange to access the main line, so the issue of accessibility must be addressed," he said.

It is not the first time Mr Cartlidge has raised this issue, having campaigned for improved accessibility at the station for several years alongside Dame Priti Patel, MP for Witham.

Fewer busway passengers after speed limit lowered



Fewer passengers have been using a guided busway since speed limits were lowered as part of a raft of new safety measures.

The limit on Cambridgeshire's network - where three people have died - was reduced to a blanket 30mph (48km/h) in October while permanent fencing works were carried out.

Meeting documents sent to Cambridgeshire County Council's highways and transport committee stated passenger numbers were "down due to the increased journey time".

While bus companies Stagecoach and Whippet said they were "supportive" of the fencing works, they "expressed concern over the longer-term impact of the current works," the papers added.

The guided busway takes a modified bus along a dedicated track - in some sections previously up to a speed of 56mph (90km/h) - and serves Cambridge, St Ives and Huntingdon.

Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts were killed in collisions on the Cambridgeshire Busway between 2015 and 2021.

The county council was fined £6m earlier this year after the deaths, and a judge criticised the authority for its "rigid and blinkered response" to the fatalities.

In meeting documents, the authority said speed monitoring was currently underway, and on-bus equipment also governed speed. "The increased journey times can have an impact on the attractiveness of busway services and have resulted in operational difficulties for the bus companies," it continued.

David Boden, commercial director of Stagecoach East, said: "We are fully supportive of works to ensure safety, but, in delivering these works, every effort needs to be made to minimise as far as possible the impact on busway customers. At our most recent data, we are down 6.8% year-on-year on Busway A customers and 8.6% on Busway B customers. This is a result of the significantly increased journey times caused by the works. This increase in journey time, of between 40 and 50 minutes, has seen us introduce three extra buses, and our team put in huge efforts, to try and offer a guaranteed frequency where we can, and also to ensure that Trumpington Park & Ride to the Biomedical Campus has sufficient buses."

He apologised for the impact on customers and said it was working with stakeholders to ensure the works were delivered as quickly as possible. He also asked other infrastructure providers to think about the scheduling of their work while the fencing was being installed.

The Tiger T1 service run by Whippet, which takes passengers from Huntingdon to Cambridge, "has been able to largely maintain the previous journey frequencies", but passenger numbers were down, council documents said. "However, both companies are supportive of the fencing works and welcome the safety benefit it will bring."

Whippet has been contacted for further comment.

An MP has been left "quite bemused" about why a major rail junction upgrade still has not happened.

For 25 years campaigners have argued that improving Ely North Junction in Cambridgeshire would make it possible to run more freight and passenger services and help grow the local economy.

The local Liberal Democrat MP Charlotte Cane claimed "for every £1 spent [the project is] likely to bring back nearly £5", ahead of hosting a debate in Parliament on Wednesday.

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said it recognised the scheme's importance and fully anticipated Ely North "will be part of a pipeline of projects to be considered as part of future funding decisions". They added: "There is a strong case for Ely Junction, and we are committed to working with a broad range of stakeholders to support its inclusion in the future pipeline."

Lines from Norwich, Cambridge, King's Lynn, Peterborough and Ipswich all meet at Ely North junction.

The project has received the go-ahead from previous governments on at least two occasions, but the work is yet to start.

In 2020, it was revealed the cost of the project had risen from £25m to £500m, while complicated engineering and a slowness to make decisions have also been blamed.


Five rail lines from across the East of England converge at Ely North junction

Cane, the MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, said she was hoping Wednesday's debate would "get across the real importance of this project".

She said it would take freight off the roads and benefit not only the local area but also "the Midlands and further north".

"It's an amazing project... I'm still quite bemused as to why it hasn't happened yet," she told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

The DfT said when the previous Government announced Network North - of which this scheme was a part - it did not set out any plans for how to fund it.

I got A as soon as I saw it, but eightonedee had already seen it, about half an hour before me.

New delay for Turkish-built CalMac ferry MV Isle of Islay

The first of four new CalMac ferries being built in Turkey has been delayed again.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) said it still hoped to take delivery of MV Isle of Islay before Christmas but warned this would be a "challenge".

CMAL had previously told MSPs it expected the ship to be handed over in November, before making the two-week voyage to Scotland.

The government-owned ferries agency says a number of issues are still being addressed before the ferry can be signed off by UK regulators.

MV Isle of Islay, which will will operate on the Kennacraig to Islay route, is the first of four 95m-long ferries being built for the CalMac fleet at the Turkish Cemre shipyard.

When the contract was awarded it was due for delivery in October last year, but construction has been hit by a series of delays which CMAL says were due to supply chain issues and labour shortages.

In an update letter to Holyrood's net zero, energy and transport committee, CMAL said the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) carried out a final survey in the last week of October, and the shipyard is addressing issues that were raised. MCA inspectors are due to carry out another final survey on 8 December.

The update letter said: "If all completion activities go smoothly, the shipyard is targeting delivery of MV Isle of Islay prior to the Christmas period. This will be a challenge but CMAL, CalMac, Cemre and the regulatory authorities are all working hard and collaboratively towards reaching this target date for vessel delivery just before the Christmas holidays."

The journey to Scotland will involve a refuelling stop at Gibraltar and a journey across the Bay of Biscay. After arriving in Scotland, CalMac will carry out crew familiarisation and berthing trials at various ports before the ship enters service.

Work is continuing at the Cemre shipyard on MV Loch Indaal - also destined for the Islay route - and two other ferries MV Lochmor and MV Claymore will eventually serve the Western Isles.

CMAL said costs remained "on budget".