A bill to regulate ferry firms would boost income from tourists who are deterred by reduced timetables and higher fares, an MP has said.

Joe Robertson, Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, is due to introduce his Ten Minute Rule Motion in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The Ferry Services (Integration and Regulation) Bill would set up a framework to regulate routes throughout the country.

The MP said currently there was "no accountability or control over pricing or any aspect" of how ferries are run. He said: "The ferry companies could in theory close up shop, sell off the land for housing and call it a day if that was more profitable. I suspect if they tried to do that the government would be forced to step in and do something. But there is no obligation they have to anyone, so that means we've got prices like £400 return to bring a car back and forth [between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight] on peak weekends."

Mr Robertson said "diminished" timetables and higher costs discouraged tourism, "shutting off the island economy". He said private equity groups, who run some ferry firms, were allowed to set higher fares at busy times, penalising people who travel for family emergencies.

The MP complained: "Of course, the ferry companies say, 'Well, if you book in advance, it's much cheaper'. Well, you know, sometimes you don't know when your grandmother's going to fall ill. She doesn't notify you two months in advance she's going to fall ill on 3 December. So, their attitude doesn't seem to understand the realities of living on the island."

Wightlink, which operates routes serving Fishbourne, Ryde and Yarmouth, said 90% of island resident journeys involved fixed price or discounted tickets. It said it introduced a £40 fixed price vehicle ticket exclusively for Isle of Wight residents in the summer. The firm, which admitted tourism had declined over the past 20 years, said it welcomed suggestions about how to continue to improve its services.

Red Funnel, which sails to Cowes and East Cowes, said it offered islanders discounted travel on up to 20 crossings per day. It said: "We welcome discussion on any measures that would support the vital connection we provide to and from the mainland."

An elderly man was able to escape the vehicle safely according to posts on social media

A car fire on a railway track has disrupted train services.

The vehicle was ablaze at Brockenhurst level crossing in the New Forest earlier. An elderly man made it safely out of the car before it was consumed by flames, according to posts on social media.

South Western Railway said train services running through Dorset and Hampshire might be cancelled, delayed or revised until the end of the day.

Posting on Facebook shortly after 16:00 GMT, Hampshire police said: "We are currently on scene assisting our colleagues from the British Transport Police (BTP) with an incident in Brockenhurst, involving a car on the railway track. As such, the level crossing gates have been closed and the A337 is closed in both directions."

BTP and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have been approached for comment.

Flying Scotsman was the first locomotive to be officially recorded at 100mph

A new railway training centre has been named after the man behind some of Britain's best-known steam locomotives.

Sir Nigel Gresley designed the iconic Flying Scotsman and Mallard, among many others.

Network Rail said the Gresley Institute, in Doncaster, where the famous locomotives were built, would train up to 1,000 workers in the rail industry each year. The name was chosen by the public from a shortlist of four, but was a "clear winner" with 57% of the vote, the company said.

Sarah Newman, business change manager at Network Rail, said the name reflected Doncaster's "proud railway legacy".

"The Gresley Institute will become a cornerstone for training the next generation of rail industry professionals," she added.


Sir Nigel Gresley worked at the LNER works in Doncaster up to his death in 1941

The college, near Lakeside, was built to train engineers to work on HS2 high-speed railway, but was taken over by Network Rail after the scheme was partially scrapped. There are 21 classrooms across two floors, with equipment such as signalling simulators. The first delegates began attending the centre on 6 October, the company said.

The competition to name the centre was organised jointly with City of Doncaster Council and attracted more than 3,500 responses. Other names suggested included Flying Scotsman House, Duddington and Bray House, and The Corridor.

Ros Jones, the mayor of Doncaster, said the city's connection with the railway industry was "long and noble" and the new centre would play a part in "an even brighter" future.


The railway training facility was built to train engineers working on HS2

Flying Scotsman was built at Doncaster Works in 1923. It broke the 100mph barrier in 1934 and holds the record for a non-stop run in a steam locomotive, set in 1989 with a 422-mile trip.

The steam speed record was later broken by the streamlined Mallard, which rocketed to 126mph in 1938.

Philip Benham, the chairman of the Gresley Society Trust, said the group was "delighted" to see such a clear result from the vote. "Sir Nigel Gresley lived in Doncaster for many year, and his greatest engineering achievements were created here – including in his streamlined trains of the 1930s, Britain's first high-speed trains," Mr Benham said. "Development and innovation were at the heart of Sir Nigel's designs, so it is entirely appropriate that his name should be associated with the institute where the rail industry's future professionals will learn their skills."

The focus of the conference will be the modal shift from fossil to sustainable mobility: less cars, more walking, cycling and public transport in cities and regions; more trains and buses in cross border and international travels.
 
An important goal in organizing the conference is to bring in more young passenger voices from as much as possible European regions.
 
Please save the date, we will inform about details from the agenda and registration process in the beginning of 2026.

Here is the full solution - working out old earthworks and bridges is pretty hard and I have filled in the four outstanding items in bold

9. Whitstaple, on the line to Canterbury

Cancellations to services between Westbury and Weymouth

Due to a shortage of train crew between Westbury and Weymouth fewer trains are able to run.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 21:15 01/11.

Customer Advice
Owing to a shortage of train crew we have regrettably had to cancel a number of services on the Westbury - Weymouth - Westbury route.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

The 17:34 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads service is running but the 20:40 Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads has been cancelled. Road transport will operate in place of the cancelled train.

In the opposite direction, the 15:08, 16:08 & 17:08 Gloucester to Weymouth will not operate between Westbury and Weymouth. The first and last of these services will be covered by road transport. The final train service of the day 20:45 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth is scheduled to operate as normal.

Nice to see they are mostly day light start times,just wondering if I could attend and ask if over head wires will ever come to the Bath area?

Nice to see they are mostly day light start times,just wondering if I could attend and ask if over head wires will ever come to the Bath area?

14:19 Westbury to Swindon due 15:01
15:14 Swindon to Westbury due 15:58
16:23 Westbury to Swindon due 17:05
17:35 Swindon to Westbury due 18:18
18:35 Westbury to Swindon due 19:17
19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29

19:44 Swindon to Westbury due 20:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

No surprise that LNER is worst - what with their fares 'simplification'/rises

I know that I am showing my age, but I believe that programmers today assume that connectivity, processor power and storage will always be available and concentrate instead on the 'prettys'.

A proposed plan to trial free bus passes for under-22s in England will not go ahead as it is "unaffordable" at the moment, the government has said.

The trial was one of a number of recommendations put forward by the Transport Committee, a cross-party group of backbench MPs, in a report this August - with the suggestion it would boost access to jobs and education.

In its response, published on Friday, the government said no money was available for such a scheme during the current spending review period, which runs until 2028/2029.

Responding to the government's decision, committee chair Ruth Cadbury accused the Department for Transport of "lacking in ambition".

"Throughout our inquiry we heard about the consequences of poor connectivity," Labour MP Cadbury said. "Young people unable to get their first jobs or taking exhausting journeys to reach school or college. Older and disabled people feeling isolated and depressed, and high streets starved of customers. It is hard to shake the feeling that an opportunity may be missed, particularly to improve services in rural and underserved communities."

Since January 2022, everyone in Scotland aged between five and 22 has been entitled to free bus travel.

Gracie Moore is 22 and lives in Slough. She spends £120 a month to get the bus to and from work every day. Gracie said the government's decision was "disappointing".

"It would have been so beneficial, considering that under 22s are so negatively impacted by inflation," she said. "Things like buying our first house or affording bills are already difficult, so this would have taken the pressure off for us."

Gracie previously lived in Madrid, where she enjoyed unlimited travel on bus, train, tube, and tram for only €8 (£6.90) a month with a young person's travel card. England, she said, "seems to be one of the only countries who cannot effectively subsidise travel costs".

The announcement of the government's plans on under-22 bus travel in England comes in the week when the Bus Services Act has become law.

Welcomed by the committee, it will place tougher requirements on operators that wish to cancel certain services and give local authorities more control, including through franchising.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the new law would make it "easier for local leaders to take control of their buses" and was "putting passengers first".

Cadbury said while the new law is "positive and necessary" it cannot be "the last word".

Of the other recommendations put forward by the committee, some were received positively.

These included a suggestion that funding should be laid out over a longer period, and should be weighted to take account of rural needs. However, along with free travel for under-22s, other points of action were rejected - including a call for minimum service levels for buses.

The government argued that "significant differences in demographics, need and geography" would make minimum levels of service "very challenging to implement at a national level, whilst also ensuring value for money".

The number of bus journeys taken in England has dropped in recent years, while fares have risen faster than inflation. The committee found that this was a barrier to opportunity and growth in some areas.

Bus passengers spend £39.1bn in local businesses every year, according to research from KPMG. But experts told the Transport Committee that the bus sector's contribution to the economy declined by around £8.9bn between 2011 and 2023.

The committee's report said: "The current deregulated nature of the bus sector can encourage commercial operators to "deprioritise" less profitable routes, often leaving vulnerable communities without a service."