Gwyn Topham

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Gwyn Topham |Zoe Wood

Campaigners are calling for EU lawmakers to intervene in the row over whether budget airlines should be allowed to charge customers who want to take hand baggage on to a flight. Last week European consumer groups called for Brussels to investigate the pricing policies of seven airlines, including Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air.

1 week ago | theguardian.com | Gwyn Topham

Ministers have hailed a “new dawn” for Britain’s railways as the first train services renationalised under the Labour government started operating on Sunday. The 6.14 from London Waterloo to Shepperton was due to be the first rebranded train out on Sunday, its carriages adorned with a union jack and the logo “Great British Railways: coming soon” as part of a publicly owned South Western Railway (SWR).

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Gwyn Topham

The bank holiday getaway is likely to be a tricky one, with transport analysts predicting congested roads and the year’s busiest day so far for departing airports, while long-distance rail passengers dodge the start of more engineering work. Motoring organisations forecast traffic to be at its worst on Friday, with many drivers surveyed apparently taking an extra day off before the long weekend and half-term break for most schools in England and Wales.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Gwyn Topham

At the rarely experienced hour of 6.14am on Sunday, the first train to carry the Great British Railways branding will make its way out of London Waterloo to Shepperton: traversing the Surrey commuter belt emblazoned with a red, white and blue GBR logo, and proudly renationalised to boot. The next train with the planned state body’s branding may be some years behind it.

2 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Gwyn Topham

Ryanair has said air fares will head back up this summer after a year of lower fares saw the budget airline’s profits fall 16%. Europe’s biggest airline carried just over 200 million passengers in 2024-25 with ticket prices down 7% to fill its planes, after a dispute halted bookings from some online agents, reducing full-year profits to €1.6bn (£1.4bn). However, it expects fares to rise by about 5%-6% in 2025’s peak season, and Easter already brought a leap of 15% in the first quarter.