Transportinfo.org.uk - today's transport news in the uk, hand picked for you each morning

Tuesday, 01 December 2020

BBC News

• Sheffield derailment: Track fastenings 'broken' says reportBroken rail track fastenings caused a freight train derailment at Sheffield station, a report says.

Department for Transport

• Freight train derailment at Sheffield stationInvestigation into a freight train derailment at Sheffield station, South Yorkshire, 11 November 2020.

Financial Times

• Airlines and the conflict of vaccine visions Let’s be pragmatic not hysterical. Why it’s not entirely clear that a ‘no-vax, no-fly’ policy makes commercial sense for airlines. Or even for vaccine adoption.

Times Online

• Electric bikes motor maker goes with flow in Scotland [subscription]A maker of motor systems for electric bikes is adding staff and moving to a new headquarters in Scotland after raising £1.85 million from investors.
• Toxic air levels should have been public emergency, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s inquest told [subscription]Unlawful breaches of air pollution limits in London should have been treated as a public health emergency in the years before the death of an asthmatic nine-year-old girl, an inquest was told yesterday.

The Scotsman

• Scotland’s railways aren’t history, they’re the transport of the futureScotland’s railway has been a success story in recent years, with substantial investment in electrification, infrastructure enhancements and new fleets.

The Telegraph

• Air pollution implicated in 'tens of thousands' of dementia cases, US scientists say [subscription]The results add to mounting evidence of the links between pollution and dementia.
• The fuel of the 2020s? Why hydrogen could clean up Britain's transport network this decade [subscription]Twenty years ago the Toyota Prius had already been around for a couple of years and people poked fun at it because it looked weird and was manufactured at a loss. Twenty years on, and the electrification of the automobile has become a standard, Toyota is the king of hybrids – and nobody is laughing at them now.

City AM

• Proposal to extend Bakerloo line to Beckenham and Hayes gathers steamA proposal to extend the Bakerloo Tube line even further south-east than previously planned has garnered considerable support from local residents, Transport for London said today (TfL).

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• High speed rail link to Leeds and Sheffield debated by LordsThe Government has narrowly avoided defeat in the Lords at the hands of peers determined to see the planned high-speed rail network continue to Sheffield and Leeds.
• Location revealed of ‘school streets' sites that will see roads closed to traffic during school run THE 11 primary schools taking part in a pilot scheme that will see roads closed to traffic at key parts of the day have been revealed.

Liverpool Echo

• New phase of £22m Strand revamp could cause festive disruptionWork progressing on redesign of one of Liverpool's most famous roads
• People can't make up minds over new 'bus only' road rulesConcerns have been raised on how delivery drivers and city centre businesses could be affected by new rules affecting a major road.
• Blow to regeneration plans as Widnes bus depot given listed statusThe council bought the Widnes bus depot last year as part of its "regeneration aspirations" for the area, but is now unlikely to be able to demolish it

London Evening Standard

• Regent Street traffic ban to help lure out Christmas shoppersRegent Street is to be closed to traffic for three Saturdays in December in a bid to lure shoppers back into the West End in the run-up to Christmas.

Sheffield Star

• 'Disaster' if Sheffield misses out on HS2, Lord David Blunkett saysThe Government has been urged not to forget Sheffield when the next phases of the HS2 high-speed rail link are built amid claims the eastern leg of the project to the East Midlands may be scrapped.

Kent Online

• Cost of Lower Thames Crossing now £8.2 billion with project now costing more per mile than HS2 as government commits to Kent Essex tunnel in Spending ReviewCosts of the new Lower Thames Crossing have increased by more than half before plans have been submitted.

Other Regional Press

• Some drivers deliberately intimidate cyclists says councillor who was assaulted by a lorry driver Some drivers are deliberately intimidating cyclists on Oxfordshire’s roads, according to a city councillor who was once beaten up by a lorry driver.
• Oxford Bus Museum set to reopen to public on SundayVISITORS to a museum will be able to board a more Covid-19 friendly bus after it reopens this weekend.
• Regular Okehampton to Exeter rail link is backThe reopening of the line between Okehampton and Exeter was included in last week’s Government Comprehensive Spending Review and the National Infrastructure Strategy
• Owen Paterson MP pushes for disability access funding for Whitchurch Railway StationTHE MP for North Shropshire, Owen Paterson, has pushed for government funding to improve disabled access at Whitchurch train station.
• 4 Northwich and Winsford railway stations in Best Kept successDEDICATED volunteers have been recognised for their efforts in maintaining and improving their community’s railway station.
• Government funding to help Swanage and Wareham rail linkSWANAGE Railway is poised to look into increasing regular passenger services to the main line at Wareham, following funding from the Department for Transport.

Rail Business Daily

• Major safety boost for region’s Metrolink transport networkA raft of high-profile measures, aimed at keeping public transport users even safer and boosting confidence ahead of anticipated increase in travel post-lockdown, will be rolled-out in the coming days, the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham announced.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Why is now the time for electrification?The coronavirus pandemic has forced changes of an unprecedented scale across the UK’s commuting networks. COVID-19 has given us all the space to pause and reflect, to build a different future – one where we work, live and travel in a different way.
• £16m Christmas upgrade for Scotland’s RailwayScotland’s Railway is set to receive more than £16 million of investment over Christmas and the New Year.

Transportxtra

• Request stop rail stations go hi-techThe rail industry is to trial technology to reduce the cost and time associated with trains stopping at ‘request stop’ railway stations
• Bids open for Scots bus priority fundTransport Scotland has invited bids for the first tranche of its £500m Bus Partnership Fund for bus priority measures such as bus lanes, bus ‘gates’, guided busways and traffic signal priority. 

Other News Sources

• Exeter Airport to receive up to £8 million of financial supportA new package of financial support will help Exeter Airport which has seen a 95 per cent drop in passenger numbers.
• Gatwick Airport - anger after website of new super-fast Covid screening centre crashes The firm running it has apologised

News from Europe

• Berlin Brandenburg Airport forecasts traffic to hit 30% of pre-crisis levels in 2021GERMANY. Berlin Brandenburg Airport management has said that it can only assume around 30% of pre-crisis passenger traffic levels in 2021. This comes amid a second COVID-19 lockdown in Germany and many other European states, with expectations of a slow recovery next year.