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

Friday, 13 September 2019

BBC News

• Direct Redcar-Manchester trains to launch in DecemberDirect trains running between Redcar and Manchester will launch in December, it has been announced.
• Frustration as £500m Edinburgh airport plans called inPlans to build an international business hub next to Edinburgh Airport will now be decided by the Scottish government.
• Electric cars are coming: new models unveiled at Frankfurt Motor ShowThe Frankfurt Motor Show offers a first look at the some significant new electric cars: An 8-seat Mercedes, the affordable ID.3 from Volkswagen, and a car that drove all the way to show from China.
• BA cancels 27 Sept flights ahead of next pilot strikeBritish Airways has begun emailing thousands of passengers ahead of another day of strike action.

The Guardian

• Crumbling Yorkshire rail tunnel could form part of new cycle routeAn abandoned and flooded Victorian railway tunnel hundreds of feet under the Pennines could be restored for use by cyclists and tourists but instead faces being filled with concrete and allowed to collapse.
• Heathrow protests: two held near airport as activists threaten drone disruptionFlights operate as normal after police made five other pre-emptive arrests of Heathrow Pause members

Times Online

• Westminster is broken but it is high time the North was fixed - Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham [Subscription]However people voted in the referendum, they can at least now agree on one thing: the old Westminster system is broken beyond repair.
• Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge a very good idea, Boris Johnson says [subscription]A bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland would be a “very good” proposition, Boris Johnson said as he added that it would cost about £15 billion to build.

City AM

• The ‘Boris Bridge’? PM puts price tag on ‘very good’ ideaBoris Johnson has told a group of schoolchildren about his “very good” idea for a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
• Heidi Alexander: It would add ‘insult to injury’ if HS2 skips EustonIt would add ‘insult to injury’ if High Speed Two (HS2) did not stop at Euston, London’s deputy mayor for transport has said.
• Trainline increases revenue expectations as sales soarShares in Trainline jumped more than six per cent this morning as the ticket-selling platform announced soaring sales in the first half of the financial year.

London Evening Standard

• EasyJet co-pilot suffered mid-air anxiety attack ahead of landing, report saysAn EasyJet co-pilot suffered a mid-air anxiety attack and left the cockpit as the plane approached Glasgow International, an accident report has said.
• Pilot's coffee spillage forced transatlantic flight to turn backA pilot's coffee spillage in the cockpit of a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean forced the flight to turn back and land in Ireland.
• Heathrow drone protest: Two arrests at airport as climate activists plan to disrupt flights with dronesTwo men have been arrested at Heathrow as climate change protestors were due to cause disruption at the airport by using drones.

Wales Online

• Buses will replace trains between Cardiff and Bristol this weekend because of electrification workMajor disruption is expected as work to electrify the south Wales mainline is taking place

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Early changes coming to struggling electrified Chase LineMore changes are to be made on the £200 million Chase Line to address the “significant unreliability” facing passengers.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• The British railway system falls over the minute there is bad weather, metro mayor Andy Burnham tells northern rail bosses after "terrible" summerA leading northern metro mayor has claimed that the British railway system "all falls over the minute there is bad weather" as rail bosses admitted the summer had been "terrible" for passengers in the North.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Calls for investment in rail services in NewmarketCalls for investment in rail infrastructure have been made by politicians and businesses in Newmarket.

Other Regional Press

• Reopening Bere Alston to Tavistock railway line costs rise again - but better news for Okehampton to Exeter serviceCosts for the reinstatement of a railway from Tavistock to Bere Alston have ballooned to £93m, councillors have been told.
• Spelthorne council's 16 requirements to be able to support Heathrow Airport expansionNo immigration centres in Spelthorne and making sure that car parking is only built north of the airport are two of the council's conditions for supporting Heathrow expansion.
• Boris Johnson claims government is 'committed' to Leeds Manchester train linkAt a speech in Yorkshire tomorrow (September 13) the PM is expected to flag up his aim to cut journey times and increase capacity

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Council runs coaches to ‘up’ the competitionSomerset County Council has decided to run coaches on school services to “help address a lack of competition in the market and reduce costs”.

Coach and Bus Week

• Equipmake unveils new cost-effective electric bus drivetrainA new lower cost electric bus drivetrain that aims to give UK bus bodybuilders a route into the growing electric bus market was unveiled at the Cenex LCV trade show last week. Stuart Render explains the project and takes a look at some of the other developments on show
• UK Government pledges £200m to be spent on transforming bus servicesAn overall £490 million cash increase in the UK’s vital transport network will help businesses, people and goods travel around the country. This includes £200m extra funding to make buses more environmentally friendly, rail track maintenance to ensure more reliable journeys, and continued support for development of major projects.
• Partnership delivers new buses and creates jobs for YorkNew Yorkshire-built buses and new jobs have arrived – that’s the good news arrived in York, as Transdev expanded its presence in the city.
• CPT unveils new bus strategy, Moving Forward TogetherCommitments include price-capped daily and weekly multi-operator ticketing in urban areas
• Is Flixbus looking to start UK operations?European and American intercity express operator Flixbus has applied for an Operator’s Licence in the UK. The application is for the East of England Traffic Area for one vehicle to be based at Unit 1-2 , Buckingway Business Park, Rowles Way, Swavesey, Cambridgeshire. This is the same operating centre address as Whippet Coaches Limited.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Plans for £3.5bn Midlands Engine Rail launchedThe Midlands Engine Rail, a £3.5bn improvement programme made up of seven projects spanning the East and West Midlands, has been launched by regional transport body Midlands Connect.
• New railway station between Hinckley and Nuneaton receives backingPlans for a new railway station between Hinckley and Nuneaton looks set to go ahead following backing from councillors.

Railnews

• Prime Minister urged to support £3.5bn Midlands rail planMIDLANDS Connect has unveiled an ambitious plan to move ahead with seven rail projects in the region, which are designed to be co-ordinated with HS2.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Westminster Watch: Strategy for more strategyAmid the extraordinary goings-on in parliament, £200m has been allocated to buses just as the CPT produces its long-awaited bus strategy
• Portsmouth CAZ gets go-ahead at cabinet meetingPortsmouth City Council (PCC) has approved a proposal for the introduction of a Class B Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in the city.
• Bus strategy: Is this a pivotal moment?Partnership working should be at the heart of buses’ future. That is the message from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), which launched its bus strategy, Moving Forward Together, on Monday (9 September).
• London’s electric fleet is biggest in EuropeLondon’s electric bus fleet is officially the largest in Europe, with over 200 delivered and more on the way.
• Manchester franchising would add £81m to public purseFranchised buses will cost every household an extra £68 a year, says report commissioned by OneBus

Aviation Industry

• Protesters to begin five days of drone disruption at Heathrow Environment protest group Heathrow Pause plans to disrupt flights at London Heathrow Airport for at least five days from Sept. 13 by illegally flying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, within the airport's exclusion zone.
• Russia's S7 Airlines appoints new CEO, unites Globus and SibirRussia's S7 Airlines has named Vadim Klebanov as CEO to succeed Vladimir Obyedkov, who has stepped down from the position.
• US-China trade tensions a growing widebody risk to BoeingBoeing is warning that escalating trade tensions between the US and China ”the US manufacturer's largest single market may soon threaten prospective aircraft sales, particularly the company's lucrative twinjet 777 and 787 families.
• Blockchain experts see limited aviation use cases After an initially flurry of interest in blockchain, the secure database that underpins Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, panelists at the World Aviation Festival in London last week said relatively few aviation use cases actually justify the complexity of blockchain.
• European groups call for final push toward Single European SkyMore than 20 European aerospace stakeholders have urged European Union (EU) institutions and member states to finally fulfill long-held plans to implement the Single European Sky (SAS) air traffic control initiative.

Other News Sources

• Gleeds appoints new rail director as it eyes more Network Rail workGleeds has named an ex-Mott MacDonald manager as its new director of cost management for its UK rail business.
• Devolved air passenger duty for Wales rejectedThe government has rejected proposals to devolve responsibility over air passenger duty (APD) to Wales, unlike in Scotland and Northern Ireland, citing concerns about the possible impact on competition

EIN News Subscription

• UK Air Transport Braces For No Deal Brexit ConsequencesThe prospect of the UK leaving the European Union (EU) on October 31 without a deal on future relations now appears to be the working assumption of the country’s air transport industry, and it is not a prospect it relishes with less than 50 days to complete preparations. The UK industry’s morale has not been improved this week by the publication of the government’s “reasonable worst-case planning assumptions” for the so-called No Deal Brexit (see below).
• Airbus to develop technology for ultra-high-resolution satellites for UK MODAirbus has won a design study from the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) to develop the technologies for a cluster of ultra-high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The satellites will also have the ability to collect radio frequency (RF) signals.