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

Monday, 17 February 2020

BBC News

• Storm Dennis: Roads in Wales 'impassable' as flood clean-up beginsHundreds of homes and businesses were hit by the
• A5 project: The road 13 years in the making but still in limboAn inquiry into the long-delayed project gets under way on Tuesday - but can the A5 get on the road?
• Budget may be delayed, says Transport Secretary Grant ShappsGrant Shapps says the new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, needs
• Heathrow Airport apologises for IT failure disruptionThe airport says the
• Grant Shapps: Government 'not involved' in China-HS2 talksThe transport secretary's remarks follow reports that China offered to build the line in five years.

Financial Times

• Airbus case shows France’s new-found anti-corruption driveParis prosecutors seize on recent law to get record settlement from aircraft maker

The Guardian

• Thousands stranded at Heathrow due to check-in systems meltdownHeathrow airport has apologised after thousands of passengers had their flights cancelled or severely delayed because of technical issues affecting its departure boards and check-in systems.
• Transport secretary denies he spoke to China about HS2Grant Shapps says apart from a letter from Beijing’s railway-builder no direct talks have taken place

The Independent

• Travel chaos at Heathrow airport after technical failure triggers more than 100 cancellationsTens of thousands of passengers at Heathrow airport have had their flights cancelled or heavily delayed due to an IT failure involving check-in systems.
• Travel chaos at Heathrow airport after technical failure triggers more than 100 cancellations'I was running up and down the terminal at one point, as were hundreds of people. I was hearing people in tears saying how they were missing family events or the start of their holidays,' said Tim Barton, passenger to Dusseldorf

The Telegraph

• Heathrow staff write flight details on whiteboards after IT glitch [subscription]

Times Online

• Air monitors to divert cars away from polluted streets [subscription]Vehicles will be diverted away from pollution hotspots in the UK for the first time under plans to control sharp increases in emissions in towns and cities.
• National infrastructure is too important to be left to the government [subscription]If you were designing a system to commission and manage national infrastructure projects, it wouldn’t look much like how the UK does it today. Decisions about whether to go ahead with projects that will not be completed for another twenty years are made by governments elected for five years.
• Thousands of drivers a day sent on smart motorway and speed courses [subscription]A record number of people took driver awareness courses for motoring offences rather than fines and penalty points last year, in part because of a surge in offences on smart motorways.
• Grant Shapps denies knowing of Chinese offer to build HS2 [subscription]The transport secretary has played down suggestions that the Chinese state railway company could be called in to rescue the HS2 high-speed rail line.

City AM

• Rail franchising model 'set to be scrapped' in coming weeksBoris Johnson is set to dramatically overhaul the nation’s rail network by scrapping the rail franchise model and capping profits by private providers.
• Tesla's short-selling critics do not have to be rewarded to be rightShort-selling, or shorting, is the act of betting against a company's stock. If the share price goes down, the short-seller [...] The post Tesla’s short-selling critics do not have to be rewarded to be right appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• HS2 must be made using BRITISH steel say unionsPrime Minister Boris Johnson last week gave the green light to the £106billion project, despite criticism of cost overruns and delays. It will require an estimated two million tons of steel to build.
• Tiny antennae that record how bees navigate may help perfect steering for driverless cars and dronesTo harness their navigational skills, researchers used radar to track bees' precise flight path as they buzzed over farmland in Hertfordshire.

Belfast Telegraph

• General Motors pulls out of Australia, NZ and ThailandGeneral Motors says it is pulling out of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand as part of a strategy to exit markets that do not produce adequate returns on investments.

Birmingham Mail

• Grant Shapps plays down China 'rescuing' troubled HS2 amid rail scheme controversyThe China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) wrote to HS2 Ltd last month offering to complete the project in just five years at a significantly reduced cost
• Thanks for HS2 'green light' - now give us another £3.5 billion for Midlands Engine RailIt's been quite a week for Birmingham business and political leaders caught up in the 'battle for HS2'. Jane Haynes reflects on what happens next.

Birmingham Post

• ‘It would take a fool to say Manchester wasn’t a city going places,’ says United Airlines director“We don’t do this for fun...we do it because it makes a return and why does it make a return? because we are providing a service in a market that needs it and wants itâ€�

Bolton News

• Bolton MP's plea to nationalise the railwaysTHE recent nationalisation of Northern Rail should be the blueprint for taking the rest of the network into public ownership, Bolton South-East MP Yasmin Qureshi has said.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Caernarfon and Bontnewydd bypass: Road closed for extra four months after problems foundThe A4085 between Caernarfon and Caeathro was due to reopen this month but the closure has been extended

London Evening Standard

• Chaos at Heathrow Airport as 'technical issues' cause mass disruptionHeathrow Airport has apologised for disruption caused by

Get Surrey

• Where in Surrey you'd like to see a London Underground station and whyThe network already covers 250 miles across the capital, but many readers have called for an extension into the county

Other Regional Press

• Luton parties clash as motion defeated to charge Luton Airport for new parking scheme in East LutonA motion to the borough council was defeated in a recorded vote, which was split along political party lines, with the Liberal Democrats in favour, the ruling Labour group against, and the Conservatives abstaining.
• Rail passengers warned of severe disruption on Weymouth-Waterloo line on Monday due to flooding Network Rail has announced there will be severe disruption on the Weymouth-Waterloo line on Monday due to flooding at Sway in the New Forest.

Other News Sources

• Pleas to PM to link East Lancs rail improvements to HS2BORIS Johnson has been told that improvements to rail links with East Lancashire must go hand in hand with the building of the new HS2 fast line from London to the North.