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

Sunday, 03 May 2020

BBC News

• Coronavirus: Eurostar passengers told to cover their facesEurostar passengers will be required to cover their faces from Monday 4 May or risk being refused travel. The rail company said the rule for travellers to wear face coverings is in line with guidelines from the French and Belgian governments.
• Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway sells US airline sharesThe billionaire investor says he doesn't see any remaining upside in the airline industry.

ITV News

• Severn Valley Railway faces 'serious and long-term threat'The company which runs the Severn Valley Railway is warning that coronavirus poses a serious threat to the future of the service.

Financial Times

• Warren Buffett sells all stakes in US airlinesFamed investor tells virtual annual meeting Berkshire Hathaway can find nothing to buy

The Guardian

• Warren Buffett dumps US airline stocks, saying 'world has changed' after Covid-19The legendary investor indicates that financial markets could still have further to fall as worldwide cases edge towards 3.5mCoronavirus latest updatesWarren Buffett, the legendary American investor, has sold his firm’s entire holdings in the four major US airlines, warning that the “world has changed” for the aviation industry because of the coronavirus crisis.In comments that will send shockwaves through financial markets already pulverised by the economic shock of the outbreak, Buffett said the outbreak could have an “extraordinarily wide” range of possible outcomes. Continue reading...

The Scotsman

• Privatisation's hit the buffers and we need a railway back on tracks – Brian WilsonThe fantasy of competitive train services has crumbled so, after Covid, it’s time for a state-owned railway, writes Brian Wilson

Times Online

• Airline turbulence needs more than autopilot [subscription]If the grim news of redundancies emanating out of the retail and airline sectors is any indicator, this is no longer looking like a V- or even U-shaped recovery. This is bathtub territory. The economy will bump along the bottom for a long time, and the pain will be felt well beyond the transport, hotel and retail sectors. Jobs are being lost permanently.
• Coronavirus: airports to insist faces be covered [subscription]Three British airports will require all passengers to cover their faces from this week. Manchester, Stansted and East Midlands airports have decided to impose the conditions in the absence of official guidance from government. The airports said they would accept any face coverings, including scarves.
• Branson can ruin Virgin only once [subscription]What is a reputation worth? These desperate times are providing interesting case studies. I know about reputational damage because the Patisserie Valerie fraud in 2018 did mine much harm.
• Heathrow boss demands action now [subscription]The head of Heathrow has told the government to get its act together to save British airlines and co-ordinate international virus screening standards so that it can open up as fast as possible.

Reuters News

• French state railway SNCF sees two billion euro hole, might need state aidPARIS (Reuters) - France’s state-owned railway company SNCF has lost about 2 billion euros (1.76 billion pounds) in revenue so far because of the coronavirus lockdown, its chief executive said on Saturday, adding that a government bailout might be needed.

Daily Express

• Virgin Orbit chief explains plans for first UK spaceport Enormously excitingTHE PRESIDENT and CEO of Virgin Orbit, the Sir Richard Branson owned company founded to take satellites into space, has spoken about the firm's ambitious plans to operate from the UK's first spaceport.

i News

• Coronavirus latest: Eurostar makes it compulsory for all passengers to cover their facesAny type of mask is suitable as long as it effectively covers the passengers' nose and mouth, the company said in a statement

Sky News

• Airlines parking planes at smaller airports to save on storage costs during pandemicAn increasing number of major airlines are flying planes to a Gloucestershire airport to save on storage fees during the pandemic.

Belfast Telegraph

• Tesla applies to generate electricity in UKTesla has applied for a licence to generate electricity in the UK, documents show.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Leeds-Bradford Airport: No flights until JunePLANES are unlikely to be flying holidaymakers abroad from Leeds-Bradford Airport until June as uncertainty over the end of lockdown hits airlines.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Arriva driver claims 'dirty' buses not being properly cleaned during coronavirus pandemicThe driver filmed himself cleaning one of the cabs to show the condition buses are being left in
• The Airbus plane that will never take off - but it may give clues to the future of flyingThe E-Fan X was launched in 2017 but the programme has been cancelled ahead of its maiden flight

London Evening Standard

• Eurostar says its passengers must wear face masks from MondayEurostar says all its passengers must wear face masks from Monday as a safeguard against the coronavirus.

Metro

• Eurostar says all passengers must wear face masks from next weekEurostar says all its passengers must wear face masks as a safeguard against coronavirus from Monday.

The York Press

• Council bosses ask residents to avoid narrow paths and busy areas COUNCIL leaders have praised residents for obeying government guidance to help slow the spread of coronavirus - and urged them to keep up the good work.

Other Regional Press

• The London Underground station that's further from London than any otherIt's easy to play fast and loose with how big London actually is. Everywhere within one of the 32 boroughs seems like the obvious choice, but the land-grabbers among you might suggest everything within the M25.
• Speeding driver's ridiculous excuse after breaking lockdown rulesThey were given a speeding ticket and a talking to by police

Train Operators

• LNER reserves’ reach 2000 volunteering hours milestoneLNER workers who are volunteering to support the NHS, emergency services, charities and other organisations during the Coronavirus outbreak have clocked up 2000 hours of service in just a matter of weeks.

The Economist

• Imagine the post-pandemic misery of business travelThe public announcements could be worrying, at the least

Rail Advent

• West Coast main line improvement work taking place this MayRail passengers who are wanting to use London Euston station for trains to the Midlands, North West and Scotland are being reminded to check before travelling, with major railway upgrades planned for May weekends.

Other News Sources

• Road and rail services could benefitCOWDENBEATH MSP Annabelle Ewing has aired her beliefs that the current lockdown has provided the best opportunity to carry our repairs to roads and railways.
• 37 projects given cash by HS2 in BucksOver £2.2m has been handed to schemes right along the route in Buckinghamshire.
• Watercress Line launches fundraising appeal amid coronavirus closureTHE Mid Hants Railway has launched an appeal to meet the shortfall caused by its closure.
• Fascinating M25 archive pictures show how motorway was builtThe 117-mile orbital route was constructed in many separate stages
• Five steps to building a resilient carbon strategy in a post-coronavirus world During edie's recent online masterclass, sustainability and energy specialists from Centrica and its Business Solutions arm discussed steps to building corporate carbon strategies while exploring how attitudes towards decarbonisation will change as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Hitachi pours millions into Gridserve's electric forecourts project Hitachi Capital UK has announced a multi-million-pound investment to support Gridserve's ambitious project to develop more than one hundred electric forecourts across the UK to spur the low-carbon transition.