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

Friday, 09 October 2020

BBC News

• West Midlands Trains criticised over depot deathSafety failures were partly responsible for a driver's death at a Birmingham depot, a report says.
• Final flight for British Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planesBritish Airways' last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747 planes have departed from the airport on their final flight.
• EasyJet to make first annual loss in its historyThe airline will fly at 25% capacity into next year, with losses in 2020 possibly topping £800m.
• 'Jobs at risk' at rail services firm's South Queensferry siteThe Unite union has said 147 jobs are under threat at a rail company's manufacturing site near Edinburgh.

Financial Times

• Nikola tries to rebuild credibility at hydrogen summitTruck start-up says it has filed patents and is working on project with US energy department
• EasyJet latest to call on government for support Low-cost carrier heads for first annual loss in 25-year history as UK industry braces for hard Covid winter

The Guardian

• UK rail usage fell during lockdown to lowest level since mid-19th centuryPassenger journeys on Britain’s railways fell during lockdown to the lowest level since the mid-19th century, according to official figures.

The Herald

• Nearly 150 Scots jobs 'lost' with planned Progress Rail Services steel foundry closureNEARLY 150 jobs are under threat after plans were revealed for the closure of a steel manufacturing plant in South Queensferry.

The Scotsman

• New headache for ScotRail in rebuilding confidence in train travel – Alastair DaltonThere is a new competitor to rail, one of the increasing band of impressive female leaders of the industry has observed, and people are growing to like it.

Times Online

• Big send-off as BA’s Boeing 747 jumbo jets fly for the last time [subscription]It’s been crowned the “queen of the skies” and for half a century has arguably been the world’s best-known passenger aircraft.
• Time to go full steam ahead for Borders rail link [subscription]The Tweedbank crowds are in celebratory mood. The band is playing and the bouncy train is going like Tigger on steroids. Five years of the Borders Railway and 21 years of the Campaign for Borders Rail toasted in the autumn sunshine.
• Air travel taskforce arriving too late [subscription]Things must be getting dicey in the aviation industry. Six months after lockdown, the government has set up the “Global Travel Taskforce”. And what better way to get people flying again than a navel-gazing talking shop co-piloted by Matt Hancock and Grant Shapps, the health and transport chiefs?
• Pandemic pushes rail travel to 170-year low [ssubscription]The number of passengers using Britain’s railway has plummeted to its lowest level in about 170 years amid concerns that public transport is increasingly considered “unsafe” because of the pandemic.

City AM

• Time running out for TfL to secure emergency government fundingTime is running out for Transport for London (TfL) to secure emergency central government funding, with cash from its last The post Time running out for TfL to secure emergency government funding appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• Drivers hit for £3million a day in car park camera finesIn only two years, the number of planning applications to install ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) systems in private car parks has increased by 61%, leading to a sharp rise in fines.

Birmingham Post

• JLR becomes one of first UK firms to introduce on-site Covid testingTests are now available at the manufacturing sites in Merseyside and the West Midlands
• Eastern leg of HS2 probably won’t happen says former transport ministerLord Adonis feels extension from Birmingham to Leeds being “delayed indefinitelyâ€�
• East Midlands Airport cargo teams gear up for busy Christmas“The small corner of North West Leicestershire we occupy is probably the fastest growing jobs area in the East Midlandsâ€�
• What's the story behind the south coast cruise ship 'car park'?Cruise liners are anchored off the South West coast because they quite simply have nowhere else to go

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Born in Bradford works with pupils to monitor air pollution THE Born in Bradford (BiB) research programme, based at Bradford Royal Infirmary, is set to start a new project with local primary schoolchildren to measure levels of pollution and how it affects health.

Bristol Live

• Bristol mayor urges Government to slam brakes on e-scootersA huge trial is set to start making the two-wheelers legal to ride in Bristol and Bath for the first time

Manchester Evening News

• Future of controversial HS2 spur which could affect 'thousands of homes' still up in the air despite major oppositionThe future of plans for a controversial section of the HS2 railway line is still up in the air despite strong opposition from residents.

Metro

• Flexi tickets ‘way forward on our safe railways’TRAINS are now ‘one of the safest ways to travel’ and flexi tickets could be the way to tempt commuters back, industry bosses have said.

The York Press

• Now you can recycle your coffee cups at York Station DISPOSABLE cup recycling stands have been introduced at York Station - making it easier for customers to recycle while on the move.

Cambridge News

• Almost 400 job losses feared at Stansted under cost-cutting plansFull-time posts under threat include security officers, engineers, customer service staff, bus drivers and car park attendants

Carlisle News & Star

• Carlisle could be ‘on the HS2 map’The Government has for the first time signalled that it is considering making Carlisle a major stopping point for the transformative High Speed 2 rail project.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Calls for cameras on 40mph road after 12 drivers caught speeding including one doing 94mphCalls have been made for cameras to be installed on a road notorious for its speeding after police caught 12 drivers breaking the 40mph limit - including two topping 90mph.
• Bike storage could be boosted in town ‘to support increase in cycling’Better bike storage for Bury St Edmunds has not been forgotten about, a council has said, as it moves to address concerns over new lanes to boost cycling and walking.

Other Regional Press

• Londoners will 'soon be told to only use London Underground and buses for essential travel' due to soaring coronavirus ratesIt would be a return to the lockdown measures for London's transport network not seen since restrictions were eased in early July
• JLR reveals latest number of positive Covid-19 cases as testing startsThe testing is available at the car maker's Solihull and Halewood plants

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach appoints new Managing DirectorStagecoach has announced the appointment of Carla Stockton-Jones as its new UK Managing Director, succeeding Mark Threapleton who retired this summer. Carla becomes the first woman to head a major private sector multi-modal public transport operation in the UK and will report directly to Stagecoach Chief Executive Martin Griffiths.
• Easy AccessThe Yutong TC9 is one of Pelican Bus and Coach’s success stories, but as Richard Sharman found out in a test drive just prior to the Covid-19 lockdown measures beginning, improvements have been made to recent TC9s and a new PSVAR version is now available
• Adapting to the new normal: How National Express became Covid-safeThe coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect across the industry. Jonathan Welch spoke to National Express about how the company has handled the outbreak and disruption to its services
• Stagecoach West initiates rapid repaint programmeStagecoach West operates a substantial fleet of coaches and buses in the West of England. Richard Sharman looks at how the OpCo is bringing the new group image to its operating area so quickly
• CPT highlights missed opportunity but welcomes ongoing Government supportResponding to the announcement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak of an ongoing plan by the government to support jobs after the end of the furlough scheme, CPT Head of Policy Alison Edwards said:
• GNE invests £3m in new buses for Easington Lane servicesGo North East has invested £3m in 13 new buses for its express X1 service between Easington Lane and Newcastle, serving Hetton-le-Hole, Houghton-le-Spring, Shiney Row, Washington Galleries, Wrekenton and Gateshead.
• £1m to improve bus services across Peterborough and CambridgeshireThe Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CaPCA) is to resume work on its Bus Reform Project, which started in May 2019, according to Peterborough Today.
• CPT warns Lords committee 27,000 jobs at risk in coach sectorGraham Vidler, Confederation of Passenger Transport’s (CPT) Chief Executive, appeared before the Economic Affairs Committee on 29 September alongside Andy Bagnall of Rail Delivery Group, Rt Hon Norman Baker of Campaign for Better Transport, and Robert Griggs of Airlines UK, to discuss the impact Covid-19 has had on employment in the transport sector.
• eCitaro G with new battery technology headlines latest developments from Mercedes-Benz BusesThe latest announcements from the German manufacturer include a new all-electric eCitaro G with solid-state batteries, Intouro inter-city bus and new Sprinter City 75 minibus

New Civil Engineer

• TfL boss wants five-year funding stream to repair ‘shattered’ coffersTransport for London (TfL) commissioner Andy Byford is aiming to broker a deal with central government to secure a five-year funding agreement for the Capital’s cash-strapped transport operator.
• Fate of Heathrow third runway in judge’s hands after Supreme Court showdownA Supreme Court judge will have the final say on the Heathrow third runway proposal as the airport operator locked horns with environmentalists over expansion plans.
• Calls for full HS2 route commitment as fears mount over eastern leg to LeedsThe government has been urged to commit to the full High Speed 2 (HS2) route, amid fears that the eastern leg to Leeds could be delayed or axed completely.

Rail Advent

• Greater Anglia amends Class 720 order from Bombardier to increase flexibilityGreater Anglia has told RailAdvent that it is currently amending its order with Bombardier regarding their Class 720 trains.

Railnews

• HS2 eastern spur to Leeds ˜in doubt™ as Manchester takes the lead Doubts are growing about the future of the eastern branch of HS2 to the East Midlands and Yorkshire, after HS2 and Northern Powerhouse minister Andrew Stephenson said the government was ˜considering the best approach to get the most benefit for Leeds, the North East, and the East Midlands™, while also ˜prioritising development of the western leg into Manchester™. His statement triggered a warning from Andrew Adonis, who was transport secretary when he first unveiled plans for high speed lines more than a decade ago. Lord Adonis wrote on Twitter that ˜the whole eastern side of England, without...
• Rail passenger totals fall back to 1850s levels The number of people travelling by train has fallen back to levels last recorded at the end of the 1850s, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. New statistics from the Office of Rail and Road have revealed that 35 million journeys are estimated to have been made in the first quarter of 2020-21. This is a decrease of more than 400 million compared to the same quarter last year, demonstrating the effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on passenger numbers. The annual equivalent total would be in the region of 140 million.
• RMT prepares for second Caledonian Sleeper strike The union has warned that its second 48-hour strike on Caledonian Sleeper is set to go ahead on Sunday, having accused the sleeper operator SERCO of a ˜point blank refusal to engage in talks™.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Go live dates for Bath and Birmingham CAZs announcedClean Air Zones (CAZs) in each of Bath and Birmingham will each go live in the first half of 2021, it has been confirmed.
• Second batch of Enviro400ER hybrids arrive at Brighton and Hove BusesThe first of a second batch of Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400ER hybrid buses has arrived at Brighton and Hove Buses.
• Newport set to begin squadron e-bus service with Yutong fleetSquadron service of electric buses in Wales will commence on Monday 12 October after the delivery of 14 more Yutong E12 models to Newport Transport. They will complement a seed E12 that has been in use with the municipal operator since 2019.
• Cresta Coaches contributes to Bridgend virtual fam productionCresta Coaches assisted with the creation of a ‘virtual group travel fam trip’ of Bridgend County in South Wales that is currently in production by providing a vehicle for inclusion in filming.
• StreetDeck FCEV debuts in Aberdeen: The start of the ‘hydrogen economy’?The first zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell-electric double-decker bus has arrived in Aberdeen.
• uTrack and Go-Ahead Ireland partner to create ‘late running requests’ featureuTrack Software solutions has partnered with Go-Ahead Ireland to produce a brand-new ‘late running requests’ feature for the bus company’s employee app. The feature is designed to improve efficiency and communication between drivers and managers.
• Additional home-to-school funding in England is extendedFunding provided by the Department for Education (DfE) for additional dedicated home-to-school transport services in England will be extended to the end of the autumn term, it has been confirmed.
• Stagecoach Manchester delivers ‘bus load’ of supplies to local food banksStagecoach has partnered with charity Forever Manchester to provide supplies to five food banks across the region.

Trafnidiaeth Cymru [Transport for Wales]

• Transport for Wales and Network Rail to deliver improvements at Swansea stationTransport for Wales and Network Rail are working together to deliver major improvements to Swansea station for rail passengers.

Transport Network

• Ministers absent as Heathrow runway appeal is heardHeathrow Airport has begun a Supreme Court appeal against a ruling earlier this year that the Government’s support for a third runway was unlawful.

Other News Sources

• British Airways 747 farewell: Watch Queen of the Skies leave Heathrow for the final timeBritish Airways' final two Heathrow based Boeing 747 aircrafts have departed the airport