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

Sunday, 25 October 2020

BBC News

• Solihull HS2 bridge lowered into placeThe bridge will form part of a new road network being built in preparation for HS2.
• Coronavirus: Support for taxi, coach and bus firms 'brought forward'The infrastructure minister has been given powers needed to 'urgently' administer funding package.

The Guardian

• Why the row over congestion charge expansion could tear London apartNo 10 and the mayor are at loggerheads over how to fill a hole in the capital’s transport budget. But is it a £2bn game of bluff?In its 17 years of operation, the London congestion charge had become a relatively uncontroversial fact of life; few motorists now assert the right to travel for free into the crowded eight square miles at the heart of the capital city.But now that zone could be expanded far and wide: right out to the orbital roads that ring the inner boroughs – the North and South Circular – used by hundreds of thousands of cars a day. Continue reading...

The Herald

• Anger as Scotland's ferry fleet deemed too 'big for islands and a taxpayer burden'FERRY users have joined forces to condemn the design of the nation's lifeline ferries saying they are too big for the islands they serve and are overburdening the taxpayer.

The Independent

• Police to stop drivers leaving Wales during 'firebreak' lockdown despite lack of enforcement powersPolice in England are patrolling routes out of Wales to stop vehicles leaving the country, despite not having powers to enforce its “firebreak” lockdown.
• Brexit: Workers turn 27-acre Kent field into 2,000-vehicle lorry parkFacility nicknamed Farage Garage is just one of 29 such sites being created across England

Times Online

• TV naturalist Chris Packham rooting for trees as he puts an axe into HS2 [Subscription]Television naturalist Chris Packham has compared the destruction of ancient British woodland to the demise of the Amazon rainforest — while singling out a Scottish conservation project as a model of excellence.
• Free travel might lure Covid-concerned Scots back on to trains and buses [Subscription]Scots could be offered free bus and train travel to get people back into the habit of using public transport, after a collapse in use due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Daily Record

• Travel chaos as Scots roads flooded and trains cancelled as rain batters countryCops were called to Glasgow's M8 to drain flood water and ScotRail have cancelled a series of train services due to flooding.

This is Money

• Torsus unveils the most extreme school bus on the planetKitted out with long-travel suspension, chunky off-road tyres and a chassis that can withstand blows from harsh terrains, it can take 35 kids on the most challenging school runs.
• Tesla unleashes 'Full Self-Driving Beta' - but with raft of safety warningsThe US car maker will release the technology to a few select customers before expanding its availability 'extremely slowly and cautiously, as it should' at a an cost of $2,000.
• No-frills airline Wizz Air plots swoop for 1 in 5 Gatwick flightsIt agreed a €3billion financing package and now hopes to expand its UK business by taking over airport slots from rival airlines after opening new bases at Gatwick and Doncaster Sheffield.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Call for West Yorkshire Councils to encourage the take up of greener vehiclesA LEEDS councillor has called on neighbouring local authorities such as Bradford to do more to encourage taxi and private hire vehicle drivers to switch to environmentally-friendly vehicles.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Airbus plane on world's longest flight - beating previous record by a very small marginSingapore Airlines will fly the A350-900 for over 8,000 nautical miles in 19 hour flight

Northern Echo

• £100m station revamp could double local train servicesOFFICIALS behind plans for a £100m-plus transformation of Darlington’s Bank Top Station have confirmed it will remain the only one on the East Coast Mainline without a platform specifically for the London to Scotland service.

Cambridge News

• Speed cameras are back on the A14 and starting to become operationalGone are the days of the 40mph average speed cameras on the A14

Get Surrey

• A vintage steam train is passing through Surrey this Christmas and you can go on itThe magical festive journey will take you to Bath's alternative Christmas market

Reading Evening Post

• Heathrow Airport flight destinations with no quarantine on your returnThe government continues to update its list of countries in the travel corridor
• Heathrow Airport launches rapid Covid-19 test before you flyThere are hopes the tests at Terminals 2 and 5 will allow more people to travel abroad safely

Other Regional Press

• JLR round-up: The six-wheeled Range Rover, Formula E deal and moreAll the latest news on Britain's biggest car maker

Other News Sources

• Hereford has worst traffic in living memory I CONGRATULATE Herefordshire Council for strengthening the case supporting urgent construction of the Hereford bypass.
• A3 Hindhead Tunnel will close for 18 nights from next week for technology upgrade works See the full details of the upcoming overnight closures that road users should be aware of

EIN News Subscription

• Police and drivers need to do more to keep our roads open: Opinion, Struan Stevenson … across the whole of the EU, motorways and autobahns are still … autobahns are amongst the fastest roads in Europe. On many … In addition, unlike Scotland, the roads in Germany are well maintained … The end result is safer roads, better drivers, fewer accidents …
• Berlin Tegel: Farewell to the airport that wouldn't die … the longest in Europe at the time. The first plane, a USAF … and to Tegel. All passengers had to use the airport's original … from the curb and the airplane from the check-in counter … on an attempt by Palestinian terrorists to hijack it in 1970 …
• New Airport, Beleaguered Symbol of ‘Irreverent’ Berlin, Is Opening at Long Last … of the “most modern airport in Europeâ€� arrived in the … volunteers pose as passengers, testing the airport staff on everything … dragging suitcases through security. One pretend-passenger had lost her … no longer be Europe’s most modern airport, he conceded, …
• British Airways owner IAG cuts more flights after €1.3bn quarterly loss … €920m forecast by analysts, as passenger numbers plunged and it struggled … Covid-19 infections spreads across Europe, airlines are facing a bleak winter … date — for failing to protect data that left more than 400 …