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

Sunday, 01 November 2020

BBC News

• Leeds station to close for weekend engineering worksServices at Leeds railway station are to be disrupted by work to create its first new platform for 20 years. Some platforms will be closed and the whole station - the UK's third-busiest outside London - is to shut just before midnight on Saturday into Sunday morning, according to Network Rail.
• Lockdown in Wales: 'Increase' in cross border rail travelPeople travelled over the border into England for "non-essential" reasons during the first weekend of the second lockdown, rail bosses have said.
• Bombardier: Spirit takes over as industry looks to the futureDoes the key to support for the aerospace industry lie in an investment fund?

Financial Times

• Container shortage exposes India’s struggle to recover from virusRebound in exports but a dramatic fall in imports results in ‘considerable imbalance’

The Telegraph

• Heathrow owner warns of ‘propping up airport’ [subscription]The airport faces a cash crunch after its regulator denied its bid to up airport charges by £1.7bn
• Green roads council becomes first to be taken to court as campaigners say they acted illegally [subscription]Residents in Ealing, West London, claim their local authority has breached planning regulations
• Bury the hatchet with Sadiq Khan to keep Tube running, Boris Johnson told [subscription]Ministers have been urged to set aside their differences with Sadiq Khan and agree emergency funding to keep London’s public transport network running during an expected second lockdown.
• New travel restrictions confirmed as part of national lockdown [subscription]England is set to enter another national lockdown, Boris Johnson has confirmed, putting an end to recreational travel. While the Prime Minister made no mention of the rules on international travel, reports ahead of the press conference this evening suggested there would be a specific ban.

Times Online

• Stay-at-home edict sends aviation industry into fresh tailspin [subscription]Hotel tycoon Surinder Arora had a plan to attract business and leisure travellers back to his Sofitel at Heathrow airport: a £179 “test and rest” deal, where guests could enjoy a night’s stay and a Covid-19 test before flying, with breakfast thrown in.

Sky News

• TfL and ministers eye six-month funding deal as deadline loomsTalks are taking place about a deal that would guarantee funding for services until next April, Sky News learns.

Birmingham Mail

• Remembering Digbeth Coach StationSince the last coach left the vast smoky warehouse on November 12 2007, the now clean, smart, efficient Birmingham Coach Station which opened on December 18 2009, is a long cry from the old depot.Memories of queuing in the vast interchange, with buses and coaches coming form all directions, and every coach left bang on the hour, as they all jostled to get out of the exit onto Mill Lane and then onto Digbeth High Street. Fond memories of visiting loved ones going from the base in the old dangerous, polluted and smelly centre, and yet it had a wonderful charm and somewhat romantic feel to it.Bui...

Birmingham Post

• E-scooters arrive in Bristol and BathThe 12-month trial will see 60 jobs created in the region
• Accrington-based transport firm expands into Heathrow with Ontraccs acquisitionFounded in 2015, Ontraccs provides missed-flight connection services to airlines and ground handling organisations, mainly at Heathrow airport

Manchester Evening News

• The new Manchester Airport drop-off and pick-up fees as prices rise'Like any business faced with such challenges, it has been necessary to look realistically at how we can plan our recovery from the biggest crisis ever faced by our industry'

Wales Online

• Why crashes keep happening under this bridge in SwanseaVehicles keep crashing into a railway bridge in Swansea because people who live locally "keep chancing it", it has been claimed.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Michael Fabricant joins Stop HS2 protestors in FradleyProtestors and the Lichfield MP walked from Fradley Junction to Ancient Woodlands in Fradley being torn down by HS2 today.

Doncaster Free Press

• Borough's Tory MP urges Government rethink on rejected Doncaster Sheffield Airport rail link and stationTory MP Nick Fletcher has urged his Government to think again after Ministers rejected a plan to construct a rail link and station at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Other Regional Press

• Portsmouth's Victorian railway features to get 'vital' engineering attentionA MAJOR overhaul of Portsmouth’s railway network is in the pipeline for next year, it has been announced.

The Economist

• Californians vote on the future of UberIf they reject the gig companies ballot initiative, a business model will need rethinking

Rail Advent

• Additional closure of Barmouth Bridge announcedThe closure for the upgrade of Barmouth Bridge, which is costing £25m, is set to be increased by 48 hours to allow more work to be completed whilst passenger numbers are low due to the firebreak lockdown.

Railnews

• Government under fire as TfL countdown continues The Prime Minister has been sent a letter by a coalition of organisations, calling on him to end his governmen's ˜attack on Transport for London. Time is running out for a decision on TfL funding, with the deadline now barely 48 hours away for the Government to decide what it will require the Mayor to do in return for further support. In return for help, the Government wants TfL to move ahead with developing driverless trains, increasing fares and the congestion charge, and reducing travel concessions.

Other News Sources

• Holiday air travel from England to be suspendedInternational holiday air travel is to be suspended in England from Thursday 5th November under new lockdown measures announced by the UK’s prime minister Boris Johnson.
• Full Barrow to Manchester airport service may not resume until 2021A FULL Barrow to Manchester Airport train service might not return until next year. The conclusions came during a meeting of the Transport for the North’s Rail North Committee.
• London Underground: Weekend closures for Saturday October 31 and November 1 as tube roundels get poppy makeoverLondon has now been in Tier 2 for several weeks, meaning no mixing of households indoors.