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

Friday, 20 November 2020

BBC News

• Call to reopen Welsh railway used in Prince Charles investitureA railway line used in Prince Charles' investiture at Caernarfon in 1969 should be considered for reopening, a Member of the Senedd has said.
• Covid: What are the rules for winter holidays and going abroad?International travel is very restricted at the moment, but a potential vaccine has boosted hopes.
• Coronavirus: Dublin Airport Covid tests available at airportThe first of two sites will opened on Thursday, while a second is scheduled to open on Monday.
• Maybach: Strong sales in China drive double salesThe luxury car brand owned by Daimler wants to tap into China's ambitious electric vehicle targets.
• Port troubles leave UK bookseller with no booksCongestion at Felixstowe Port in Suffolk is proving a major headache for importers before Christmas.

The Guardian

• Megaprojects risk pushing forests past tipping point – reportHuge road, energy and mining projects driving into heart of world’s remaining forestsInfrastructure megaprojects risk pushing the world’s remaining forests past a “dangerous tipping pointâ€� and making climate targets unachievable, a report says.Tens of thousands of miles of roads and railways are planned alongside mines and dams, opening up the forests of South America, south-east Asia and central Africa to destruction, according to the report by a coalition of 25 research and conservation organisations called the New York Declaration on Forests Assessment Partners. Today, almost half of all la...

The Telegraph

• Private jets will be the 'new normal' for the elite post-lockdown 2.0Clean, luxurious and time-efficient, charter companies are seeing a surge in interest in private jet travel when this lockdown is lifted
• 'Lazy' civil servants blamed for £5bn rise in cost of HS2National Audit Office claims bureaucrats 'did not put enough effort' into trying to save money on the project

Times Online

• Abellio and Go-Ahead Group cry foul over rail franchise termination fees [subscription]The Department for Transport has been sharply criticised by train operators for trying to claw back hundreds of millions of pounds from the termination of railway franchises without explaining how the penalties are calculated.

Birmingham Post

• Worcestershire Parkway crowned West Midlands' top civil engineering projectInstitution of Civil Engineers heaps praise on 'highly impressive' first new station in the county for more than a century

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Step forward for future of Northern Powerhouse RailTHERE has been a step forward in Northern Powerhouse Rail as leaders have agreed an initial preferred way forward.

Northern Echo

• Mannequins aim to slow down speeding traffic in villageA VILLAGE'S newest residents have taken to the streets to tackle the issue of speeding motorists.

Nottingham Evening Post

• Call for railcards to be extended after coronavirus transport disruptionAn army veteran wants railcards to be extended in light of months of travel disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Wales Online

• Pictures show how Cardiff Bus station is taking shape during lockdownIt's coming along quickly despite all of the delays

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Police investigating claims HS2 staff used excessive force while restraining protesterPolice are investigating claims HS2 staff used excessive force while restraining a protester in Staffordshire.
• Cut in early-morning train fares to LondonA rail company will allow West Midland passengers to travel to London at off-peak rates on Fridays, starting today.

Yorkshire Post

• Doncaster Sheffield Airport rail link decision makes a mockery of ‘levelling up’ - Dan FellA few weeks ago, The Yorkshire Post managed to spoil a snatched bit of annual leave that I was taking in Brontë Country. My favourite newspaper did this by breaking a story indicating that plans to catalyse growth in our region – via investment into a new Railway Station (Gateway East Rail) serving Doncaster Sheffield Airport and the wider area – had been knocked back by Government.
• Raft of new lines and rail upgrades recommended to Government in 'critical' levelling up componentNorthern leaders have told the Government that significant investment in the region's railways is a "critical" component of levelling up as they recommended sweeping upgrades to routes across Yorkshire and the wider North.

Leeds Live

• Jet2 posts £111m loss and issues 2021 caution despite Covid vaccine hopeFewer than than one million Jet2 passengers flew in the six months to September 30

Reading Evening Post

• M4 closes this weekend on busy stretch for more smart motorwayHighways England is carrying out work as part of the £848m project

Other Regional Press

• Gwynedd MS calls for Bangor to Afonwen rail restoration backingThe Welsh Government has been urged to give its full backing to the potential of re-opening a Gwynedd railway line to improve transport links along the west coast.
• Calls for cycle paths in Burnham-on-Sea to be cleared of debrisA MOTHER is calling on Somerset County Council to clear two cycle paths of debris after she fell off her bike on two separate occasions.
• The strange-looking contraptions taking over BradfordCity council has taken delivery of three e-cargo bikes

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Hauliers get border-ready with 45 new information and advice sitesThis week, 45 information and advice sites have opened across the UK to make sure hauliers have everything they need to prepare for the end of the transition period. The Covid-19-secure sites, which are located at key motorway service stations and truck stops across the UK road network, offer hauliers one-to-one training on the new ‘Check an HGV’ service and upcoming changes to border processes that come into effect at the end of the transition period. The training will be available in up to 13 languages to provide support to hauliers from a range of EU countries. This roll-out fol...

Coach and Bus Week

• NX Group issues latest trading updateNational Express Group has issued its latest trading statement, which includes details of new contract gains by its two recently introduced UK divisions, NEATS and NETS
• Go North East celebrates its network planning and scheduling teams on Transport Planning DayMonday 16 November was Transport Planning Day and Go North East (GNE) got into the spirit by celebrating the hard work that goes on behind the scenes from its network planning and scheduling team.
• Tom Elvidge takes up CEO position at Arrival Mobility in the UKArrival, the vertically integrated technology company that is planning to ‘revolutionise’ the electric vehicle industry, has hired Tom Elvidge as the CEO of Arrival Mobility in the UK, overseeing the growth of Arrival’s mobility service offerings.
• Daimler Buses supplies Setra Covid-19 testing stationDaimler Buses is supporting the fight against the Covid-19 virus by providing a Covid-19 testing bus. In the coming months, the S 416 LE Business inter-city bus that was converted at the manufacturer’s Neu-Ulm site in four weeks will be used by the Huber Group as a mobile testing station at schools, residential care homes and workplaces. “Mobile testing of nursing staff and employees is possible in the bus,” said Thomas Görtler, Business Development Manager at the Mühlhausen-based company which is using the Setra on loan from Daimler Buses.

New Civil Engineer

• Northern Powerhouse Rail submits phasing strategy to governmentNorthern leaders have agreed initial route preferences and a phasing plan for the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) scheme following a Transport for the North (TfN) meeting yesterday.
• Watchdog: Learn from HS2 and Crossrail and avoid fixed costs and ‘unrealistic’ opening datesThe National Audit Office (NAO) has urged future megaproject promoters to avoid the use of fixed costs and specific delivery dates, to avoid last minute delays and cost hikes such as those seen on the Crossrail project.
• Crossrail revised programme ‘already showing delays’Crossrail’s revised programme and schedule is “already showing delays”, according to minutes from the last Sponsor Board meeting.

Railnews

• ˜Ambiguous documentation™ caused Neville Hill collision A head-on collision between an HST and an Intercity Express at Neville Hill depot in Leeds a year ago was caused by poor instructions about the software on board the Intercity Express, according to the RAIB.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• 4,000 zero-emission buses plan to start delivery in 2021The government will invest £120m in 2021 to begin the introduction of its promised 4,000 zero-emission buses. It will also publish the long-anticipated National Bus Strategy early next year. 
• Go-Ahead London places Metrodecker EV orderGo-Ahead London has placed an order with Optare for a batch of 17 battery-electric Metrodecker EV double-deckers. They will operate from Merton depot. The deal is the fifth Metrodecker EV order placed to date. It will take to 108 the number in service by May 2021. 
• Grayson Thermal Systems upgrades cab A/C on 1,200 busesGrayson Thermal Systems has made alterations to the cab air-conditioning systems of 1,200 buses in London to further protect drivers against coronavirus COVID-19. 
• DVSA opens data portal for poor heavy vehicle test availabilityDVSA has launched a service that allows operators to inform it of a lack of availability of heavy vehicle annual test slots. It applies to PCV, LGV and trailer tests in England, Scotland and Wales.
• ‘How to build back better’ Transport Focus examines future of public transport after COVIDResearch conducted by Transport Focus has revealed the pandemic’s impact on public transport users. It aims to offer an insight into how operators can rebuild following coronavirus COVID-19.
• West Yorkshire enhanced bus partnership planning underwayPlans are being developed for a proposed enhanced partnership between bus operators and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) in a move that suggests WYCA’s immediate interest in bus franchising may be waning.

Other News Sources

• London Underground weekend closures: All the tube lines closed n November 21 and 22This weekend, national train lines are disrupted as well as tube lines and London buses
• Plans put forward to revitalise Volk's Railway in BrightonTHERE are proposals to radically change the future of the world’s oldest operating electric railway.
• Most rail passengers are wearing a face covering, trial scheme findsA PILOT scheme to ensure passengers wear a face covering while on trains has led to “almost totalâ€� compliance.