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

Friday, 11 December 2020

BBC News

• Brexit: 'Unacceptable risk' Wales' ports not readyMPs say there is
• Electric car battery plant for Blyth power station siteBritishvolt says the £2.6bn plant will be the largest industrial investment in the North East for years.
• Edinburgh Airport boss criticises FM's summer holiday adviceGordon Dewar criticises Nicola Sturgeon's warning that she would not book a summer break
• London bus drivers in strike vote over payThe Unite union is to ballot its members after receiving

Financial Times

• UK’s first gigafactory to provide £2.6bn boost for ‘red wall’ townBattery production centre to create thousands of jobs and boost prospects of homegrown electric car industry
• Losses narrow at FirstGroup as demand in US risesBritish transport company remains in talks to sell North American business to pay down debt
• Boeing’s 737 Max prepares for long haul to recoveryJet’s return to skies closes dire chapter and reignites competition in hottest segment of aviation market

The Guardian

• UK business travellers to EU 'face fines' over post-Brexit permitsIndustry leaders warn those doing service work as well as visiting conferences will be affected
• EU makes fishing and transport no-deal offers in return for 'level playing field'Bloc would allow access to UK hauliers and airlines for six months if overall deal not reached

The Herald

• £3m Grangemouth rail freight extension will help ease Brexit hold-upsSCOTLAND’S largest container port is investing £3 million in its rail freight operation ahead of Brexit to help maintain an “efficient free flowing supply chain.”

The Telegraph

• Our crumbling ports mean post-Brexit Britain may fall at the first hurdle [subscription]Chronic under-investment in crucial trading infrastructure does not bode well for a difficult exit from the EU
• EU's no-deal contingency plans: How they will affect UK, from flights to road travel [subscription]Ursula von der Leyen, the EU chief, set out plans for emergency legal agreements to keep planes flying to the UK and lorries crossing
• TfL spending millions on bonuses despite cash crisis and bailouts [subscription]City Hall Tories argued the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, should have deferred the payment of all bonuses awarded in 2019/20

Times Online

• Grangemouth: Port lets train take more strain with £3m upgrade [subscription]Scotland’s largest port is spending £3 million to upgrade rail infrastructure and help the smooth transport of goods.
• Pollution: air quality has become a casualty of the Covid culture war [subscription]Covid and climate change are not just health and environmental emergencies. They are, for a small but determined constituency, also part of a broader culture war. To what degree does the state have the right, obligation even, to restrict our movements for a greater good?
• First Group could face £250m bill for ticket to keep railway contracts [subscription]First Group could be forced to pay the Treasury nearly £250 million to stay on the railways, it has emerged.
• Reopening Hammersmith Bridge could be a national disaster, council tells government [subscription]A row erupted today over the possible reopening of a Victorian road bridge amid claims that the move could lead to a “national disaster”.
• Rail revival plan to connect southwest [subscription]Plans have been drawn up to resurrect an old railway line across the north of Dartmoor to prevent Devon and Cornwall being cut off from the rest of England.

City AM

• E-scooter firm Pure Electric to open stores in Paris and Madrid in European expansionE-scooter firm Pure Electric is set to open new stores in Paris and Madrid as part of a 20-store expansion The post E-scooter firm Pure Electric to open stores in Paris and Madrid in European expansion appeared first on CityAM.

Birmingham Mail

• West Midlands Metro one mile extension to Digbeth 'could be ready by 2025'The latest West Midlands Metro tram extension is a mile long and will cost £227 million.

Birmingham Post

• North East picked for 8,000 job electric battery gigaplantThe £2.6bn Britishvolt plant marks the biggest investment in the region since the Nissan plant construction in 1984

London Evening Standard

• South London cycle lane to be ‘renamed’ Maurice Burton Way in honour of Britain’s first black cycling championA cycle route in south London is to be “renamedâ€� after Britain’s first black cycling champion racer.
• Southeastern and Thameslink services delayed or cancelled after assault on train at Plumstead stationRush-hour trains into London have been cancelled or delayed after numerous people were assaulted on a train in Greenwich.

Sheffield Star

• Growing calls for rail investment in Sheffield after decades in the sidingsA train derailment in Sheffield shows just how poor the city’s rail network is after decades without ‘significant investment.’

Cambridge News

• New electric bikes to be launched in two Cambs citiesThe company is trialling electric scooters in Cambridge right now too.

Other Regional Press

• Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on projects in the North including Northumberland rail lineTransport Secretary says investment continued during pandemic but promises renewed focus as health crisis comes to an end
• Concerns raised over plans to make TfL stations cashlessWatford's mayor has called on Transport for London (TfL) to scrap its plan to make all of its stations cashless.
• 'It's not a relic': Leaders agree Transporter Bridge should reopenThe 109-year-old bridge has been closed since August 2019 due to serious safety concerns and would cost £7m to fully reopen
• Arriva bus service changes in Nuneaton and HinckleyThey come into force in the New Year

Bus and Coach.com

• Transdev Witchway route gets ‘Sky Class’ Enviro400 fleetTransdev will launch 14 high-specification ‘Sky Class’ Alexander Dennis (ADL) Enviro400s onto its Witchway service between Burnley and Manchester on Sunday 13 December. They represent an investment of £3.8m and will be operated by The Burnley Bus Company.

Coach and Bus Week

• Revitalising South YorkshireFirst’s operations in South Yorkshire are being reinvigorated, with the help of a new locally-derived image. Jonathan Welch speaks to Managing Director Nigel Eggleton to find out more
• The Coach Driver’s KnowledgeAlan Payling has a look through a new publication that will test how much the professional tour drivers in the industry really know about the country’s road network and its history
• Blazing aheadIn the first of a two-part interview, Blazefield co-founder Giles Fearnley speaks to Jonathan Welch about his life and times in the bus industry

Railnews

• Two franchises abolished for good, as First and DfT agree terms The former Avanti West Coast and South Western Railway franchises will become management contracts when the present Emergency Recovery Measures Agreements come to an end. The move marks a further step towards abolishing the old-style franchises. FirstGroup, which is the majority shareholder in both contracts, said the changeover would come for South Western Railway at the end of March 2021, and for Avanti West Coast at the end of March 2022.
• Passenger figures increased when lockdowns were eased The Office of Rail and Road says 134 million journeys were made in the second quarter of the year, an increase of almost 100 million on the previous three months, when the first lockdowns began. Even so, the number in Q2 was less than a third of the ˜normal™ total for the same quarter in 2019. Off-peak tickets were used on nearly half the journeys in the second quarter, and the Rail Delivery Group has reacted to the latest figures by supporting the introduction of more flexible season tickets.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• 180 further ADL Enviro400ER ordered by Ireland’s NTAIreland’s National Transport Authority has ordered a further 180 zero-emission capable Alexander Dennis Enviro400ER double-deckers. The announcement was made when it unveiled the first of an initial batch of 100 of the type.
• Wish you could Hear postcard campaign engages with MPThe Wish you could Hear postcard campaign that aims to highlight the plight of the coach industry to elected representatives has succeeded in engaging with Morley and Outwood MP Andrea Jenkyns.
• £6m Scottish coach industry support package is welcomedNews that the coach industry in Scotland will benefit from almost £6m of support from the Scottish Government has been welcomed. The backing forms part of a wider £185m package for businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that was announced by Finance Secretary Kate Forbes MSP on 9 December.
• Electric water pump technology on hybrid and electric busesImperial Engineering explains the application of electric water pump technology being used in new hybrid and electric buses

Transport Network

• We can do better than central govt' on emissions, local leaders sayLocal and regional leaders representing around a third of the population of England and Scotland have committed to going ‘further and faster’ than central government to eliminate net carbon emissions.

Other News Sources

• Why are we spending so much on cycle lanes Herefordshire Council plan to waste more tax payers' money on one of the quietest and widest streets in the city. They intend to use £300,000 towards providing a contraflow lane for cyclists along St Owen Street, with enhanced pedestrian crossing points including a controlled crossing. Where are these cyclists and pedestrians coming from and going to?