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

Friday, 18 December 2020

BBC News

• Holyhead Port queues 'partly due to pre-Brexit stockpiling'Holyhead Port has seen 20% increase in traffic because firms are shifting more goods than normal.
• Brexit: Firms stockpiling over Brexit border 'anxiety'A Wales-Ireland ferry route sees its busiest-ever three weeks as businesses prepare for 1 January.
• Lockerbie bombing: New suspect soon to be charged - US mediaThe US will announce charges against a suspected bomb-maker behind the 1988 disaster, US media report.
• Port of Dover facing 'unnecessary holdups' on 1 JanuaryThe company managing the port says lack of government support will make the transition
• Electric cars will leave hole in tax revenues, says TreasuryThe Treasury says taxes must rise or services cut to compensate for the loss of fuel tax income.

Financial Times

• FedEx results show scale of online shopping boomLogistics group reports record quarterly sales in lead-up to holiday season amid pandemic

The Guardian

• How 2020 became the year of the walkerFirst we could only go out for an hour a day, so relished that escape. As the year wore on, walking came to represent life, liberty and health, both physical and mentalForget, just for a moment, the restrictions placed on all our lives by the Virus and reflect on how this has become the Year of the Walker. If such a thing looked unlikely in the deep lockdown of the sunnier months, it makes sense in the sharp light of these winter days.Yes, we’ve cut right down on trains and buses, as the edicts on confined spaces said we should. Shocking for the national economy, but surely good for personal h...

The Huffington Post

• Ports Firm Advised By Chris Grayling 'Wins £35m' Brexit Cash As Others Get 'Next To Nothing'

Times Online

• Big demand for coronavirus quarantine shortcut tests (subscription)At least 10,000 passengers a day are using the government’s early release quarantine system, despite initial flaws.
• ’Scalextric’ roads to charge electric cars on the go (subscription)The first “Scalextric-style” road that can charge electric cars as they go could soon be built in Coventry
• Signature Aviation in talks over £3.2 takeover as bidders circle (subscription)Shares in Signature Aviation rose sharply yesterday after the company revealed that it has received two competing takeover offers

Mail Online

• Victoria introduces traffic light system for entry from New South WalesHealth Minister Martin Foley on Friday announced the new 'traffic light system' for NSW arrivals will come into effect from midnight in the wake of the outbreak growing to 27 cases.
• Toy stores urge government to 'save Christmas' and ease chaos at UK portsThe British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA), the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) want the Government to intervene at Felixstowe and Southampton.
• UK has slashed carbon output more than any other country this century, report reveals The nation had the highest long-term reduction in its greenhouse gas output as carbon emissions fell by 3.7 per cent every year, according to accounting firm PwC.
• Self-driving car owners will NOT face crash blame for accidents, experts sayDrivers will be renamed 'users-in-charge' when automated vehicles hit UK roads and will not be criminally liable if there is a crash, Government law experts have proposed in a new report.

The Mirror

• A third of travellers fear using busy transport hubs over the Christmas periodMany people are worried about mass travel when 'infrastructure will struggle to cope and social distancing will be more difficult,' says travel think tank Thrive

This is Money

• What are the most reliable car brands to own in 2020?To understand which brands produce the longest-lasting vehicles, What Car? polled almost 13,000 UK drivers about the reliability of their motors - even those that are up to 20 years old.
• MARKET REPORT: Bill Gates in the money as Blackstone eyes jet firmThe private jet services group - previously known as BBA Aviation - is one of the lesser-known firms on the FTSE 250 index. But it caught the eye of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates back in 2009.
• BT Openreach to take on 2,500 extra engineers and use electric vansAs it ramps up the roll-out of fibre broadband, Openreach said the expansion next year will mean the second-largest fleet in the country will be electric by 2030, helping to cut carbon emissions.

Birmingham Mail

• Three driving mistakes which could get you fined at ChristmasTo help drivers stay safe on the roads, Uswitch have answered confusing Christmas driving questions that often leave Brits baffled

Bolton News

• Claims Bolton to Wigan rail electrification "hanging in the balance"CLAIMS have been made that rail infrastructure projects, including the electrification of the track between Bolton and Wigan, are hanging in the balance after the Government revealed a plan to cut £1bn from Network Rail’s enhancement budget.
• Tram tracks around the Britannia, Bolton Wanderers old HQTHIS great picture from the archives show a team of workmen putting new tram tracks down on the junction with Derby Street.
• Councillors mixed reaction over Bolton's new cycle lanesPlans for new cycle lanes in the borough have been met with mixed reviews by councillors.

Bristol Live

• easyJet confirms new routes from Bristol to Greece next yeareasyJet launches two new routes which were originally postponed by the pandemic
• M5 traffic updates amid 'amber' Met Office warningMet Office warnings in place for around 20 hours which could affect travel on M4, M42, M48, M50, A30, A38, A303 and other key routes

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Why Gwynedd Council won't get to keep £80,000 compensation over fake bus journey scamFormer Express Motors owners were in court this week as prosecutors tried to claw back almost £500,000 of their criminally acquired cash and assets
• The three reasons behind huge A55 tailbacks for traffic heading to Holyhead PortDrivers had to endure massive delays on the routes leading to the port
• A55 stretch hit by Holyhead Port delays will no longer be closed due to weatherTraffic Wales said the westbound carriageway was going to be closed at Valley

London Evening Standard

• £15 congestion charge likely to remain in place for another 15 months and could become permanentThe £15 congestion charge is likely to remain in place for another 15 months and could become permanent, London transport chiefs have revealed.
• Best GPS trackers for carsDude, there’s your car. These GPS trackers can pinpoint a vehicle’s location via apps and SMS.
• Port boss says millions of pounds in funding needed to prevent increased hold ups after Brexit Port of Dover’s chief executive has called for millions of pounds of financial support from the Government as Brexit approaches.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• The new North Tyneside Metro Depot ready to welcome the new £362m train fleetIn 2022 the first new Metros built in Switzerland will arrive in Howdon as the Gosforth depot in Newcastle is rebuilt

Northern Echo

• Weardale Railway roles out safety campaign ahead of repairsA HERITAGE railway has launched a safety campaign in the wake of essential repair works on the tracks.

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Two new cycle routes to be built in Wolverhampton thanks to £1 million fundTwo new cycle routes will be built along major roads in Wolverhampton next year after the council secured more than £1 million in government funding.

Get Surrey

• Surrey drivers slapped with 1,000s of speeding tickets during lockdown according to DVLA Across the UK, two in every three motorists is believed to have broken the law

North Wales Live

• Liverpool Airport to begin coronavirus testing in car parkIn the future, returning passengers may be able to reduce quarantine to just five days

Peterborough Telegraph

• Claims that Peterborough and Cambridgeshire missed out on £500k of travel funding due to ’botched’ bid.Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has missed out on more than £500,000 in funds for active travel after a “botched bid” by the Combined Authority mayor, the county’s Labour Party claims.

Other Regional Press

• Take to the skies over Southampton with the UK's first airline bar experienceMILE High, thought to be the UK's first airline bar experience, has landed in Southampton.
• No-deal Brexit could cost 'hundreds of millions' say Mini Plant owners BMW THE car company which owns Oxford's Mini Plant has warned a no-deal Brexit would cost it 'hundreds of millions' of Euros.
• What repainting ailing Transporter Bridge will cost in next 6 yearsCouncil papers have provided more detail on the two options being considered for the Grade II*-listed bridge
• Council pledges to crack down on builders who leave mud on roadsIt can cause a hazard with cars skidding on the mud

C.N.N.

• Russian airline designates plane seats for passengers who refuse to wear masksRussian airline Aeroflot has announced it will designate specific seats on board its planes for passengers who refuse to wear masks.
• 1,000 people stuck overnight in Japan traffic jam stretching 9 miles longMore than 1,000 people in Japan spent Thursday night stuck on a highway in their cars, waiting out a traffic jam with little food or water during a heavy snowstorm.

The Economist

• Will Brexit cause disruption in Britain's ports?Imports are unlikely to be affected, but exports may well be

New Civil Engineer

• Western Rail Link to Heathrow pushed back againProposals to build a £900M western rail link to Heathrow Airport have been delayed by several years.
• Silvertown Tunnel | TfL to assess impact of Congestion Charge extensionTransport for London (TfL) will carry out a new traffic analysis for the Silvertown Tunnel to assess the impact of extending the Congestion Charge’s operating hours.
• Review chief’s HS2 support driven by £9bn sunk costs and ’fragile’ state of construction sectorThe chair of the government-ordered review of High Speed 2 (HS2) based his recommendations on the amount of money already spent on the project, the tough position the UK construction industry found itself in and because property along the route had already been acquired.

Railnews

• Covid outbreak triggers GWR cancellations Train services between London and south west England have been cut back because of an outbreak of Covid-19. GWR said the number of cases affecting staff is ˜significant™.

Other News Sources

• Britain's Retail Industry Demands Probe of Disruption at PortsBritain's retailers and food manufacturers have called on lawmakers to urgently investigate ongoing disruption at UK ports, warning that delays were hurting their plans to build stocks ahead of Christmas and the December 31 end of the Brexit
• LETTER: Welcome boost for facilities for cyclists in WinchesterSIR: It is certainly welcome to read that Winchester is finally aiming to increase facilities for cyclists. Having been a regular city cyclist in my daily life here for over 35 years, I long for improvement. The introduction of electric bikes will also increase cycling possibilities in our hilly city.
• Thousands more cars are owned by people in Winchester than a decade agoTHOUSANDS more cars are owned by people in Winchester than a decade ago, new figures show.
• Net-zero impact on UK economy to be 'relatively small', Treasury findsThe HM Treasury has published a final report in the build-up to a Net-Zero Spending Review, claiming that the transition to meeting the UK's long-term climate goals could deliver "slightly positive or slightly negative" economic growth for the UK, depending on how decisive policy action is.
• Newhaven Port granted £6.2m for new border facilities after Brexit transitionA PORT will receive more than £6 million to build new border infrastructure for trading processes after Brexit.
• Brighton and Hove vision: low traffic neighbourhoodPEOPLE in Hanover had the first glimpse of what a low-traffic neighbourhood might look like before a pilot scheme planned for the area next summer.