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

Monday, 18 January 2021

BBC News

• Airline industry needs up to another $80bn to survive pandemicThe world's airlines need another $70-$80bn of government aid to get through the pandemic, the industry says.
• Covid: Airport support scheme to open in EnglandThe government is aiming to provide grants by April to mitigate the impact of Covid travel rules.
• Eurostar: Government urged to 'safeguard' rail firm's futureA group of London firms has written to ministers calling for financial support for the rail firm.

Financial Times

• Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launches rocket into spaceSuccessful test puts satellites into orbit eight months after failed first attempt
• Renault boss sees electric supremacy on road back from hellLuca de Meo claims technological edge over VW as he charts turnround after Carlos Ghosn
• Eurostar calls for UK bailout after passenger numbers collapseTrain operator that connects Britain to continent says there is a ‘real risk’ to its survival

The Guardian

• Bleary eyes and chaste kisses at Heathrow as passengers beat air corridor deadlineThere were no tests at arrivals – but that changes on Monday as stricter measures finally come into force
• Eurostar warns of 'risk to survival' without government helpEurostar has said it is facing an existential threat, as business leaders pleaded with the government to step in and save the “vital link” with Europe.
• Eurostar warns of 'risk to survival' without government helpThe cross-Channel train service has seen a 95% fall in passengers during the Covid-19 pandemicEurostar has said it is facing an existential threat, as business leaders pleaded with the government to step in and save the “vital linkâ€� with Europe.A 95% drop in passenger numbers has brought the cross-Channel train service to its knees, and the company reiterated on Sunday that while government loans had been extended to aviation, international high-speed rail had also been severely affected by the pandemic. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• Italian train operator pays £140m to stay in UK rail game [subscription]It comes as the Government shifts train operators from the franchise model onto outsourcing contracts
• Electric car owners ‘could struggle to find public charging points’ [subscription]126 councils have no plans to install any new electric car chargers by 2025

Times Online

• All arrivals to UK face hotel quarantine to stop new Covid strains [subscription]Ministers have ordered plans to be drawn up for a fresh crackdown at Britain’s borders to stop new variants of the coronavirus undermining the vaccination effort.
• Eurostar survival ‘at risk’ without cash from government [subscription]Eurostar is at risk of collapse without receiving financial support from the British government, business leaders have warned.

City AM

• Uber offers money off trips to mass-vaccination centresUber will cover up to £15 worth of passengers’ trips to seven mass-vaccination centres in England, including to the Nightingale The post Uber offers money off trips to mass-vaccination centres appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• High speed cross-Channel train service Eurostar could go bust within months, experts warn Eurostar could go bust within months without a rescue package, MPs and business leaders warn. Passengers have fallen 95 per cent since last March and it now operates two services a day.
• Vauxhall could face paying out £2,500 to a MILLION motorists over emissions test 'cheating' claimsVauxhall motorists could receive thousands of pounds in compensation after the firm was accused of cheating emissions tests. Follows 'dieselgate' claims against Volkswagen and Mercedes.
• High speed cross-Channel train service Eurostar could go bust within months, experts warn Eurostar could go bust within months without a rescue package, MPs and business leaders warn. Passengers have fallen 95 per cent since last March and it now operates two services a day.

The Mirror

• Last Brits arrive home in race to beat 4am deadline as air corridors scrappedBrits scrambled to fly home before tougher travel measures take effect at 4am on Monday amid reports the Government could introduce quarantine hotels and facial-recognition technology to ensure arrivals isolate

Sky News

• Everyone arriving in UK must now self-isolate as travel corridors closeEveryone arriving in the UK from abroad must now self-isolate as the government order shutting all travel corridors comes into effect.

Birmingham Post

• Rolls-Royce runs first engine on world's biggest testbed81,000 sq ft building which cost £90m and took three years to build will be officially opened in coming months

Bolton News

• Motorists to be slapped with £150 fine under plans to introduce tough new powers to crackdown on littering and flytippingA CRACKDOWN on litter being thrown from cars could see motorists fined £150 as part of a tough new raft of measures being put forward to Keep Bolton Tidy
• Rail services in Bolton being reduced due to lockdown RAIL services on a busy line through Bolton will be reduced from today because of lockdown.

Bristol Live

• Welcome to the area in which people 'live in a transport desert'Very slowly, our transport links are deteriorating, and the local authority does not seem to be able to do much about it"

Northern Echo

• British Airways and Emirates among airlines in new international travel deal at Teesside Airport LOGANAIR has secured deals with some of the world’s biggest airlines, including British Airways and Emirates, to provide seamless international travel for travellers from the region.

Yorkshire Evening Post

• Leeds mass transit network presents 'unparalleled opportunity' for city - Connecting Leeds Transport StrategyA commitment to developing the mass transit network that has eluded Leeds to date is among the 'big moves' set out in a council vision for the future of transport in the city.

Other Regional Press

• Could direct trains run from Lowestoft to London again?By submitting your email address you will get the top news, sport and things to do, sent to your inbox every lunchtime.
• Travel corridor: Aviation Minister announces help for airports WITNEY MP Robert Courts has announced a scheme to provide financial support for airports will open this month.
• New Heathrow flight for Teesside Airport to begin from MarchAgreements have been reached with major airlines allowing passengers to travel on one ticket for onward international journeys
• Portland Port will not increase fees in 2021 as cruise season remains on holdPORTLAND Port has frozen its fees for customers this year – as bosses say it's hard to predict when the cruise season will get underway again.

Rail Business Daily

• Don’t be blue – have a brew, say GTR and Samaritans as 60 railway colleagues are recognised for rescuing vulnerable peopleGovia Thameslink Railway and the Samaritans are highlighting how taking the time to talk could be life-saving, as the nation approaches ‘Blue Monday’ on 18 January, said to be the most difficult day of the year.

Railnews

• Stadler signs contract for tri-mode locomotives A framework agreement to build 30 tri-mode locomotives has been signed by Stadler and Rail Operations (UK) Ltd. The new mixed-traffic Bo-Bo machines will be based on Stadler™s established Class 68 and Class 88 fleets, but will be able to operate on 25kV or a CATERPILLAR C32 diesel engine. Each diesel engine will be backed up by two Lithium Titanate Oxide traction battery packs.
• TfL fares to rise in March, as report reveals ˜£2bn funding gap Fares on Transport for London services will rise by 2.6 per cent in general on 1 March, but the mayor of London Sadiq Khan says some single pay as you go fares will not change. The rises are the first since before the present Mayor was elected in 2016. He had promised a four-year fares freeze, which was achieved, but the 2021 rises are a condition of government support since the pandemic began.

Green Miscellany

• Any intelligent fool can make things bigger – we need smaller, lighter cars nowWhen the German-British statistician and economist Ernst Schumacher  said "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction“, he was making the case for human-scale, decentralised and appropriate technologies.

Other News Sources

• One of Reading's busiest stations to get £3.1m revampPlans to build a new ticket office, toilets and shop for Reading West Station have been approved but there will still be no lifts for passengers with disabilities or parents with pushchairs.
• Southampton Airport demands more support for airline industry OWNERS of Southampton Airport have urged the government to provide more support for the airline industry as it struggles to survive the Covid crisis.
• edie launches series of mini reports to help businesses spark an energy revolution edie has launched a new series of summary reports developed from SPARK! - an exclusive virtual event where energy leaders explored the key challenges and opportunities of the net-zero transition.
• Car-free Brighton is not such a great ideaI READ with great interest a letter in last Friday's Argus Letters from Sean Hennessy. He writes about a suggestion from the city council about banning vehicles from the city centre.