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

Friday, 29 January 2021

BBC News

• A1 road improvement scheme approved by Nichola MallonThe scheme aims to address safety issues along the A1 between Hillsborough and Loughbrickland.
• Car insurance cover extended during lockdownThe extension covers drivers who are having to use their car to get to work owing to Covid restrictions.
• Ford to start building electric Mustangs in ChinaThe US carmaker wants to compete with the likes of Tesla and other Chinese electric carmakers.

Financial Times

• Franco-Italian shipbuilding merger collapsesFincantieri and Chantiers de l’Atlantique deal falls through amid worries over industry concentration and higher prices
• American Airlines to seek new financing amid pandemic dragAirline’s shares surge as day traders target heavily shorted stock
• US contractor seeking £100m from HS2 over lost tenderBechtel says Balfour Beatty-led consortium was awarded £1.3bn contract despite ‘lacking understanding of requirements’
• EasyJet/Wizz Air: long haulA less optimistic view on the near term means easyJet’s share price trails that of Wizz Air

The Guardian

• 'Tipping point': why Swampy thinks HS2 tunnel protest can change climate fighthe environmental activist Dan Hooper, known as Swampy, has said he believes the tunnel protest under way outside Euston station in central London could be “the tipping point” in the climate emergency battle, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian.

The Telegraph

• Ryanair offers planes to celebrities as private jets [subscription]Ryanair is offering its planes to celebrities, sports stars and other high flyers to offset the impact of the pandemic.

Times Online

• Road bridges are falling to pieces as council budgets feel the strain [subscription]Motorists face mounting disruption as traffic restrictions are imposed on a rising number of substandard bridges.

Network Rail

• Major step forward for rail in the NorthKey rail infrastructure in the North of England will be upgraded this summer to support the delivery of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) programme.

Belfast Telegraph

• Delay in flexible rail tickets as ministers seek to discourage lockdown travelChris Heaton-Harris insisted the Government is working with the industry and expects to ’make announcements when we can’.

Birmingham Mail

• Train chaos as car teeters on bank edge after landslip blocks linesTrain chaos after car left near edge of railway bank near to the Railway Train pub, Offmore Road

Birmingham Post

• Welsh Government asking for suggestions for co-working hub locationsThe Welsh Government’s ambition is to see around 30% of the workforce working from home or remotely
• £54m plan to put hydrogen powered planes in the airHydrogen system creates electricity to power aircraft motors - the only by-product is water

Sheffield Star

• Sheffield Tory MP calls for eastern leg of HS2 to be built in full to benefit wider regionMiriam Cates, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, said it had the potential to deliver ’significant benefits’ to Sheffield and the wider region.

Yorkshire Post

• Boris Johnson can't afford to build HS2 into Yorkshire and improve local rail links, says National Infrastructure Commission chairmanSir John Armitt, who chairs the National Infrastructure Commission, told an online event that to afford the Yorkshire leg of the high speed rail scheme and the leg between Crewe and Manchester Ministers would have to sacrifice local schemes in the North.

Bucks Free Press

• EasyJet say vaccine is key amid plunging lockdown losses The airline is planning for “pent-up demand” for air travel once restrictions begin to lift and the UK vaccine rollout gathers pace.

Cambridge News

• Exciting new rail link that could connect Cambridge to KentThe plans have "overwhelming support"

Other Regional Press

• Covid: MP Sir David Amess's concerns over train congestionSocial distancing on trains has become “near impossible” due to a reduction in services, it is claimed.
• London Underground: The Essex town crying out for a new tube stationThe London Underground network just keeps getting bigger. Many believe that if it's got a tube station, it's in London - but that's just not the case.
• East-West railway 'should be electric not diesel'OXFORDSHIRE’s political top brass has welcomed plans to forge a new rail link to Cambridge, though the decision not to electrify the line has been branded a ’disaster for our environment’.

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Chalkwell in successful Kickstart Funding bidSittingbourne-based Chalkwell Coach Hire have successfully bid for funding under the Government’s Kickstart scheme. The scheme was launched as a way of getting 16-24 year olds into work who would otherwise be unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Enviro200 pair goes to PrenticeAlexander Dennis Limited (ADL) has delivered two Enviro200 low-emission buses to family-owned Scottish bus operator Prentice of Haddington.
• First’s Wrightbus hydrogen buses launch into serviceThe world’s first fleet of double decker hydrogen buses officially launched into service today (Thursday, 28th January) in Aberdeen.
• NatEx to run zero-emission SprintNational Express West Midlands has announced its intention to run new rapid transit bus services along the A34 and A45 Sprint route between Walsall, Birmingham and Solihull.
• Go North East launches vaccine busGo North East has launched one of the UK’s first dedicated vaccination shuttle bus services, which serves the NHS Nightingale Hospital North East in the Sunderland International Innovation Centre, near to the Nissan factory.

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach’s proposed partnership measures in Greater Manchester could act as a ’blueprint to speed up bus use across Britain’A two-year bus programme proposed by Stagecoach could help Greater Manchester economy recover from the pandemic, the operator says
• Harris Group unveils AOS Visigo Covid-19 testing and vaccination conceptDublin-based Harris Group’s Bus and Coach division has launched a concept for a fully kitted out Covid-19 mobile testing and vaccination bus built around the Isuzu AOS Visigo midicoach, in response to a public health plan to manage the spread of the pandemic.
• First reaches exhaust retrofit milestone and appoints new Head of EnvironmentA £16m project to retrofit exhaust systems and lower emissions at First Bus has been gaining pace despite the pandemic.
• On the right trackHot on the heels of the firm’s launch with megabus, Peter Jackson learns more about uTrack and how it’s helping take operators’ customer experience to the next level

New Civil Engineer

• Manchester investments hints at full Transpennine approval in Integrated Rail PlanMajor rail improvements around Greater Manchester are set to be undertaken this summer under a 16 day blockade but the Network Rail announcement suggests that the full Transpennine Route Upgrade (TPU) may soon be approved.
• HS2 ordered to scale back Euston station plansHS2 Ltd has been ordered to scale back plans for Euston station, including reducing the number of platforms and limiting construction to a single stage build.

Railnews

• ’Ground moving’ under West Coast Main LineSOME trains between London Euston and Rugby have been diverted via Northampton, adding half an hour to journey times, after Network Rail was alerted yesterday by a driver to problems at Hillmorton Junction, south of Rugby.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Additional Restrictions Grant breakthough for coach operatorsCoach operators in England “can and certainly should” be considered eligible to receive funding from local authorities (LAs) through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) mechanism, Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage Nigel Huddleston told Parliament on 27 January.
• Liam Race appointed Leger Shearings Group CEOLiam Race has been appointed Chief Executive of the Leger Shearings Group. He succeeds Ian Henry, who has moved to the role of Executive Chairman.
• ’Bus Taskforce for Scotland’ call from SPT to aid recoveryA Bus Taskforce for Scotland should be established to allow collaborative working towards the industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Coach Operators Fund in Scotland to open in early FebruarySector-specific support for the coach industry in Scotland through the Coach Operators Fund will commence roll-out in early February. The Fund will be administered by Visit Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government.

RMT

• RMT on rail improvement announcement for the NorthRMT responds to announcement on rail improvement works in the North of England as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

Other News Sources

• Latest plans for £24.2m rail station to be discussedThe latest plans for a £24.2m rail station at White Rose in Leeds are among the proposals due to be considered by West Yorkshire Combined Authority's Investment Committee next week.
• M60’s 'missing link' scheme at Prestwich moves closer to reality PLANS to create a new link road for the M60 at Simister Island have come a step closer to becoming a reality.
• HS2 archaeologists uncover Warwickshire’s answer to Hampton CourtExcavations undertaken by Wessex Archaeology for LM (a joint venture of Laing O’Rourke & J. Murphy) on the HS2 site at Coleshill in Warwickshire have revealed one of the best preserved late 16th century gardens ever discovered in this country.
• Talgo selects Hexagon Purus for its first green hydrogen train in SpainHexagon Purus has secured an order to supply high pressure cylinders to Talgo for its first zero-emission hydrogen prototype train in Spain.
• Designs for Vertical Aerospace's VA-1X flying taxi THESE pictures show the incredible flying taxis that could travel between London and Brighton in just 30 minutes.