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

Saturday, 06 February 2021

BBC News

• Funding for lifeline flights for Wick John O'Groats AirportThe Scottish government is to help fund the return of services to Wick John O'Groats Airport.
• Euston tunnel protests: Father fears for children's livesRoc Sandford's children have spent nine days in a tunnel in Euston in protest at the HS2 project.
• Brexit: 71 pages of paperwork for 1 lorry of fishHow new rules on exporting to the European Union have affected a British fishing firm.

Financial Times

• Signature Aviation: sky highPrivate jets are an expensive proposition. The bidding war suggests servicing them deserves a high price tag too
• UK airport staff warn they cannot enforce overseas travel curbsCheck-in workers also say they struggle to check veracity of pre-flight Covid tests

The Guardian

• HS2 activist escapes bailiffs and heads back into Euston tunnelsLazer Sandford had locked himself underground where an eviction team at the London station had been trying to remove him for 25 hoursAn environmental campaigner who had locked himself underground in tunnels dug near Euston station in London has evaded an HS2 eviction team who had been trying to remove him for about 25 hours. Continue reading...

The Herald

• CalMac under fire for running a full service of empty ferries a day after green credentials 'boast'SCOTLAND'S biggest ferry operator CalMac has come under fire for wasting fuel and damaging the environment running a full service of empty ferries during the Covid-19 pandemic - a day after promoting its green credentials.
• CalMac under fire for running a full service of empty ferries a day after green credentials 'boast'SCOTLAND'S biggest ferry operator CalMac has come under fire for wasting fuel and damaging the environment running a full service of empty ferries during the Covid-19 pandemic - a day after promoting its green credentials.

Times Online

• Turbulence over Heathrow bailout [Subscription]The Civil Aviation Authority has further complicated the row over whether Heathrow should be bailed out by airlines and ultimately the fare-paying travelling public by admitting that it cannot decide which option to choose.
• British flag on number plates ‘will split Scots’ [Subscription]Plan shows No 10 is out of touch, says historian
• Rivals sign up to make combined Signature Aviation offer [Subscription]The battle for Signature Aviation has taken another twist with three of the main combatants ganging up on Carlyle, the American private equity group, and forming a takeover consortium with the backing of the target company.
• Travellers face virus tests during quarantine [Subscription]All travellers arriving in Britain will face mandatory coronavirus tests in an effort to stop its spread and identify new mutant strains.

Mail Online

• HS2 protester locks himself in tunnel below Euston Square GardensThe Euston demonstrator, known as 'Lazer', attached himself to the bottom of a tunnel using a device made of steel and concrete around his arm.

The Mirror

• All arrivals into UK will be 'tested twice' for Covid during 10-day isolationTravellers arriving into Britain from all countries and not just red list nations will be tested twice for coronavirus from February 15, according to reports

Birmingham Post

• 'Bold' Humber Freeport bid submitted with backing of LEP leaders'This is an enormous opportunity for the Humber which will attract investment and create jobs in offshore wind, decarbonisation and advanced manufacturing'
• Freeport in Bristol region could create 50,000 jobsA bid for a so-called freeport covering Bristol Port and the Avonmouth area has been submitted by the West of England Combined Authority

Bolton News

• People arriving in UK from travel ban areas will be forced to quarantine in Government approved hotels Travellers arriving in the UK from countries on the travel ban 'red list' will have to quarantine in a Government-approved hotel from February 15, it has been announced.

Bristol Live

• Row over clean air charges for people driving to hospitals The Royal Hospital for Children and Bristol Royal Infirmary are both in the clean air zone

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Cops stop lockdown-breaking 'Snowdon visitors' - and find more than walking gearTwo people were arrested after a car was stopped in Prestatyn

London Evening Standard

• As trade through the Channel Tunnel collapses border delays and tariffs mean Brexit is wreaking havoc on our businesses
• Hotel quarantines: Full 'red list' of countries subject to new Covid-19 rules for UK arrivalsMore countries have been added to the original list
• Croydon tram crash: New safety fears on network after three serious incidents inside three monthsFresh fears for the safety of the Croydon tram system have been raised after a head-on collision was narrowly averted and another tram came off the rails.
• Bill Gates swoops for private jet business after £3bn dogfight with Gatwick ownerThe financial dogfight for Signature Aviation, the FTSE 250 company which once made parts for the Spitfire and now helps keep America's executive jets airborne, took another dramatic twist today.
• Father fears for his two children in HS2 protests as bailiffs dig downThe father of two anti-HS2 protestors in the tunnels underneath Euston Square said he

Northern Echo

• Durham Bus Station closure - here are details of temporary bus stops A DATE has been set for the closure of Durham Bus Station to allow for demolition and redevelopment work to begin.

The York Press

• Work to start on £29m York railway station redevelopment this yearTHE front of York railway station is set for a major revamp costing nearly £29 million - and work could start on the scheme in months.

Leeds Live

• Jet2 issue urgent update for 2021 holidays and flights The airline has had to cancel some bookings and refund customers in full

Other Regional Press

• Main Southampton road to be shut for 5 days as bike lane is removed A MAIN inner-city Southampton road is to be shut for five days next week as a bike lane is removed.
• Solent 'freeport' plan could create more than 25,000 local jobs, it is claimedHAMPSHIRE could gain tens of thousands of new jobs under a plan to create one of the UK's first 'freeports' in the Solent, supporters say.
• On Yer Bike: Developers must plan better for cyclists and pedestrians James McNicoll asks developers to think more carefully about cyclists when they are building new homes
• Port bid could bring 25,000 jobs and millions in investmentA plan to build a new port in the Thames estuary could generate thousands of jobs for people in Kent, according to the team behind the project.
• Two week railway closure for landslip repairsA 150metre stretch of railway will be closed for another two weeks while engineers repair damage caused by landslips.
• Major road to shut over three weekendsA key road will shut in both directions throughout Saturday in the first of three weekends of closures.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• State-of-the-art £31 million Feltham station update completeImportant upgrades to improve accessibility, local connections and increase capacity at Feltham station have been completed, Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has announced, thanks to government investment of £31 million. The station and the surrounding area has seen a host of improvements since Network Rail began work in September 2018, delivering significant benefits to passengers on a busy commuter line into London Waterloo. These include extended platforms to allow longer 10-car trains to call, while the Feltham West level crossing has been closed to improve community safety. Acces...
• Ports set out Freeports priorities ahead of application deadlineThe British Ports Association has set out three priorities for the establishment of freeports for UK governments ahead of the deadline for bids closing in England this Friday. The application window for ports in England to apply for freeport status closes on Friday 5 February. The BPA is aware of approximately 35 organisations or consortia that have expressed an interest in bidding, publicly or privately, including 27 in England. The industry has welcomed the recognition of governments across the UK that ports have an important role to play in industrial policy, supporting innovation and pro...

Railnews

• Campaigners call for Okehampton route reopening on Dawlish anniversary It is seven years since two savage storms destroyed several hundred metres of main line along the sea wall at Dawlish in south Devon. Campaigners are calling for the former Southern main line to be reopened between Exeter and Plymouth, to provide a more resilient alternative.

Other News Sources

• Bus services shouldn't be a secret  If bus operators want customers, then they need to provide the right information     This not a new topic but one that remains resolute despite being a basic requirement - the lack of reliable information about bus services. Getting it right is not a technical challenge given the digitisation of data but the essentials are still missing from many services. If information is missing or wrong, no-one will use buses; user expectations are high but met with indifference, confusion and with some notable exceptions, mediocrity. In the beginning Some operators manage to provide the b...
• What will the post-Covid railway look like?John Nelson and Richard Davies consider what the future patterns of rail demand might look like in the mid 2020s and pose a number of questions about the rail industry's future     The pandemic has been with us now for just over nine months. Its impact on the country's economy and social life has been dramatic and public transport has been affected disproportionately badly. These things we know but what remains conjecture is the extent to which public transport usage – if left solely to the economic forces that impact it – will recover when things return to ‘norma...
• Questions over why councillors abstained in Hereford bypass vote A HEREFORD councillor is asking why six members abstained from voting on the decision to cancel the western bypass and southern link road.
• Speeding is most common offence as data shows impact on insurance "Driving offences that lead to points on a driver’s license can have a big impact on car insurance costs"
• Study: Fleet electrification would halve Europe's road transport emissions Electrifying public and private fleets would cut around half of all road emissions in Europe, according to a new report by industry group Eurelectric and Ernst & Young (EY).

EIN News Subscription

• Ministers reserve 28,000 rooms near airports for hotel quarantine scheme … Captain Sir Tom Moore;   European Commission chief Ursula von … mounting pressure over the EU's faltering … The Government will arrange transport for travellers to their … Africa respectively. The International Air Transport Association had initially predicted …
• Covid police patrol Bristol Airport to check if journeys are essential … officers based at Bristol Airport are stopping passengers and … to have police at Bristol Airport. Ministers plan ' … .   It comes after several European countries including Greece, Spain, … Office, the Department for Transport and The Department for Health …