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

Tuesday, 09 February 2021

Government

• Welsh rail infrastructure: Welsh rail service and track operators to give evidence to Welsh Affairs CommitteeNetwork Rail, Transport for Wales and operators of train services in Wales will give evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee as the Committee considers the infrastructure needs, and future requirements, of the Welsh rail network.

BBC News

• Hyundai: The carmaker aiming to become a tech firmHyundai is making a name for itself as an innovator, even though talks with Apple have fizzled out.
• Covid: Scottish hotels unclear over involvement in quarantine planThe first minister said the transport secretary would give an update on the matter in parliament.
• Chinese regulators throw spanner in Tesla's worksElon Musk's electric vehicle firm has been summoned over quality and safety issues with its cars.
• Covid: Travellers to UK set to be tested after arrivalThe new testing regime, to be announced soon, is aimed at tracking cases and detecting new variants.

Department for Transport

• £9 million fund opens to railway innovators and inventorsRail Minister launches fifth round of the First of a Kind competition, inviting cutting-edge ideas that will improve passenger experience and decarbonise the rail network.

Financial Times

• Travellers entering UK face tougher Covid testing rulesNew regulations to tackle spread of variants will demand all take 2 follow-up tests on top of pre-flight checks

The Guardian

• BA plans transatlantic flights partially fuelled by recycled waste in 2022British Airways to invest in new US plant producing sustainable aviation fuelBritish Airways says it will operate transatlantic flights partially powered by sustainable fuels as early as next year.BA will invest in a new US plant to be built in Georgia by LanzaJet producing commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), made from ethanol derived from agricultural and other waste.
• HS2: heavy machinery 'could destabilise Euston protest tunnels'Safety expert expresses doubt that team conducting eviction of protesters have requisite skillsHeavy machinery such as cherry pickers being used in the vicinity of the Euston tunnel could destabilise it, says a safety expert who has raised a number of concerns about the way the eviction of the HS2 protesters is being carried out.

i News

• Lockdown ‘stay at home’ advice hits long-awaited rail review with fresh delayDowning Street has ordered no government policy can undermine ‘stay at home’ message during lockdown

Belfast Telegraph

• £36m spent on Belfast bus and cycle lane provision since 2015More than £30m has been spent on bus lanes in Belfast in the last five years.

Birmingham Mail

• Chancellor urged to back £2bn improvements to Birmingham railPlan would mean mean faster trains and more services between between Birmingham and Coventry, Derby, Hereford and Worcester,

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Delivery of HS2 in full 'vital' to future of the country A LETTER urging the Prime Minister to deliver HS2 in full has more than 100 signatories from across the North, including Bradford.
• 24 new apprentices are sought by rail operator Northern – which runs services on the Airedale lineRAIL operator Northern – which runs services on the Airedale line – is seeking new apprentices.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Bus passenger who refused to wear face mask had knife hidden in his sockHossein Chuydashty from Rhyl was handed a suspended jail term
• Wales's rail services have now been nationalised by Welsh GovernmentThe move came after the pandemic saw passenger numbers plummet and put services at risk

London Evening Standard

• UK arrivals will need two Covid tests in quarantine amid fears over new variants entering countryAll travellers arriving in the UK will need to undergo two coronavirus tests while they quarantine under plans set to be announced by the Government.

Wales Online

• Ambitious canal renovation work is set to benefit key areas of WalesSections could include from Brecon and Newport, alongside Pontypool to Cwmbran town centreal

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Chancellor urged to back Midlands Rail HubWest Midlands Mayor Andy Street has joined forces with Sir John Peace, chairman of Midlands Connect and the Midlands Engine, to urge the Chancellor to support the “nationally-critical” Midlands Rail Hub infrastructure project.

Reading Evening Post

• Decision to scrap new parking charges may only be for the short termThe council wanted to charge on out-of-town car parks

Other Regional Press

• Bushes and trees to be cut along railway line amid resident's fears OVERGROWN bushes and trees are being cut back along a stretch of railway track in a bid to improve vision for train drivers and prevent branches falling on to tracks.
• 'Time for a U-turn on dangerous 'smart' motorways' When we start to return to some kind of normal life after our scientists and the NHS have defeated Covid-19, people will start using motorways to visit relatives and friends they haven’t seen for a year or more.
• Yorkshire firms say scrapping HS2 would short-change millions in letter to PMBusiness leaders have signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him not to scrap the Yorkshire leg of HS2.
• Bedford Tory councillors in row over “freight doom” of East West Rail routeTory borough councillors have spoken out AGAINST an East West Rail link being opened up between Bedford and Cambridge.
• Orbital railway group set to buy another 180m of landA group trying to bring trains back to Holt and Fakenham town centres has launched a push to raise the final £5,000 of £100,000 needed for part of the route.

New Civil Engineer

• Design shift key to improving rail deliveryFocusing consultancy design skills on the right issues at the start of projects will be key to improving rail delivery, according to an Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) briefing.
• DfT taskforce sticks by claim Hammersmith Bridge could reopen in springThe Department for Transport’s (DfT) Hammersmith Bridge taskforce has doubled down on its previous assertion that the embattled Victorian structure could be partially reopened in the coming months.
• Crossrail 2, Bakerloo Line Extension and Heathrow rail links backed in London PlanLondon Mayor Sadiq Khan has thrown his support behind a number of mothballed and embattled rail schemes in his London Plan.
• Design shift key to improving rail deliveryFocusing consultancy design skills on the right issues at the start of projects will be key to improving rail delivery, according to an Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) briefing.

Railnews

• Welsh railways return to public ownership The first British railway operator to be formally renationalised is Transport for Wales, which became publicly owned yesterday. The Welsh Government said it had taken action to ˜protect services, safeguard jobs, and deliver infrastructure improvements in light of the ongoing challenges of coronavirus™. Transport for Wales is now providing Wales and Borders services through a subsidiary, Transport for Wales Rail Ltd. The changeover had been announced in October last year.

Railway Gazette

• Supertram training programme developed as Semcon targets the rail marketUK: Technical documentation and digital training specialist Semcon is to develop a training system which will enable technicians at Sheffield’s Supertram to learn about the Controller Area Network bus system used on the network’s fleet of Vossloh Citylink tram-trains.

Other News Sources

• HS2 admits bill to keep sites safe from protestors has hit £50mRailway's minister Andrew Stephenson says impact on programme not yet worked out