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

Wednesday, 10 February 2021

BBC News

• Leeds Bradford Airport expansion: Open letter opposes planPlans to expand Leeds Bradford Airport must be halted "for the good of generations", a group of MPs, councillors and scientists has urged.
• Chinese regulators throw spanner in Tesla's worksElon Musk's electric vehicle firm has been summoned over quality and safety issues with its cars.

The Guardian

• Ten years for breaking Covid travel rules? Borders are the latest Boris Johnson fail | Marina HydeThe government's new quarantine restrictions sound tough but they're exactly one year too late. Yesterday's news that the government had still yet to sign a single contract with a hotel for its quarantine scheme felt puzzling. Traditionally, politicians have been experts at booking cheap hotel rooms in a hurry.

The Telegraph

• Sadiq Khan launches £500m road tax ‘raid’ to replace greater London boundary charge [subscription]Sadiq Khan is demanding that Boris Johnson hands over £500m in “road tax” paid by Londoners after ministers shot down his plan to charge drivers up to £5.50 to enter greater London.
• Ten years in jail for holidaymakers who lie about going to PortugalTory MPs and travel chiefs criticise harsh sentences for those who hide visits to 'red list' destinations to avoid Covid quarantine

Times Online

• Extra tax on London drivers will hit firms, say MPs [subscription]A border tax on motorists entering London will have a “deeply damaging” impact on businesses and families, the capital’s mayor has been told.

City AM

• Airline shares tumble as hotel quarantine spells travel chaos until EasterShares in the UK’s largest airlines tumbled more than three per cent this afternoon as the health secretary’s announcement of The post Airline shares tumble as hotel quarantine spells travel chaos until Easter appeared first on CityAM.
• London leaders urge government to let TfL keep £500m in vehicle duty ahead of new bailout talksThe leaders of the London Assembly’s political parties have come together to urge transport secretary Grant Shapps to allow the The post London leaders urge government to let TfL keep £500m in vehicle duty ahead of new bailout talks

Belfast Telegraph

• DUP's Jim Shannon calls for Transport NI probe after several crashes on Co Down roadA DUP MP has called for an investigation before repeated crashes at an accident blackspot in Co Down leads to further deaths.

Birmingham Mail

• City cabbies to be offered £5k to replace cabs and dodge clean air zone charges Birmingham City Council has pledged to support the hackney carriage and private hire community with grants as it prepares for the launch of the zone on June 1

Bristol Live

• Unusable motorway junction set to finally be connectedThe M49 will be connected to Western Approach Distribution Park, home to Amazon, Lidl, Royal Mail, Tesco and others

London Evening Standard

• Anti-HS2 protesters create new tunnel 2 miles north of EustonEnvironmental activists behind the anti-HS2 protest near Euston Station have opened up a new front by digging a tunnel in a bid to block the destruction of trees two miles away in Islington.
• Surbiton: Railway worker dies after being hit by train in LondonEmergency services were called to Surbiton at about midday on Tuesday following reports of a casualty on the tracks

The York Press

• Does York need a proper bus station - or not?Plans to transform the arrival experience at York’s station frontage with demolition of the redundant Queen St Bridge, clearing the portico of vehicles and opening up a pedestrian/ cycle route under the city walls ((The Press, February 6) are a big step forward.

Wales Online

• Town councillor resigns over £7k maintenance contract given to local charityThe contract was awarded to a charity, two of whose directors are councillors, and led to the town's mayor doing the work

Burnley Express

• SELRAP in final call to get Colne and Skipton rail project over the lineSELRAP, the action group campaigning to reinstate just 12 miles of rail track between Colne and Skipton, is building up to a major last push to get the project over the line.

Other Regional Press

• Reopening of old rail lines part of latest Crewe HS2 consultationRESIDENTS are being urged to have their say in the latest consultation for phase 2a of the HS2 scheme, which will be built between Birmingham and Crewe.
• First of modernised trains returns to Sussex railwaysThe first of hundreds of modernised trains has returned to Sussex’s railways.

C.N.N.

• Hyundai's latest concept 'car' walks to places it can't driveSometimes, no matter how good an off-road vehicle is, there are places it just can't drive. That's why Hyundai engineers are working on a vehicle that can traverse even the most difficult terrain.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Update on the Ireland “Customs RoRoâ€� systemHMRC has written to CILT to make its members aware that there are some examples of customs import declarations being entered into Automated Entry Processing (AEP) which is Irish Revenue’s ‘old’ import declaration system. Irish officials are keen to stress that traders should not use AEP for RoRo movements. AEP will now be shut down by the end of March. On that basis, although Irish officials can accept AEP declarations for RoRo movements they are more prone to issues especially when the declared journey of the goods does not replicate the actual journey of...

Christian Wolmar

• Rail 922: How to recreate a joined-up railwayIn recent weeks I have interviewed numerous ex-BR managers for my new book which is about the successes and failures of the near half century of public ownership of the railways. The book, actually commissioned a year ago, could not be better timed. Whatever the future pattern of the pandemic, there is no doubt that there will not be a return to the old way of running the railways and the new structure will undoubtedly have a stronger role for the state.

Global Rail News

• Network Rail to simplify track layout and reopen disused tunnel near King’s CrossOver a three-month period, Network Rail workers will simplify the track layout just outside of King’s Cross station, as well as reopen a railway tunnel which closed in the 1970s, creating two extra tracks in and out of the iconic transport hub.

New Civil Engineer

• Podcast | Bringing joy to infrastructure designThe latest episode of The Engineers Collective looks at the role placemaking plays in the design of infrastructure and how the National Infrastructure Commission’s Design Principles for National Infrastructure aim to improve the look and feel of our built environment.
• Major upgrade of London rail lines to improve services to Victoria stationRailway lines in South London are to undergo a major four-year package of work to upgrade routes into Victoria station. The upgrades will see 40-year-old track and signalling replaced to improve the reliability of the service.
• Rail decarbonisation ideas soughtA £9M competition to find cutting-edge ideas to transform the future of the railways has opened, with rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris and Innovate launching the 2021 First of a Kind (FOAK) competition.
• Last-ditch attempt to stop Leeds Bradford Airport expansionA group of MPs, councillors and scientists has staged a last-ditch attempt to stop the £150M expansion of Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA).

Rail Advent

• Transport for Wales rail franchise taken over by Welsh Government amid Covid ChallengesThe Government in Wales has taken over the Wales and Borders rail franchise to safeguard jobs and complete improvements due to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Railnews

• RMT calls for an end to Eurostar standoff The RMT is warning that the future of Eurostar is at risk because Britain and France have not agreed about emergency funding. Eurostar services have been reduced to just a couple each day following the clampdown on international travel, and the operator™s chief executive Jacques Damas has warned that ˜catastrophe is possible™. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: ˜It is essential that Governments, including the British Government, make the emergency funding available to bridge a way through this current lockdown and ensure that Eurostar is there, fighting fit, to help the economy punch its ...

Transport Network

• Minister launches £9m competition to decarbonise railwaysThe Government and Innovate UK have launched a £9m competition to find new ideas to transform and decarbonise the railways.
• West Yorks thinks big with £140m of schemesWest Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) has announced progress on £140m of schemes including three key transport infrastructure interventions.

Other News Sources

• Heathrow and East Midlands apply for UK Freeport statusHeathrow Airport and an East Midlands consortium have applied for Freeport status in the UK.
• Train services through Hereford taken into public ownership THE rail franchise which runs trains through Hereford, Leominster and Ludlow has been taken into public ownership.
• 'Nothing is done about illegal cycling on Hove seafront' THANK you The Argus for providing me with a good laugh when you reported the quote from Brighton and Hove City Council that
• Calls to reduce speed limit on A259 at Seaford and BishopstoneCALLS to lower the speed limit on the A259 are set to be considered by a senior county councillor next week.