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

Friday, 26 February 2021

BBC News

• Get used to fewer trains, says rail bodyAround 10% fewer train services should run once the country opens up again, compared to the pre-pandemic timetable, the chairman of Network Rail has said.
• Birmingham Airport: Step ladder left on runway as planes landThree passenger aircraft "narrowly missed" a step ladder that fell off the back of an airport maintenance truck and was left on the runway as they landed, an investigation has found.
• MPs investigate ditching smart motorwaysA coroner says the roads - where hard shoulders become lanes at busy times - create a death
• HS2 protest: Swampy and two other activists leave Euston tunnelThe protester, who left with two others, spent 30 days in the tunnel under Euston Square Gardens.
• Nationalised Ferguson shipyard to recruit 120 extra workersThe Ferguson yard is moving to seven day working as it tries to complete two overbudget CalMac ferries.
• UK car production slumps by a quarter in JanuaryThe UK produced 27% fewer cars than a year ago, the worst January figure for over a decade.

Financial Times

• IAG records biggest ever loss as pandemic grounds aircraftBritish Airways owner flew just a third of its normal schedule in 2020

The Guardian

• Smart motorways face further scrutiny as MPs launch inquirySelect committee to investigate rise in annual deaths, claiming public confidence is falteringSmart motorways are to come under further scrutiny as MPs launch a fresh inquiry into their benefits and dangers, just weeks after a coroner referred Highways England to prosecutors for possible corporate manslaughter after the death of a motorist on the M1.
• British Airways owner IAG hit by record £7.4bn lossGroup calls for passenger digital health passes to "reopen skies" as Covid takes toll. The owner of British Airways, International Airlines Group, has reported a record £7.4bn loss for last year, and called for the introduction of digital health passes for passengers to enable the airline industry to get back on its feet. IAG said that passenger capacity last year was only a third of 2019 and in the first quarter of this year is running at only a fifth of pre-Covid levels.
• SUVs and extra traffic cancelling out electric car gains in BritainAuditors say emissions down just 1% since 2011 and target of zero emissions by 2050 is a long way off. Carbon emissions from passenger cars across Britain have fallen by just 1% since 2011, despite a steep rise in the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles, Whitehall's spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office said the popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and an increase in road traffic were among factors that have cancelled out expected reductions from low-emission car sales.
• Airbus reveals planes sold in last two years will emit over 1bn tonnes of CO2Landmark emissions disclosures cover 22-year lifetime of 1,429 aircraft sold in 2019 and 2020. Planes sold by Airbus in 2019 and 2020 will produce well over 1bn tonnes of carbon dioxide during their lifetimes, according to landmark first estimates of the aerospace manufacturer's emissions Airbus sold a record 863 planes in 2019, which would translate to 740m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent over a 22-year period, according to figures seen by the Guardian. It sold 566 planes last year, for which lifetime emissions would be 440m tonnes.
• Network Rail chair says weekend engineering works may soon endThe pain of holiday weekend rail engineering works may soon be over, a top UK rail executive has signalled, as leisure passengers grow to rival the weekday commuter.

The Independent

• British Airways and partners lose £205 per second during 2020The average domestic flight was less than half full

The Telegraph

• EU inches closer to vaccine passport but warns travel restrictions will stay for months

Times Online

• Charges on councils threaten drive for new clean air zones [subscription]Ministers were accused of undermining the drive for clean air by forcing some councils to pay £2 for every polluting vehicle entering city centres.
• MPs to hold inquiry on smart motorways [subscription]The government may have to consider reforms to smart motorways because public confidence in them has been dented by a rise in deaths, MPs said.
• Covid vaccination passports ‘will be here by summer’ [subscription]Britons dreaming of a beach holiday in the Mediterranean can start planning the trip after EU leaders agreed last night to introduce vaccine passports by the summer.

City AM

• Gatwick crashes to £465.5m loss as passenger numbers collapseGatwick Airport plunged to a £465.5m loss in 2020 as global air traffic and passenger numbers collapsed due to the The post Gatwick crashes to £465.5m loss as passenger numbers collapse appeared first on CityAM.

Sky News

• BA parent demands digital health passes to help reopen skies as it dives to £6.5bn lossThe parent firm of British Airways has called for the introduction of digital health passes to help reopen the skies while revealing a €7.4bn (£6.5bn) annual loss as a result of coronavirus pandemic disruption.

Birmingham Mail

• Drivers face £1k fines for leaving warning motorists on FacebookMotorists who move to help out fellow drivers while out and about in their cars could get fined £1,000, according to a new study

Birmingham Post

• New methods to appraise rail investment aims to help with levelling upSir Peter Hendry has been tasked by the Prime Minister to look at how to improve transport connectivity across the nations of the union

The York Press

• York's new electric car charging hubs: how much will they cost to use? A revolution in the way electric car owners can charge their vehicles is beginning.
• RAIL HERITAGE: the unique buildings at York Central that define city's railway pastAFTER years of discussion and debate, work is finally beginning on the transformation of York Central – the huge, 178-acre brownfield site behind York Railway Station.

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach in Oxfordshire to merge with Stagecoach WestStaff at Stagecoach in Oxfordshire and Stagecoach West were informed on 23 February that both operating companies (OpCos) are to merge to form a single OpCo.
• Breaking down barriersFortitude Communications’ Greig Box Turnbull spoke to Phil Southall, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel, Carousel Buses and City Sightseeing Oxford to give an insight into how the companies have adapted communications during the pandemic

New Civil Engineer

• M25 upgrade cost rises and concerns mountThe cost of upgrading the junction that connects the M25 with the A12 in Essex has risen from an estimated £50M-£100M to £124M.
• Smart motorway tech upgrade begins on M1 to improve safetyInstallation of technology to improve smart motorway safety begins this month on a section of the M1. In response to a written parliamentary question, under-secretary for transport Rachel Maclean said that stopped vehicle detection (SVD) technology will be installed on the M1 junctions 32-35a.
• ‘At risk’ Elizabeth line station restored to former gloryHanwell station will be removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, following a major renovation by Transport for London (TfL).
• ‘At risk’ Elizabeth line station restored to former gloryHanwell station will be removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register, following a major renovation by Transport for London (TfL).
• Last chance to have say on Crossrail extension to EbbsfleetA public consultation on extending Crossrail to Ebbsfleet comes to a close today (26 February).

Rail Magazine

• Williams reform package in White Paper “as soon as possible”The long-awaited publication of the Government-commissioned Williams Review will be essential to the rail industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Railnews

• Politicians clash over Transport for the North funding The Prime Minister has come under fire over an alleged funding cut for Transport for the North. Board papers published by TfN said that a letter from the Department for Transport had revealed that TfN™s core funding would be reduced by 40 per cent in 2021-22 to £6 million. But when Boris Johnson was confronted by a Parliamentary question about the figures, he responded that there was ˜no such cut™, continuing: ˜We intend to invest massively in Northern Powerhouse Rail, in railways in the North, and across the entire country.™ Labour said: ˜Either the Prime Minister thinks he can lie with impu...

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• UK third largest Western European electric bus market in 2020The UK battery-electric bus market was the third largest in Western Europe in 2020, according to research carried out by Dutch consultancy Chatrou CME Solutions. It accounted for 288 registrations of such vehicles with a GVW of over 8,000kg during the year.
• First Bus to trial Arrival battery-electric model in autumnFirst Bus is to become the first operator to trial the Arrival battery-electric bus. The process will begin in the autumn and Arrival says it will involve multiple vehicles.
• Proposed Nottingham CC bus service cuts attacked by CT4NProposals by Nottingham City Council (NCC) to impose swingeing cuts to the supported Linkbus network in the city have been criticised by bus operator CT4N.
• BYD UK and ADL to release shorter-wheelbase Enviro400EVAlexander Dennis (ADL) and partner BYD UK have announced they are to introduce a shorter-wheelbase version of the BYD ADL Enviro400EV battery-electric double-decker.
• Wrightbus to use Voith Electrical Drive System in ZE busesWrightbus will exclusively utilise the Voith Electrical Drive System (VEDS) in the second-generation of its battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell-electric buses, the two parties have announced.
• Coach clarity call amid cautious England roadmap welcomeThe coach industry has cautiously welcomed the government’s roadmap towards the removal of restrictions in England, but one trade body is seeking clarity on whether day trips will be permitted from 12 April and for how long social distancing requirements will impact vehicle capacities.
• Irizar i6 and i6S factory PSVAR retrofit work gathers paceThe first Irizar i6 and i6S coaches have returned to the UK after retrofit to PSVAR specification at the manufacturer’s factory in Spain as its programme to convert existing i6 and i6S examples gathers pace.
• NCT’s first use checks digitalised by Freeway and TranzauraNottingham City Transport (NCT) has equipped drivers with mobile data terminals to record their first use vehicle checks as part of the introduction of a real-time vehicle defect reporting system. The work is thanks to integration between software companies Freeway and Tranzaura.
• ADL announces H2.0 hydrogen double-decker bus platformAlexander Dennis (ADL) is promising a zero-emission range of “up to 300 miles” for its next generation hydrogen fuel cell-electric integral double-decker bus. It is being developed under the project name H2.0 and is expected to be on the road before the end of 2021.

Other News Sources

• Gatwick and Heathrow airports Covid-19 rules to stay safe for essential travelYou can only travel if it's essential