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

Friday, 12 March 2021

BBC News

• Car insurance claims plunge as drivers stay at homeThe drop in claims is not mirrored in cheaper premiums, but insurers say motorists have been supported.
• ScotRail conductors vote for industrial actionThe rail operator criticises the result of a ballot of RMT members in an overtime payments dispute.
• Mayor welcomes Sheffield to Manchester rail upgradeA multimillion-pound upgrade to the Hope Valley railway line between Sheffield and Manchester has been announced by the government.
• Covid shutdowns add £4.3m to over-budget ferry costsThe Ferguson shipyard had to suspend operations twice to ensure safe working during the coronavirus pandemic.

ITV News

• Going underground: How Bristol and Bath commuters could be travelling to work by tube in ten years time
A mass transit system linking Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, with a network of underground and overground railway lines could be built in the next 10 to 15 years.

Financial Times

• UK pushes back full Brexit border checks by another six monthsEU goods will enter UK almost unhindered until January while British exports to bloc face strict controls
• Hydrogen — Fantasy or fuel of the future?Long heralded as an alternative to fossil fuels, can the gas really help solve the world’s dirtiest energy problems?  
• Eurostar: can the train company that connects London to Paris survive?The rail operator is struggling to get back on track after Brexit and Covid-19 hit passenger numbers

The Telegraph

• Taxpayer rescue helps rail company resume payouts to investors [subscription]Govia Thameslink owner Go-Ahead says it's just as entitled to make a profit as a company like rubbish collector Veolia
• Government blames Covid as it delays full UK customs checks on EU goods until 2022 [subscription]Critics warned the move would merely prolong the unequal trade terms currently being experienced by UK exporters

Times Online

• Prospect of foreign holidays in May ’fills me with horror’, says Welsh first minister [subscription]Foreign holidays should not resume in May, the Welsh first minister has said.
• Times letters: Irish Sea bridge ’would be a folly too far’ [subscription]ir, Boris Johnson wants to build not only the wrong bridge but the wrong kind of bridge (leading article, Mar 11). The UK risks being pulled apart by competing nationalisms, especially the English nationalism that Johnson has embraced. It suits his partisan purposes and fits his carefully constructed persona. But it sits badly with the responsibilities of the prime minister of the multinational state that is the United Kingdom.
• MPs demand clarity on foreign holidays [subscription]Ministers are under pressure to confirm the return of foreign holidays after Spain said that it would reopen to vaccinated tourists.

Birmingham Post

• The £135m Caernarfon bypass project is on scheduleThe bypass from Goat roundabout on the A499/A487 junction to the Plas Menai roundabout is due to open next year
• Upgrade on Sheffield to Manchester rail line secures £137m funding packageThe Hope Valley line also serves a number of villages in the Peak District
• Nissan to treble renewable energy with new Sunderland farmProposal would generate enough renewable power to build every Nissan Leaf sold in Europe

Bristol Live

• New map shows places Bristol Underground would serve"We want routes that actually curve through our communities"

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Roads 'dominated by cars' will close to make them safer for schoolchildrenThe closures near Ysgol Llywelyn will come into force at pick up and drop off times as children prepare to go back to school

London Evening Standard

• Widow's anger over silly smart motorway safety advertClaire Mercer's husband Jason Mercer died on a section of the M1 near Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre which has no hard shoulder.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Metro neighbours hit with overnight noise pain – because trains are too unreliable to be turned offMetro bosses have been reluctant to switch the 40-year-old carriages off overnight in case they fail the next morning

Sheffield Star

• Joy as government announces £137 million upgrade to vital Sheffield rail lineSheffield rail campaigners are celebrating after the government announced £137m to upgrade the Hope Valley line.

Other Regional Press

• Bid submitted for Corsham and Wilton railway station studyA NEW funding bid for train stations in Corsham and Wilton have been submitted to the Department for Transport.
• Government funding sought for first step towards restoring train services for HaverhillA bid that has been made to secure government funding to help pay for an economic study into the possible restoration of the railway line between Haverhill and Cambridge has won strong support.
• Rail fare fines could be doubled under new Government plansFines to deter train passengers dodging fares across England and Wales could be doubled under new plans being considered by the UK Government.
• What York's new 'hyperhub' for charging electric cars will look likeIt's set to be one of the cheapest places in the UK for rapid charging

British Trams Online

• Stadler named Business of the Year at Rail Business Awards 2021Stadler – the company who will be supplying the Tyne and Wear Metro with 42 new trains by 2024 as well as now maintaining the current fleet, and previous supplier of trams for London Tramlink – have been named Rail Business of the Year at the Rail Business Awards 2021, which was held virtually on 25th February 2021.

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Are women well represented in the industry?A report publicised on International Women’s Day (8 March 2021) by Search Consultancy has suggested the transport industry is not employing enough females.
• Coach group aims to get coaching on the mapA group of coach operators is aiming to set up a media charm offensive to put coaching on the map, and is asking operators to give their thoughts.

Coach and Bus Week

• Government sets out vision for improved transport infrastructurePrime Minister Boris Johnson has set out his vision to ’build back better’ from coronavirus by boosting transport connectivity across and between the whole of the UK.
• Industry responds to 2021 BudgetGo-Ahead Group, CPT and the RHA have given their thoughts on budget changes announced last week
• Stagecoach marks 50 years of services on SkyeStagecoach has repainted one of its Highland fleet into a heritage livery from the 1970s to mark the 50th anniversary of bus services on the Scottish island, reports Nick Larkin
• Further Aberdeen hydrogen bus investment confirmedThe Scottish government has confirmed further funding of £4.5 million has been awarded to Aberdeen City Council for the introduction of 10 more hydrogen buses into the city’s fleet.

New Civil Engineer

• Planning an operational railway is a series of trade-offsAs a railway operator, I often felt that on different sorts of railway, different sorts of engineer are your best friend. On a cash-strapped rural or freight railway, it’s the permanent way – you can do without most things but not track. On an InterCity line, it’s the rolling stock engineer, who turns out trains each morning that will earn hundreds of thousands of pounds that day. On a suburban railway, it’s the signal engineer, who provides line capacity.
• Highways England’s smart motorway safety campaign labelled ’insensitive’ by police chiefSouth Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings has hit out at Highways England over what he describes as an “insensitive” and “provocative” smart motorway safety advert, launched this week.
• Consultants given new incentive package to see Crossrail homeA joint venture (JV) between Aecom, Jacobs and Nichols Group has been handed a new incentive package for its role on Crossrail.

Rail Magazine

• Government-owned Class 365s to be withdrawnThe remaining Class 365s will be withdrawn from traffic by Govia Thameslink Railway at the start of the May timetable.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• University of Warwick and TfWM trial DRT service with ViaTransport for West Midlands (TfWM), part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), is trialling a new demand responsive transport (DRT) service with the University of Warwick.
• Further £61.4m to support bus services in Scotland to 27 JuneThe Scottish Government has approved the allocation of up to a further £61.4m through its COVID-19 Support Grant – Restart mechanism to support bus services in Scotland over the 12-week period between 1 April and 27 June.
• Aberdeen gains funding for 10 more hydrogen double-deckersAberdeen City Council (ACC) has been awarded funding of £4.5m towards the introduction of 10 further hydrogen fuel cell-electric double-deckers into the city’s fleet.
• ’Always on hand to help’ Cardiff Bus comes to the rescue after Llanrumney explosionCardiff Bus evacuated 40 residents from a block of flats in Llanrumney following an explosion in the early hours of Friday 26 February.
• Wrightbus orders 50 more fuel cell modules from BallardWrightbus has placed an order with Ballard for a further 50 hydrogen fuel cell modules. It follows a previous order for 50 that was shipped in 2020.
• DPTAC commits to industry engagement on coach PSVAR callThe Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) has commenced engagement with the coach industry over a statement issued by the Committee in January that calls for a transition towards PSVAR compliance for all coaches that are used on ’for hire’ work.
• National marketing campaign to promote coach travel plannedA group of coach operators, with the support of all the industry’s trade bodies, have started work on what they hope will culminate in a national marketing campaign that promotes the benefits of coach travel and the coach industry to potential customers.
• Bus patronage recovery rate ’starting to show regional trends’Bus patronage as a percentage of pre-pandemic figures showed growth in February, with regional variations in the rate of recovery and the impact of the vaccination programme on usage starting to emerge.

Other News Sources

• These are the £25 million plans to change the old Wakefield Westgate railway station into a hotel and revamp KirkgateWakefield has been awarded £24.9 million to invest in projects to revamp its centre as part of a major effort to boost the district’s tourism sector and make the city a better place to live.
• Green council responds to MP's comments over handling of cycle lanes THE Green city council has responded to the criticism from MP Peter Kyle over cycle lanes.
• MP blames Brighton and Hove council cycle lane anger AN MP has blamed the city council for creating a monumental Battle Royal over cycle lanes.