Breaking News
Greater Manchester bus services to be brought under public control
Bus services in Greater Manchester will be brought under public control, with one integrated service to replace the dozens of private operations in a “broken market”, the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced.
Watchdog examines smart motorway risk [subscription]
A review into the safety of smart motorways has been ordered by the transport secretary after warnings that public confidence in them has plummeted.
Coach industry goes unheard by ministers at Select Committee
UK-wide bespoke support for the coach industry looks farther away than ever after a Transport Select Committee evidence hearing on 24 March examined COVID-19’s impact on the sector.
Friday, 26 March 2021
BBC News
- Greater Manchester bus network back under public controlThe region will be the first area outside London to have a franchise bus system since the 1980s.
- ScotRail conductors to stage series of strikesRMT union members are to hold strike days every Sunday until 2 May, in an overtime payments dispute.
- Suez blockage is holding up $9.6bn of goods a dayThe stranded mega-container ship is delaying $400m (£292m) an hour in goods that can't be moved east or west.
Financial Times
- The bank effect and the big boat blocking the SuezPerhaps it was the wind. But in hydrodynamics, size matters.
- Suez Canal clearance could take ‘weeks’, says salvage companyProlonged shutdown of vital trade route risks severe disruption to supply chains
- Cruising back from the brinkAfter a year of terrible headlines and soaring losses, cruise lines are showing signs of an unlikely resurgence
The Guardian
- Lockdown did not reduce air pollution from tyre wear in LondonLess traffic meant less congestion, but the remaining vehicles went faster
- Greater Manchester bus services to be brought under public controlBus services in Greater Manchester will be brought under public control, with one integrated service to replace the dozens of private operations in a “broken market”, the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham, has announced.
- Suez canal: shipping companies start rerouting as crisis drags onSeven liquefied natural gas tankers are being diverted away from the blocked waterway, as fears grow operation to free ship could take weeksGlobal shipping companies have begun to re-route cargo away from the Suez canal as the blockage of the crucial international waterway by the stricken vessel Ever Given entered a fourth day.With the stuck ship holding up an estimated $9.5bn worth of goods in huge traffic jams at either end of the canal, seven tankers carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) were diverted on Friday after the blockage caused traffic in the Suez canal to be suspended. Continue rea...
The Telegraph
- Lorry drivers entering UK face compulsory Covid test [subscription]Fears of disruption to food supplies as ministers scrap exemptions for hauliers in effort to keep Covid-19 variants out of the country
Times Online
- Cycling is growing but what’s happening on our roads is a danger to the sportIn the latest in our weekly column on all areas of cycling, Matt Lawton discusses the issues amateurs face
- Record decline in air pollution saves 3,600 lives [subscription]A record decline in air pollution from traffic and industry last year saved 3,600 lives and prevented 5,600 new cases of childhood asthma in the UK, a study has found.
- Watchdog examines smart motorway risk [subscription]A review into the safety of smart motorways has been ordered by the transport secretary after warnings that public confidence in them has plummeted.
City AM
- Decarbonisation could create 1.7m jobs in emissions-heavy regionsThe UK’s transition to low-carbon and renewable energy sources could create 1.7m jobs, but only if the government takes steps The post Decarbonisation could create 1.7m jobs in emissions-heavy regions appeared first on CityAM.
Birmingham Post
- Ryanair to restore Manchester route cancelled after Flybe's collapseBoth services were cancelled in March 2020 following the collapse of Flybe
- Greater Manchester bus services to be brought back under local authority controlIt's the biggest change to local public transport in the region in more than 30 years
London Evening Standard
- National Express back on the road from Monday after 11-week suspensionLockdown restrictions in England will be eased next week with the end of the ‘stay at home’ rule.
- Race to free giant cargo ship blocking Suez Canal enters third dayA giant cargo ship has continued to block the Suez Canal for a third day as at least 150 other vessels idled waiting for the ship to move.
- Another fall in car production amid continued impact of virus crisisOverseas orders accounted for more than four out of five cars made in the UK last month, with most of these heading into the EU.
Manchester Evening News
- Fares, timetables, tickets and colour - what bus franchising changes will mean for every passenger in Greater ManchesterAll buses in Greater Manchester will be one colour under the franchising system - just one of a range of major reforms announced today by Mayor Andy Burnham
Newcastle Evening Chronicle
- Metro trains going back to full timetable when shops and pubs reopen, after driver shortage cutsThe Tyne and Wear rail network has been running a reduced service since November, after a driver training programme had to be cancelled due to Covid-19
Bucks Free Press
- Inside HS2 factory creating walls for the Chiltern tunnels New photos released by HS2 show inside a temporary factory creating wall sections for the 10-mile-long Chiltern tunnels.
Other Regional Press
- Closed South Ribble railway station could be in line for return journey as part of funding bidA railway station in South Ribble that has not seen trains stopping at it for 60 years has rolled closer to a possible reopening.
- Colwyn Bay railway station access to the promenade would be boost for tourism, says MSAN OLD entry from Colwyn Bay promenade to the railway station could be reopened.
- Drone images of the railway lineDrone images of the railway line
- Cycle hire scheme locations announcedIt is starting in Coventry on Monday, March 29
C.N.N.
- Suez Canal authorities need to remove up to 706,000 cubic feet of sand to free the Ever GivenUp to 20,000 cubic meters (706,000 cubic feet) of sand in the Suez Canal need to be removed to free the gigantic container ship that has been stuck there since Tuesday, according to the canal authorities.
Coach and Bus Week
- Greater Manchester to adopt franchising model for bus servicesThe Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has confirmed that Greater Manchester is to adopt a franchising model for its bus services – making it the first city outside of London to have local control over the operation of its buses.
- Coventry to become UK’s first All Electric Bus CityWest Midlands Combined Authority has backed plans for Coventry to become the UK’s first all-electric bus city
- Organisations join forces to lobby DfT to keep school bus fleets on the roadEducation and transport management platform provider Kura has assembled a working group to engage the Department for Transport (DfT), lobbying to update accessibility legislation which it says puts thousands of schools at risk of sanctions.
New Civil Engineer
- Work left to do at Network Rail’s late-running Crossrail stations revealedNetwork Rail’s Crossrail stations to the West of London are taking shape ahead of the opening of the Elizabeth line.
- Fresh tidal lagoon challenge launched in WalesThe Welsh Government has revived its plans for the construction of multiple tidal lagoons along its coastline.
Route One (Bus and Coach)
- Greater Manchester bus franchising to go aheadBus franchising will be introduced in Greater Manchester after Mayor Andy Burnham decided on 25 March to proceed with the measure. His decision represents what latterly had become an inevitable conclusion to multi-year proposals for reregulation of buses in the city region after two public consultations returned huge support.
- Transdev is teaming up with the tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire to build tourism back in the region.The partnership will see the two organisations work to welcome visitors back to Yorkshire as pandemic restrictions relax, attracting tourism in a sustainable manner with bus at its heart.
- Mango app by Trentbarton surpasses one million journeysThe Mango app introduced by Trentbarton last summer has surpassed one million journeys, the operator has revealed.
- Coach industry goes unheard by ministers at Select CommitteeUK-wide bespoke support for the coach industry looks farther away than ever after a Transport Select Committee evidence hearing on 24 March examined COVID-19’s impact on the sector.
- Pantograph rails among extended BYD ADL charging optionsPantograph opportunity charging via roof-mounted rails for the Enviro400EV double-decker is one of the additional charging options that have been introduced by manufacturers BYD and Alexander Dennis (ADL) to their joint battery-electric bus range.
- First Bus and Abellio connect to new cloud services with Journeo EDGEFirst Bus and Abellio have installed 21st Century’s Journeo EDGE intelligent gateway on their fleets, which enables them to connect on-board systems to new cloud services.
Transport Network
- £12m more for Welsh roads as election nearsThe Welsh Government has announced an extra £12m for local authorities to 'fix potholes and improve roads, pavements and active travel routes' across the country.
- Validator roll-out a small step to flexible ticketingMerseyrail has installed contactless platform validators for electronic ‘smart cards’ at the majority of its stations but the roll-out of flexible ticketing such as pay-as-you go and fare capping in the city region remains ‘a long-term ambition’.
- An independent report into the procurement of highways-related services at Liverpool City Council has called for the highways service to be completely restructured after finding a culture of ‘rule avoidance’ leading to excessive costs.The report by Max Caller CBE followed a request from communities secretary Robert Jenrick to lead a statutory inspection into the council’s use of public money and whether it was achieving ‘Best Value’.
- Levelling up cash 'poorly targeted', report warnsThere are 6.5 million people living in deprived local authorities that will not be helped by the Government's levelling up funding, new analysis has revealed.
- Burnham takes back control with bus franchisingGreater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has confirmed that he plans to implement bus franchising in the city region ‘as part of plans for a joined-up and truly passenger-focused transport network’.
- Shapps asks for recount on smart motorway reportTransport secretary Grant Shapps has said he intends to delay publishing a progress report on smart motorway safety until ‘the summer’, despite recently telling MPs that he would ‘come back to this House and report on it very quickly’.
Other News Sources
- Scrapping HS2’s eastern leg would be a betrayal of the communities there - Lilian Greenwood MPEastern leg regions are home to 23 per cent of England’s population but 42 per cent of its social deprivation cold spots: as we look beyond the pandemic, we must ensure HS2 in delivered in full to bring opportunities to left behind areas
- The inevitability of HS2 does not mean it is a British success story - Michael Fabricant MPThere are many arguments which have been presented against HS2: is cost, its damage to the environment, its inability to connect effectively to the rest of the transport network, and whether – in the light of Covid and changing work patterns – it is needed at all.
- Railway Approach scheme to transform Worthing station areaFurther details of a regeneration plan for an area surrounding a train station have been revealed.
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