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

Saturday, 27 March 2021

BBC News

• Covid: 'Christmas Day' for families as Wales lifts travel banWales has become the first UK nation to lift travel restrictions within its borders. From Saturday, the "stay local" rule is being scrapped in favour of unlimited travel within the country.
• Musician apologises for railway level crossing photoA musician has apologised for posting images on social media of himself standing on a railway line.
• ScotRail conductors to stage series of strikesRMT union members are to hold strike days every Sunday until 2 May, in an overtime payments dispute.
• 'Our customers are worried about the Suez Canal blockage'A freight-forwarding firm says it has 20 containers stranded on the Ever Given container ship.

Financial Times

• Airlines face next big test with return to skies after year of hibernationCarriers in mammoth task to make sure pilots and planes are ready for travel restart
• US offers to help Egypt unblock Suez CanalLargest shipping group says air the only option for essential goods as companies fret over risks to cargo

The Guardian

• Suez Canal: Biden offers help as some vessels head for Cape of Good HopeUS president offers US equipment to help free the Ever Given, as shipping company Maersk begins rerouting cargoJoe Biden has said the US is looking at what it can do to help free the 400-metre container ship Ever Given from its position blocking the Suez canal as the trade route crisis stretched into a fifth day.“We have equipment and capacity that most countries don’t have. And we are seeing what help we can be,â€� the US president said on Friday in Delaware. His comments came after a US official said the navy was prepared to send a team of dredging experts to the canal, but was awaiting approv...

The Telegraph

• Virgin unveils digital travel pass and calls for curbs to be lifted for vaccinated holidaymakers [subscription]The airline thinks the technology will make it easier for governments to open safe travel corridors

Times Online

• ‘If this is what travel is going to be like when it restarts, count me out’ [subscription]Flying around Europe this month, Graham Duffill encountered sobbing passengers, zero continuity between countries and rising animosity towards British travellers. It doesn’t bode well, he says
• French electric airliner will take to the skies in five yearsAn all-electric airliner could be flying passengers between European cities in about five years under a project announced this week by a French start-up that hopes to become the “Tesla of aviation”.
• New airport bag screening ends need to decant bottles at Heathrow [subscription]Queues will be cut at Britain’s busiest airport under plans to allow passengers to leave liquids and laptops inside hand luggage while passing through security.

City AM

• Norwegian Air restructuring plan approved in Irish courtNorwegian Air today saw its restructuring plan approved in Irish court, clearing the way for the embattled airline to come The post Norwegian Air restructuring plan approved in Irish court appeared first on CityAM.

The National

• Scottish space firm Orbex given £6m boost to launch European space transport serviceSCOTS space firm Orbex has won a €7.45 million (£6.3m) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) for an initiative to support commercially sustainable space transportation services in Europe.

Network Rail

• Dogs get sniffin’ for newts in Hitchin ahead of vital track improvementsNetwork Rail teams in Hitchin are using innovative methods - and two new recruits - to detect and protect great crested newts.

Birmingham Post

• High speed train link crucial to Belfast Dublin Economic Corridor - Fin MinFinance Minister Conor Murphy said a link between the cities should be part of an all-Ireland rail network that includes Derry, Cork, and Limerick
• Freight sector calls for pressure to push through Belfast's York St InterchangeComments emerge after Nicola Mallon accepted recommendations in a review of the long-delayed project

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Grand Central service from Bradford to London resumes tomorrowONE of Bradford's most important rail services will resume from tomorrow, with the North described as being

London Evening Standard

• Virgin Atlantic to trial vaccine passportsCustomers on flights to Barbados from April 16 will be invited to use the Travel Pass app to verify they meet the island's entry requirements.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Evening bus services withdrawn in part of Newcastle after vandal attacksStagecoach said four routes would be withdrawn from part of the West End due to 'numerous windows being broken' in the area

Leeds Live

• Jet2 adds hundreds of new villa destinations following 200 percent booking surgeYou can go to Greece, Mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands

Other Regional Press

• Transport for Wales urges customers to be responsible as Wales lifts “stay local” messageTransport for Wales has issued a message urging the public to follow all travel safer advice and act responsibly to help ‘Keep Wales Safe’.
• Kidbrooke's new station 'built back better'Southeastern’s new station building at Kidbrooke opened for business on Friday morning, supporting the 5,000 new homes next to the station in Berkeley’s Kidbrooke Village development.
• Government urged to back £140m railway corridorTHE Government has been urged to back a £140m regeneration of North-East communities kickstarted by the reopening of the Newcastle to Northumberland rail line.
• Is electric tram barmier than underground bus tunnels?JUST how nonsensical is the idea of creating an electric tramway running through the heart of Oxford?
• Plans for 'Oxford Metro' include electric trams and new train linksA MAJOR proposal for a new Oxford Metro which could see an electric tramway running through the heart of the city to the John Radcliffe Hospital has been unveiled by a UK campaign group.
• Great Western Railway's Rail to Refuge has helped 150 adults and 70 children flee abuseA RAILWAY scheme has helped more than 150 adults and 70 children flee domestic abuse by providing free travel.
• This is how much you will need to pay for Covid tests with major UK airlines Many airlines are now offering Covid-19 tests as part of their booking process, for an additional cost, including British Airways and TUI.

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Travel advice as the Government gradually eases national lockdown restrictionsAhead of the Government’s slight easing of national restrictions on Monday 29 March, Transport for London (TfL) is issuing guidance for people who need to make journeys. While groups of up to six people or two households will be allowed to meet and some outdoor recreation facilities will reopen, the Government requires the public to continue to work from home and minimise travel wherever possible. The Government is urging people to stay local where they can and TfL is asking Londoners to consider walking and cycling by taking advantage of the city’s network of safe walking and cyc...

Railway Technology

• 200 objections in 24 hours against New Ravenscraig Rail HubThe Russel Group which looks to build a new rail hub in Ravenscraig received 200 objections in one day to its plans for the region.

Other News Sources

• The UK should use the public markets to finance big infrastructure, starting with the railwaysDid you know the very first Eurobond was an infrastructure deal? The Italian motorway network Autostrade issued it in 1963. It was for $15m and carried a 5.5% coupon. Ah, I remember it well… All those offshore dollars finally had something to invest in.
• Will the Covid census distort the next decade of transport policy?How do you make decisions about urban planning based on data that says everyone is working from home?
• LNG-electric Tugs Ordered to Service the LNG Canada ProjectA unique partnership formed between the Haisla Nation and North Vancouver-based Seaspan ULC will produce battery-powered and low emissions tugboats to serve the $40 billion LNG Canada project in Kitimat, B.C.Majority-owned by the Haisla Nation…
• Southampton Airport runway extension plans refused by councillors PLANS to extend the runway at Southampton Airport have been refused by councillors.
• National Express to resume services in the UK from Monday The restart comes with a significant number of changes that promise customers a better overall experience with National Express in 2021. 
• Stockholm’s 30 mph electric ferry “a whole new take on public transport”New electric ferry could revolutionise the transport industry according to its maker, as it looks to launch its passenger ship next year.
• Ambitious blueprint for city's transport includes plans for autonomous vehicles and fare overhaulAmbitious SPT blueprint for Glasgow's transport unveiled