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

Thursday, 06 May 2021

BBC News

• Details of Birmingham Clean Air Zone exemptions revealedClassic cars, military vehicles and showman's vehicles are among those eligible for exemptions.

Department for Transport

• Transport Secretary meets with G7 leaders to plan for the safe return to international travelG7 leaders meet to identify common goals and principles that will help develop globally recognised standards for when international travel reopens.

Financial Times

• Maersk boss warns over global supply chain and freight ratesHead of world's biggest container shipping line says bottlenecks will last into Q4
• Uber leans on delivery business as rideshare demand remains flatDriver shortage slows recovery but CEO says ‘starting to fire on all cylinders amid reopenings
• India's Covid surge rocks global shipping industryPorts around world turn away vessels as crew from south Asian country contract disease

The Guardian

• Airlines must reduce emissions instead of offsetting, say expertsCampaigners warn offset system is flawed and can produce credits with no climate benefitAirlines should focus on reducing emissions from flights instead of using carbon offsets for climate commitments, experts and environmental campaigners have warned.British Airways and easyJet are among several leading carriers that use carbon offsets to back up claims of “carbon-neutral flyingâ€� and net zero pledges by buying credits on behalf of passengers or offering customers that opportunity to buy them when booking tickets. Continue reading...

The Telegraph

• Advertising crash leaves black hole in Transport for London's financesThe pandemic decimated advertising revenues across Tfl's Tube, rail and bus networks

Times Online

• Leasing cost for trains doubles in five years [subscription]The cost to the taxpayer and passengers of leasing the nation’s 16,000 trains has nearly doubled in five years, according to official figures.
• RMT leader Mick Lynch’s strike threat over Network Rail job cuts [subscription]Network Rail is on a collision course for a national strike if it goes ahead with plans to cut thousands of jobs just as the country emerges from the pandemic, the new general secretary of a transport union has warned.
• Grant cut puts brake on electric car sales [subscription]Sales of electric cars slowed last month after a cut in the government grant used to buy the cleanest vehicles. Figures published yesterday by the motor industry showed that 9,152 battery-powered cars were sold in April, making up 6.5 per cent of total registrations.

Daily Record

• New railway lines, roundabout upgrades and ferry route are transport options for South AyrshireA number of options are being considered by Transport Scotland.
• Rail firm on right track as it goes extra mile for Ayrshire charitiesMore than 100 of QTS Group’s employees covered 10,000 miles in just four weeks.

Mail Online

• Airline passengers flying from 'red list' destinations are avoiding costly £1,750 UK quarantineTravellers returning to the UK from red list countries that would need them to quarantine here at a cost of up to £1,750 are saving money by doing a ten-day stint in Turkey.

This is Money

• Grant Shapps confirms half-a-million plug-in cars are now on Britain's roads and claims 'everybody will have to be driving electric' in 2030Car registration figures released today have confirmed that over half-a-million plug-in vehicles are now on Britain's roads.

Belfast Telegraph

• Travel leaders criticise cautious Government approach to foreign tripsProminent travel industry figures have lashed out at the Government over its plans to make UK travellers take coronavirus tests even when they have been fully vaccinated.

Birmingham Post

• Plymouth tugboat crews call four-day strike as roster row escalatesUnion says workers will walk out for 96 hours in long-running dispute which has already seen two on-day strikes at Devonport naval base
• Rolls-Royce agrees major engine deal with DHL ExpressThe agreement will see DHL paying through a dollar-per-flying-hour model

Bolton News

• Bolton taxi drivers to strike over fare pricesBOLTON taxi drivers are planning a strike tomorrow demanding a 'nominal' fare increase to meet rising costs.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Private hire drivers hold protest over planned Clean Air Zone PRIVATE hire drivers held a

Liverpool Echo

• Scrapping Southport to Manchester rail link branded 'undeliverable'The government's own consultants are said to have claimed the controversial scheme cannot be delivered

The York Press

• How traffic levels changed in York during 2020 and coronavirus pandemic THE number of miles covered by cars in York plummeted by a quarter last year, figures show.

East Anglian Daily Times

• Greater Anglia insists crowding not caused by train shortageGreater Anglia has denied that a slow roll-out of its new Aventra suburban trains is behind claims of crowding on some peak-time suburban services into London in recent weeks.

Other Regional Press

• £1.5 million improvements to Grantham railway station completed with an extra 115 parking spacesMore than 100 extra car parking spaces have been created at Grantham railway station as part of a £1.5 million improvement scheme.

Train Operators

• LNER Receives Railway Heritage Award For Berwick StationLondon North Eastern Railway (LNER) has proudly unveiled a heritage plaque at Berwick-upon-Tweed Station following success in the National Railway Heritage Awards.

New Civil Engineer

• Innovative Thinker | Phill Davies on magnetised freight transportA network of magnetised tracks could be the answer to reducing construction freight on UK roads says Phill Davies.
• London Theme Park would require major upgrade at Kings Cross St Pancras station, HS1 claimsHS1 Ltd has joined the list of transport operators objecting to plans for a £3.5bn theme park in the Swanscombe peninsular in Kent.
• Outstanding engineering checks holding up Hammersmith Bridge progressA series of engineering inspections are yet to be carried out on Hammersmith Bridge, despite the Victorian structure being closed to motorised traffic for more than two years.

Railway Technology

• Bombardier to fully exit its stake in Alstom for $608.4mCanadian train transport company Bombardier Transportation is disposing of its 3.1% interest in French rolling stock manufacturer Alstom in a $608.4m (€506.2m) transaction.

Other News Sources

• Heathrow cabbies forced to live in cars and 'shanty towns' in 24-hour queuesOne cabbie claims they are having to sleep on hammocks and mattressed inside their taxis