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

Friday, 14 May 2021

BBC News

• Covid: Wales residents urged to hold off foreign holidaysPeople should only go abroad if
• A5 road upgrade delays 'putting lives at risk', says Martina AndersonSinn Féin's Martina Anderson says the delays are
• Tfl Go: London travel app outperformed by Google MapsBusyness data apps are expected to increase in use as commuters return to offices after lockdown.
• Portugal: No decision yet on UK holiday travelThe country has yet to decide whether it will allow holiday visits as it extends state of calamity.

The Telegraph

• Holiday plans hit as Hitachi train crisis lasts for weeks [subscription]Great Western Railway forced to run a reduced service for several weeks while each train is tested after cracks were found
• Social distancing on buses ends as restrictions are relaxed [subscription]Strangers will sit next to one another on buses once more with capacity doubling to 60 passengers in London as coronavirus restrictions ease
• Rail passengers no longer ’ladies and gentlemen’ as train operator commits to ’inclusive’ language [subscription]LNER to review announcements made by staff on board its trains after complaint from non-binary passenger

Times Online

• Florence the HS2 machine begins dig in Chilterns [subscription]Tunnelling in the Chilterns for HS2, the £100 billion high-speed line, began yesterday as ministers were told that multibillion-pound spending on rail links should continue despite concerns that public transport use could fall by a quarter.
• Covid facemask rules to be relaxed in June [subscription]People will still be encouraged to wear masks in confined and poorly ventilated spaces such as shops and on public transport after June 21 but will no longer face fines if they fail to do so.
• Beep beep! Green car sales overtake diesels [subscription]Sales of green cars officially overtook diesels for the first time in 2020 as the shift away from fossil fuels accelerated during the pandemic.

Belfast Telegraph

• National Express coach passenger numbers just 8% of normal levelsThe bus and coach company said it has seen a big jump in revenue, but only when compared to April last year when lockdown had started.

Birmingham Post

• Global design and engineering giant moves HS2 transport team to PlymouthAtkins shifts key team from its £450million transport division to Plymouth Science Park
• Airbus Broughton to furlough workers for a week in JuneThe aerospace giant said it will place staff in production and production support on the UK Government funded scheme
• Brittany Ferries wants Plymouth-Porto service ready for Champions League finalCross-channel transporter could have UK to Portugal service in action before Man City take on Chelsea in Portuguese city

London Evening Standard

• Trains with cracks to return to service after ‘rigorous tests’Services on large parts of the network have been disrupted since Saturday after cracks were discovered
• Cost of commuting from Kennington reduced as station rezoned from SundayThe change sees it go from being a Zone 2 station to Zone 1/2, meaning a single fare to central London will be reduced to £2.40
• HS2's Florence the tunnelling machine begins to bore under Chiltern HillsChief executive Mark Thurston described the start of work to dig a 10-mile tunnel under the Chiltern Hills as ˜a major step forward
• Cop26 ‘our last hope’ at limiting global warming to 1.5C – Alok SharmaMr Sharma was appointed president for the conference by Boris Johnson in January.

Bucks Free Press

• HS2 launches first giant tunnelling machine in Bucks HS2 have launched its first giant tunnelling machine today starting from a site in Buckinghamshire near the M25 motorway.

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Free Blackpool coach parking until JanuaryCoach parking in Blackpool will be free until January 2022, up to a maximum of 72 hours.

Coach and Bus Week

• ’Back public transport,’ businesses warn PMA coordinated letter has been sent to the Prime Minister to highlight that public transport can help high streets and avoid gridlock
• Scottish transport trend data shows slow recovery in user numbersMonitoring by Transport Scotland (TS) of transport trends during the Covid-19 outbreak has shown a small increase in use compared to pre-pandemic levels over recent weeks. The information gathered by TS, which is used to help determine Scottish policy in relation to resilience and response to the outbreak, provides a snapshot of travel across main modes when compared to a pre-pandemic baseline, which for most modes is the same period in 2019. The figures use data from a variety of sources, including the DfT’s National Travel Survey, data published in Scottish Transport Statistics, and data collected by operators across the transport networks.
• First York Managing Director to step downMarc Bichtemann, The Managing Director of First York, has announced that he is to step down later this year. In a tweet on 5 May, Marc told his followers that: “After 20 years in the UK and five years with First York, my family and I will be moving to Germany in July. It’s been a ’family first’ decision and we look forward to our next great adventure.”
• Passenger ridership increasingFigures from the Ten Per Cent Club show that fare-paying passengers on commercially operated bus services have now surpassed levels last seen in autumn 2020. Comparative figures with a typical week pre-pandemic show ridership recovered to 62% in the last week of April compared to 48% in March and 31% in February. Last September and October passenger numbers had hit 60% of normal times. April’s concessionary passengers recovered to 46% of normal, up from 31% in March and 29% in February. Last September and October concessionary ridership was at 45% of normal.

Construction Enquirer

• Bid race for £70m job to restore disused Portishead rail lineNetwork Rail Infrastructure has started the tender race for a contractor to re-open passenger service between a new Portishead station and Bristol Temple Meads.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Change to allow greater bus capacity in England from 17 MayThe Department for Transport has accepted a risk-based case produced by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) for the use of every forward-facing seat on bus services in England. As a result, that will be permitted outside London from Monday 17 May where capacity is currently constrained on busy journeys.
• UKCOA expands structure after growth in new formatThe UK Coach Operators Association (UKCOA) is expanding its structure following a doubling of membership to 82 within 100 days of its launch.
• Three Go-Ahead operators launch mental wellbeing initiative for colleaguesOxford Bus Company, Thames Travel, and Carousel Buses have launched a mental well being scheme for its colleagues as part of its mental health charter. It coincides with UK Mental Health Awareness Week, which began on 10 May.
• ’Vehicle as a weapon’ risk addressed in DfT-sponsored standardThe importance of operators taking steps to prevent the use of one of a vehicle as a weapon has been made clear in a Department for Transport-sponsored standard and its associated “robust” guidance document. It was published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) on 10 May.
• Bus patronage return continues; 82% reported by one operatorOne bus operator has seen fare paying passenger numbers on its commercial services in April recover to as high as 82% of the pre-pandemic level, figures on patronage return released by industry managers’ group the Ten Per Cent Club have shown.
• Burnham vows Manchester bus franchising accelerationMayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has vowed to lead an acceleration of the rollout of bus franchising in the conurbation. Under his revised plans, the process would be completed by May 2024. The existing timeframe calls for that to happen in 2025.
• Birmingham CAZ exemptions include Section 19 and Section 22Vehicles operated under Section 19 and Section 22 permits that do not comply with the requirements of the Birmingham Clean Air Zone (CAZ) will be among those that are eligible for exemptions from daily charges from when the Zone is introduced on 1 June.

Aviation Industry

• Open letter: Call on Government to introduce immediate moratorium on UK airport expansionsThe Government recently announced that it has accepted the advice of its expert climate advisors, the Climate Change Committee, to formally include international aviation emissions in the UK’s climate law. …

Other News Sources

• Weymouth train station gateway criticised amid 'lack of support' from bus operatorTHE proposed overhaul of Weymouth railway station has been slammed as a 'missed opportunity' for public transport as it emerged that only two bus services will call at the revamped station - despite significant changes being proposed to the road layout.
• Cyclist serious injured in A259 hit-and-run speaks outA CYCLIST seriously injured after being struck by a car on the seafront has blasted the council over the safety of its new cycle routes.