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

Thursday, 27 May 2021

BBC News

• Holiday islands considered for green listIslands such as the Canary Islands and Majorca could be placed on the UK green list of destinations for holidaymakers, a government minister has said.
• 'Irresponsible' London Underground Bitcoin advert bannedCryptocurrency exchange Luno rapped by the ASA for targeting inexperienced consumers
• Nissan 'in talks to build huge UK battery factory'The Japanese car giant is reportedly in advanced talks to build a gigafactory in Sunderland.
• HS2 dishonest over compensation claim, says reportThe rail firm failed to engage properly with a member of the public who had to sell their home, a report says.
• Passengers refused boarding amid testing confusionTravellers with Ryanair and EasyJet were told they could not fly because they had taken the wrong PCR test.

Financial Times

• Oil majors defeats reflect impatience for climate actionExxonMobil boardroom fight will not be the last as Shell ordered to cut carbon
• After privatisation: can Britain ever fix its railways?The government is tearing up the fragmented system but critics say the new plan suffers from magical thinking

The Guardian

• Airline and holiday firms hit out at UK’s ‘utterly confusing’ travel adviceBosses of easyJet, British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2, Tui UK and others write to Boris Johnson over situation
• Ministers accused of hypocrisy over toothless environment billCampaigners say bill that ministers call ambitious fails to protect green spaces, air quality or wildlife, and is riddled with loopholes
• Uber agrees historic deal allowing drivers to join GMB unionFirst agreement between a gig economy service and a union will not include Eats delivery ridersUber is to recognise the GMB trade union in the UK for its private hire drivers, marking the first deal between a union and a gig economy ride-hailing service.Under the recognition deal, the GMB will have access to drivers’ meeting hubs to help and support them. It will also be able to represent drivers if they lose access to the Uber app, and it will meet quarterly with management to discuss driver issues and concerns. Continue reading...

The Independent

• Network Rail chair condemns billions squandered on botched GWR electrificationThe disastrous project to electrify the Great Western railway lines to South Wales and the West of England has been condemned by the chair of Network Rail. The scheme was delivered late, £2bn over budget and incomplete.
• Grant Shapps makes no guarantee of an expansion to ‘green list’Transport secretary rejected calls for ‘vaccine dividend’ for British holidaymakers who have had both jabs

The Telegraph

• Flexible season tickets only 20pc cheaper than unlimited monthly travel [subscription]Flexible season tickets for eight days each month will only be 20 per cent cheaper than passes that give commuters unlimited travel, Grant Shapps has revealed.

Times Online

• Great British Railways should go further and faster to fight climate change - Will Wilson, CEO of Siemens Mobility [subscription]hen Robert Trevithick, a young Cornish engineer, astonished locals with his new Puffing Devil steam carriage on Christmas Eve 1801, he wouldn’t have imagined that 220 years later its successor, the train, would still be the backbone of Britain’s transport network.
• Taxpayers on the hook for Eurostar until 2025 [subscription]Taxpayers could foot the bill for an enduring post-pandemic slump in Eurostar services over the next four years.
• Ministers may charter ferries to cover disrupted CalMac island sailings [subscription]The Scottish government is “actively exploring” chartering ferries in a bid to minimise “intolerable” disruption to sailings to the islands, the new transport minister has said.
• Britain is worst in Europe for private jet pollution [subscription]An analysis by Transport & Environment, a campaign group, found that carbon dioxide from private jets in Europe increased by about a third between 2005 and 2019. Flights that entered or left the UK accounted for nearly a fifth of these emissions, the largest share of any country.

City AM

• Airline SAS gets £255m loan guarantee from Denmark and SwedenSweden and Denmark said today that they had agreed to offer ailing airline SAS, in which both countries own stakes, The post Airline SAS gets £255m loan guarantee from Denmark and Sweden appeared first on CityAM.

Belfast Telegraph

• HS2 caused homeowner ‘severe stress’ over compensation claim – reportThe company behind HS2 was “dishonest and misleadingâ€� in dealing with a compensation claim from a homeowner whose property needed to be compulsorily purchased, a report said.

Birmingham Mail

• Birmingham Clean Air Zone Map - exactly where charges apply and key locationsBirmingham's Clean Air Zone means daily charges for around 25 per cent of the vehicles on the city's roads - or they face a big fine. Check Birmingham Live's handy map to see what is in the CAZ and what isn't
• Clean Air Zone 'will see most vulnerable suffer' - community leaderDesmond Jaddoo raised his concerns while driving around the entirety of the Ring Road.

Birmingham Post

• Royal Mail chooses Bristol for first all-electric delivery officePlans for a clean air zone in the city centre are being considered by the government

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Asylum site power boost and electric car chargers part of 'Green Recovery' cash for North WalesThere is also funding for a hydro project in the suggested investments from Scottish Power Energy Networks

London Evening Standard

• Uber drivers to get union recognition from GMB in breakthrough for workers in the gig economyUber drivers are to be given union recognition for the first time in a historic breakthrough for workers in the gig economy.
• HS2 caused homeowner severe stress over compensation claim reportHS2 had previously been criticised for its poor engagement with the same community near Lichfield.

Cambridge News

• New low-cost airline launches £30 flights from Stansted AirportSpain and France are among the airline's seven destinations

Airportwatch

• Final stop for Go-Ahead’s David Brown after 40 years [subscriptionThe chief executive of Go-Ahead Group is to leave the company after almost 40 years in the transport industry, starting as a bus conductor.

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 ‘maladministration’ left homeowners needing medication during property ‘nightmare’HS2 Ltd’s failure to properly communicate with homeowners led to the deteriorating health of a couple whose home was purchased for construction of the high speed rail line, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) has concluded.

Railnews

• TransPennine Upgrade moves forward with further funding The government is announcing further investment of £317 million to move the TransPennine Upgrade forward, after an earlier commitment last year to spend £589 million on increasing capacity.

Other News Sources

• Brighton and Hove councillors receiving subsidised car permits THE councillors receiving subsidised car permits while residents face parking price hikes have been revealed.

News from Europe

• Transport minister hints at plan to build a 50-mile tunnel linking Wales and IrelandTransport minister Grant Shapps has suggested the government is considering whether to build a 50-mile tunnel to connect Ireland and Wales.