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

Wednesday, 30 June 2021

BBC News

• Guernsey buses to go cashless from 1 JulyPuffin Pass pay-as-you-go cards, contactless payment, concession and student cards will continue to be accepted after 1 July, CT Plus said.
• Flying car completes test flight between airportsThe vehicle runs on regular fuel and can travel up to 1,000km while airborne, its creator says.
• Government urged to create post-Covid 'golden age' of cyclingThe surge in bike use during lockdowns can't be allowed to go to waste, a transport charity says.
• United Airlines bets on travel boom with big plane orderThe US airline announces its largest aircraft order to date, for 270 Boeing and Airbus planes.
• UK needs millions more charging points, says car industrySMMT is urging investment into charging points and battery factories to safeguard car industry jobs.

Department for Transport

• Jet Zero Council keeps up momentum with £3 million government funding for zero emission flight infrastructure as UK pioneers first-ever net zero carbon freighter flightsCompetition will fund critical research into electric and hydrogen aircraft to support aviation reach net zero by 2050. The UK continues its track to deliver the world’s first zero emission flight across the Atlantic within a generation following 2 progressive announcements by the Transport Secretary today (30 June 2021).

Financial Times

• Business travellers from big multinationals get English quarantine waiverOpposition MPs and representatives of smaller companies criticise ‘arbitrary’ policy
• Norwegian Air bonuses cause political rowLow-cost airline paid retention bonuses to both its current and its recently fired chief executives
• United places its biggest plane order in bet on return of premium travelUS airline to buy 270 new narrow-body jets and add more high-priced seats to existing fleet
• Brussels needs to be bolder in tackling shipping emissionsCarbon cap and trade system set to be extended to maritime industry

The Guardian

• Flying cars will be a reality by 2030, says Hyundai's Europe chiefMichael Cole says urban air mobility could free up congestion and help with emissions in cities. Flying cars will be a reality in cities around the globe by the end of this decade, according to a leading car manufacturer, and will help to reduce congestion and cut vehicle emissions.Michael Cole, the chief executive of the European operations of South Korean carmarker Hyundai, said the firm had made some very significant investments� in urban air mobility, adding: We believe it really is part of the future.

Times Online

• What are the chances of committee jumping on ferries fiasco? Maybe zero [subscription]Last Thursday Ferguson Marine’s turnaround director announced a further 15-week delay in the state-owned yard’s planned delivery of two ferries for CalMac, the operator. In an update to a new Holyrood committee charged with monitoring net zero, energy and transport, Tim Hair wrote that the delivery of the Glen Sannox, launched way back in November 2017, was “now planned for the range July 2022 to September 2022”.
• Flying cars ‘likely’ in cities by 2030 [subscription]Flying cars will be available within the next eight years, according to the boss of Hyundai in Europe.
• Workers face paying £55 more each day with flexi rail tickets [subscription]Commuters face spending up to £55 more each day to travel using the government’s new “flexi-fares” rather than relying on traditional rail season tickets, according to analysis.

Reuters News

• Britain publishes CO2 permit free allocation list for aviationBritain has published a list of the number of free UK carbon permits each aircraft operator will receive from 2021-2025 under the country's domestic emissions trading system (ETS), the government said.

The Mirror

• Flying cars could become reality by end of decade, top industry boss claimsMichael Cole, who runs car maker Hyundai’s European arm, told an SMMT event flying cars could become a reality and "free up congestion"

Network Rail

• Network Rail completes first phase of repairs to Redbridge ViaductEngineers have successfully completed the first phase of repair work to Redbridge Viaduct in the Scottish Borders, as part of Network Rail’s on-going commitment to maintain a safe and reliable railway.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Calls ramped up to bring high-speed rail to BradfordPOLITICAL leaders will today demand a full commitment from the Government to deliver high-speed rail in West Yorkshire - with a new city centre station for Bradford.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Inside the packed North Wales trains where social distancing is 'impossible'There have been several reports of services across North Wales being crammed in recent weeks

London Evening Standard

• £3m competition to boost electric and hydrogen aircraftThe Department for Transport announced that it will award up to £50,000 each to businesses and universities carrying out relevant projects.

Yorkshire Post

• This is why the Government doesn't want to use a Shanghai-style 'maglev' hover train to link the cities of the NorthBuilding a high speed rail link across the North must take priority over the construction of a new national flagship, Ministers have been told.

Bucks Free Press

• Aylesbury Rob Butler MP slams HS2 Ltd over lorry routesAylesbury’s MP has revealed that he supports the council’s decision to not approve HS2 Limited’s request for lorry routes to put in Wendover.

Other Regional Press

• Northwich MP wants station to be fully accessible to allNorthwich MP Mike Amesbury is ‘disappointed’ with the Government response to his plea for the town’s railway station to made fully accessible when it gets rebuilt.
• Why cycling in York seems to have floppedCycling levels in York have dropped to below the numbers seen in 2009.
• Keighley bus drivers are 'Yorkshire's friendliest'KEIGHLEY Bus Company has “Yorkshire’s friendliest drivers”, according to a report.
• All the London bus routes which disappeared in the past 5 yearsOver the past five years, London's bus network has been reshaped. Fewer of us have been using the bus in Central London, which has led to bus route cuts, and more of us have been using buses in outer boroughs instead. There have also been amendments due to the launch of TfL Rail (the precursor to the Elizabeth line).
• Train service between Huddersfield and Sheffield could get £47m boostThere could be a second service per hour in each direction if two MPs get their way
• NE Beds MP accuses Mayor of ‘secret plan’ in House of Commons East West Rail debateThe MP for a constituency through which the East West Rail (EWR) line will run, has used an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons to accuse Bedford’s Mayor, Dave Hodgson, of having a ‘secret plan’ to influence the chosen route E.
• Sutton Council submits bid to improve public transportSutton Council has submitted a £32million bid to the Government’s new Levelling Up Fund for improved rail services in the borough.
• Girl, 11, behind world-changing wind-powered carAt just 11 years old, Annabelle Sapoor is being praised for her bold design of an electric car that doesn't even have to be charged.
• £75m 'congestion buster' plan could cut journeys by just 51 secondsIt includes a new roundabout and widening roads and bridges

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 construction inspectors put in place to avoid Crossrail-style delays and cost hikesThe Department for Transport (DfT) has set up a “small team of construction inspectors” to ensure work on High Speed 2 (HS2) is delivered on time and budget.

Rail Technology Magazine

• Major railway upgrade works planned around TwickenhamMajor upgrade works are set to be carried out on parts of the railway around Twickenham, starting in late summer.

Railway Gazette

• Cairo monorail train rolled out in DerbyEGYPT: The first of 70 four-car Innovia 300 driverless monorail trainsets for two lines which are under construction in Cairo has been rolled out at Alstom’s Derby plant in the UK.
• Framework agreement for up to 30 electro-diesel locos signedGERMANY: Paribus Rail Investment Management has signed a framework agreement with Siemens Mobility for the supply and full-service maintenance of up to 30 Vectron Dual Mode electro-diesel locomotives, with a firm order for an initial seven.

Aviation Industry

• Carbon capture could serve as a crucial step to more sustainable aviationCarbon capture is the term used for capturing CO2 that has been released into the atmosphere. Its development could act as a crucial step for more sustainable aviation.

Other News Sources

• Luton Council agrees £119m loan to airportLuton Council has agreed to borrow £119m to provide financial support to the airport it owns.
• Aviation industry warns of “major operational risks” with roll-out of EU Digital Covid CertificateAirline and airport associations have warned that a fragmented approach to the EU Digital Covid certificate “will undermine smooth summer travel for EU passengers”.
• Bus franchising plans for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to resumeWork on introducing bus franchising in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire is to resume.
• Portable dam used to complete first phase of £2.4m viaduct repair projectNETWORK Rail engineers have successfully completed the first phase of repair works on the Redbridge Viaduct in the Scottish Borders.
• Translink bus and train tickets: New system planned within a yearTranslink have promised a ticket revolution over the next year that will link all their transport with a contactless card system.
• Chiltern Railways testing a train with a hybrid Rolls Royce engineChiltern Railways, which operates services out of Marylebone station, has started testing a train fitted with a special sort of Rolls Royce engine.
• BA fined £1.8m after employee crushed by baggage tug at HeathrowIt had become commonplace for staff to walk through the centre of the roadway used for transporting baggage