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

Friday, 06 August 2021

BBC News

• Oxford rail station: £69m expansion plan submittedA proposal to improve and expand Oxford rail station as part of a £69m project has been submitted to its city council.
• South Western Railway train derails in PortsmouthA train has been left blocking a rail depot after coming off the track.
• 'Only way you'll get to Oxford is on a bus'Social mobility campaigner Sir Peter Lampl worries about the lack of fair opportunity for young people.
• Coronavirus: PM and transport secretary defend travel changesBritish tourists in Mexico who are due back after Sunday's deadline will need to decide whether to come home early to avoid quarantining.
• A5 road project exceeds £80m with work yet to startThe dual carriageway will connect Londonderry to the border at Aughnacloy and beyond to Dublin.
• Electric vehicle sales outpace diesel againMore electric cars are registered than diesel again, but new UK car registrations fall in July.

The Guardian

• Getting on the right track with HS2 benefits | LettersJim Steer responds to an article by Simon Jenkins that said the high-speed rail link was of little use to the north, and Mark Sullivan hopes the West Midlands gets the transport hub it rejected a decade ago, Simon Jenkins latest piece on HS2 (Depleted and unwanted, HS2 hurtles on as Johnson's £100bn vanity project, 30 July) repeatedly mischaracterises both the case for, and the benefits of, a rail project that will transform connectivity in the UK.

The Independent

• Not wearing a face mask on the Tube should be a criminal offence, says Sadiq KhanTfL enforcement officers cannot currently issue fines to passengers who refuse to wear face coverings

The Telegraph

• Is Covid being used as an excuse to stop cheap travel? [subscription]From red list chaos to expensive tests and complicated rules, these new restrictions are unlikely to end when the pandemic does
• Failure to wear a face mask on Tube should be a criminal offence, says Sadiq Khan [subscription]The Mayor of London is lobbying the Government to allow TfL to enforce masks on the Underground through the introduction of a new bylaw

Times Online

• Covid vaccines required to travel ’for ever more’, Grant Shapps says [subscription]Coronavirus vaccination will be required to travel “for ever more” and young people will not be able to leave the country without it, the transport secretary warned today.

City AM

• Biden aims to make half of US car sale electric vehicles by 2030Joe Biden will today sign an executive order aimed at making half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions The post Biden aims to make half of US car sale electric vehicles by 2030 appeared first on CityAM.

Belfast Telegraph

• Virgin Galactic reopens ticket sales for commercial spaceflightsVirgin Galactic said it is on track to commence commercial space flights in 2022, with individual tickets available from 450,000 US dollars (£324,000).

Birmingham Post

• Brittany Ferries welcomes France's move from 'amber plus' listPlymouth-headquartered cross channel operator predicts surge in holiday makers going abroad to beat pricey staycations
• Qatar Airways regulator grounds 13 Airbus A350sThe Middle Eastern airline said it is removing the aircraft from service until the root cause of the issue can be established and a satisfactory solution made

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Conwy village set to be reconnected to its train station after Welsh Government fundingAberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders welcomed the news after campaigning following the closure of Dolgarrog pipe bridge

Manchester Evening News

• Stockport bus station could be replaced with new public park interchangePlans for a new two-acre public green space that could ’shape the regeneration’ of Stockport have been revealed.

Wales Online

• People keep tripping over this cycle lane in Cardiff - including one man who broke his wrist after falling into a tree planterA shop owner on the road claims there has been at least a dozen incidents since January

Wolverhampton Express and Star

• Hugh Porter named as Wolverhampton's cycling ambassadorCycling legend Hugh Porter has been named as Wolverhampton's cycling ambassador a year ahead of the city hosting the Commonwealth Games cycling time trial.

Yorkshire Post

• Why Hull to Liverpool rail link is national priorityIF it took over three hours to travel by train between London and Birmingham, a distance of just over 110 miles, there would be uproar from politicians.

Hull Daily Mail

• 'Lack of any ambition for Hull' as new train timetable plan unveiledHull's three MPs say new timetable proposals by TransPennine Express (TPE) show a "lack of ambition" for the city.

Coach and Bus Week

• Birmingham City Council unveils first of 20 new Wrightbus HydrolinersThe first of 20 new Birmingham City Council-owned Wrightbus Hydroliner hydrogen double-deckers has been delivered to operator National Express West Midlands.
• Stagecoach West Scotland and SP Energy introduce UK’s first electric buses serving rural communitiesSix Volvo 7900 electric buses fitted with pantograph charging have been launched to serve rural communities in the Kilmarnock area.
• Stagecoach invests in new contact centreStagecoach has announced plans to launch a dedicated new customer contact centre which it believes will enhance its customer service offering. A new one-stop phone and digital contact point is planned to open in Perth in spring 2022 offering a seven days a week service and extended opening hours on both weekdays and weekends, which the operator said will better align with people’s travel habits. The new centre will deal with queries including questions about timetables, feedback on services, help with smartcards and lost property. Customers will also be able to buy tickets directly.
• Hybrid technology testedIn the years prior to full electric double-decker buses, hybrid technology was used. Richard Sharman takes a look at a used Alexander Dennis Enviro400H to see how that technology compares today

New Civil Engineer

• HS2 chief promises better community engagement after complaintsHigh Speed 2 Ltd’s chief executive Mark Thurston has said the organisation will shorten help desk response times and is “deploying a number of measures” to strengthen its approach to community engagement.
• Latest phase of South Wales Metro gets underwayConstruction is set to begin on the latest phase of the South Wales Metro which will see the creation of a new tunnel and raising of a road bridge to join up with a new £100M control centre and maintenance facility in Cardiff.
• Why market led proposals failed in the rail sectorMarket led proposals (MLPs) in the rail sector have not moved forward as planned due to a lack of projects viable without government investment or support.

Railnews

• Industrial disruption grows as more strikes are called The RMT has called a series of strikes by train managers on East Midlands Railway in its dispute over the safety of Class 360 units on Corby services when there is one manager on the 8-car trains, which are formed of two separate units.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Trawscymru network expands with T10 pilot in North WalesThe TrawsCymru network in Wales grew on 31 July with the introduction of the pilot T10 service. It is being funded by Transport for Wales (TfW) for 12 months and runs between Bangor and Corwen. The contract for its operation has been awarded to K&P Coaches and Llew Jones Coaches.
• Reading Buses completes next stop announcements rolloutReading Buses has completed a project that has included the rollout of audio-visual next stop announcements across both its own fleet of buses that are used by the public and those of subsidiaries Newbury and District and Thames Valley Buses. It was made possible thanks to £1.5m secured from the Local Growth Fund via the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
• McGill’s Buses chooses MiX for connected fleet technologyMcGill’s Buses has chosen MiX Telematics as its connected fleet technology provider. The contract includes provision of telematics services to Xplore Dundee and it encompasses MiX’s premium Fleet Manager software-as-a-service solution, with customisable reporting capabilities.
• Tap On/Tap Off extended to First Bus at Leicester and PotteriesFirst Bus has introduced the Ticketer and Littlepay Tap On/Tap Off (TOTO) capped contactless travel product at its Leicester and Potteries operating companies.
• Nottingham City Transport makes senior management changesNottingham City Transport (NCT) has announced several changes to its senior management team, including the retirement of Engineering Director Gary Mason at the end of 2021.

Other News Sources

• New e-cargo bikes for Yorkshire with £160k government grantThe Department for Transport has today confirmed plans to fund £160k of new electric-cargo bikes across Yorkshire.
• Cardiff Bus announces September changes to timetableCardiff Bus customers are being advised of service changes which are set to come into effect from 5 September 2021.
• This is how you can help improve bus services in LincolnshireLincolnshire County Council are putting together a plan to help improve bus services in the county, and are asking for your views.
• 'Congestion is harmful to people's lives': bus company responds after two-hour delaysA BUS company that had to reroute services due to two-hour delays in Poole has said congestion is “very harmful to people’s lives”.
• 200 tonnes of ballast needed to repair damage to Islandline after floodingThe flooding caused damage at 16 sites on Island Line, with 200 tonnes of ballast from the mainland needed to carry out repairs
• Siemens Mobility to acquire rail software provider Sqills in NetherlandsThe acquisition of Sqills will now diversify Siemens Mobility’s software portfolio.
• Sussex railway stations receiving improvements from GoviaA RAIL operator has made a multimillion-pound investment into improving comfort and communication for passengers.