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

Thursday, 12 August 2021

BBC News

• Scotland's first electric-powered aircraft begins Orkney test flightScotland's first electric-powered aircraft has taken to the skies from a new test centre in Orkney.
• Covid: ScotRail staff 'not expected' to enforce masks on trainsScotRail staff are not expected to enforce rules on wearing face coverings on trains, the operator has confirmed. Operations director David Simpson said it was not the job of rail staff to enforce the rules and he did not want to put them in "difficult positions".

ITV News

• £3 million railway HQ opens in Peterborough
A new £3 million railway headquarters for GB Railfreight has opened in Peterborough. 

Financial Times

• Cathay Pacific unable to forecast end to financial woesAirline's chair warns it faces most challenging period as impact of Delta variant hits home
• Southwest Airlines: priced for perfection while warning of turbulenceEquity holders should think carefully before listening to carrier's optimistic pronouncements

The Guardian

• Climate delayers are to blame for Britain's lack of urgency in creating a green plan | Carys RobertsPeople are urging the government to take further and faster action but those who think it's too costly must first be defeatedIt's easy to feel despair reading the stark warnings in the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: the window in which warming can be limited to 1.5C is rapidly closing. The forest fires and flooding on our TV screens, and closer to home, are a wake-up call to the realities of a rapidly warming climate.
• Air passengers fleeced by rogue operators as PCR tests fail to arriveNHS picks up shortfall as Heathrow airport calls for travellers to be allowed to use lateral flow tests Air passengers to the UK have spent at least £500m on PCR Covid-19 tests from private companies since mid-May, a Guardian analysis has found, only for the NHS to be saddled with extra costs when firms fail to deliver them.Concern is mounting that the system for testing travellers is on the brink of collapse, with Heathrow airport calling on Wednesday for the government to allow people to use cheaper lateral flow tests instead.

Times Online

• Experts challenge Britain’s big hydrogen hope for net zero emissions [subscription]A key part of Boris Johnson’s plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions could be worse for the climate than continuing to burn gas, a study says.
• The shipping industry must take responsibility for its carbon emissions [subscription]If you look across the Thames from the MI5 headquarters, there is an anonymous-looking building that most Londoners pass without a thought or a glance. They should take more notice and so should we.

City AM

• Heathrow passenger numbers begin to rise as restrictions easeThe most passengers travelled through Heathrow in a single month since the beginning of the pandemic in July, the UK’s largest airport said today.
• Work on last stage of Tower Bridge to Greenwich cycle route to kick offWork on the final stage of a new cycle route which will connect the City of London to Greenwich will start on Monday, Transport for London (TfL) today said.
• Brits still spooked over public transport as spending lies well below pre-Covid levelsCovid-19 still has Brits spooked about public transport, despite the UK lifting restrictions, as cash dished out on trains and buses remains well behind pre-pandemic spending.

Derby Telegraph

• Action group calls for a return of the railway to Monsal TrailIt's one of the most popular walking and cycling routes in the Peak District National Park and covers some incredibly beautiful areas of Derbyshire but a campaign group is now calling for the Monsal Trail to be returned to its original use.

London Evening Standard

• London Tube’s Central Line could be extended further into Essexplanners have proposed the London Underground could be extended further into Essex.
• Speed limit reduced on road where Duke of Edinburgh crashedThe southern section of the A149, near where the duke flipped his vehicle, has been the scene of eight personal injury accidents in five years.

Newcastle Evening Chronicle

• Northumberland Line rail link will reinvigorate 'forgotten parts' of the countyThousands of people living in 'forgotten parts' of Northumberland near the planned Northumberland Line rail projects have been told to expect an economic boom when the scheme is completed

East Anglian Daily Times

• £157million rail station plan aims to increase London trainsA £157million new railway station could be on its way to Chelmsford as the first plan has finally been lodged.

Other Regional Press

• ScotRail will not enforce wearing of face masks on Ayrshire trainsRailway operator ScotRail have confirmed that they will not enforce the wearing of face coverings on their trains. 
• Trains to stop at Valley and Llanfairpwll stations againA pair of Anglesey train stations will become open to passengers once again later this month.

Train Operators

• New trains for Southeastern passengers returning to rail in south east London and north KentAs people return to rail in the coming months, Southeastern is preparing to introduce a new fleet of Class 707 trains beginning in the autumn of this year.  

New Civil Engineer

• Final caisson positioned on Aberdeen Harbour Expansion schemeA year on from the award of £4.3M of contracts cover transfer and placement of the remaining caissons for the South Harbour Expansion Project, the final 50m long caisson has been moved into position.
• ICE Fellow: ’Shocking’ bridge infilling is not the answerICE Fellow Judith Sykes has heavily criticised Highways England for infilling the Great Musgrave bridge in Cumbria.
• Network Rail deploys multi-pronged approach to improving worker safety following tragic deathsNetwork Rail is deploying a multi-faceted approach to improving track worker safety, following a number of tragic deaths on the country’s railways.

Rail Advent

• South Wales Metro Control Centre will be linked to rail network in new phase of workThe large project situated in Taff’s Well, Cardiff will see the raising of a road bridge and a new tunnel being constructing to connect the £100 million control centre, maintenance works and depot to the network.

Aviation Industry

• Government proposals for a Sustainable Aviation Fuels mandate: key questions still need to be answeredMinisters are planning “a new era of guilt-free flying” reported the Times in March, describing the launch of a competition for funding to make jet fuel from waste. As we have argued, some of the claims around the emissions reductions available from waste-based fuels appear wildly over-exaggerated – a point we return to later in this article. But the concept seems to have strong appeal for a Government keen to believe that ’Sustainable Aviation Fuels’ or SAFs are just around the corner, waiting to save the day and to allow them to deliver their promise of net zero aviation without any interventions to limit aviation demand or airport capacity.

Other News Sources

• Combined market cap of world’s largest airlines falls by $12B as COVID-19 cases climbAirline companies are still far from pre-pandemic profit and sales as some of their businesses, like business travel, are not even comparable to normal levels. However, the growing number of COVID-19 cases, fears of new travel restrictions due to Delta variant and concerns about the economic recovery caused a new hit to airlines stocks.
• International aviation sector may well leave Australia behindBrisbane Airport’s CEO has said international airlines “may well leave Australia behind” as vaccinated nations begin to remove COVID restrictions now.
• Electric air taxi start-up Joby Aviation surges in trading on NYSE after SPAC mergerJoby Aviation started trading under the ticker “JOBY” after combining with Reinvent Technology Partners, a SPAC run by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Marc Pincus.