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

Friday, 27 August 2021

BBC News

• Glider: Parties split over route for north BelfastPoliticians are divided on whether the Glider should go along the Antrim Road or the Shore Road.
• BA in talks over short-haul Gatwick flightsThe airline confirmed it was talking with unions on plans to create a short-haul flight operation.

Financial Times

• British Airways plans new low-cost short-haul business at GatwickAirline looks to shake up routes at UK’s second busiest airport in wake of pandemic effect on travel
• Soren Skou: Maersk’s shy helmsman charts a greener courseIndustrial group’s chief takes lead role in tackling shipping industry’s climate challenge
• Who’s really feeling the shipping cost squeeze? The bulk of the burden is falling on smaller customers as shipping freight rates decommoditise.

The Guardian

• How megaships cause mega problemsWhen the Ever Given became stuck in the Suez canal in March 2021, people woke up to the sheer size of these megaships. But these vessels, which now dominate container shipping, have been quietly ballooning in size for more than 50 years, and even doubling in capacity every few years since the turn of the millennium. The bigger they have grown, the more problems they have caused for consumers and producers, problems that extend much further than getting stuck

The Telegraph

• Sunak is right to put the brakes on the HS2 white elephantHigh speed rail link has little relevance to "Red Wall" voters and abandoning the leg to Leeds is the right thing to do

Times Online

• BA landing at Gatwick with budget airline plan [subscription]Short-haul carrier would take on rival easyJet

i News

• Don’t scrap our leg of HS2 and abandon ‘levelling up’ agenda, northern leaders urge Boris JohnsonPlans for the high-speed route linking Birmingham with Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds could be mothballed to save £40bn, according to reports

The National

• Scotland should be steering its own future on transportSTOP the Westminster bus, because Scotland can run her own transport infrastructure systems and has been doing so since the establishment of the devolved government in Scotland in 1999.

Bolton News

• Six minute tram service returns to Bury Altrincham lineFrom Tuesday August 31 more frequent six-minute trams will be reintroduced on Bury and Altrincham lines at peak hours from 7am-8pm from Monday to Saturday.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Yorkshire: Council says traffic lights may pose ELECTROCUTION risk (but there's no need to worry!)TRAFFIC chaos is looming after it emerged that a key section of York's inner ring road must shut for a fortnight next month to replace faulty traffic light cables.

London Evening Standard

• British Airways plans subsidiary for short-haul flights at Gatwick

Wales Online

• Shocking image shows just one person wearing mask on busy Swansea busMasks are still mandatory on public transport in Wales

Bucks Free Press

• Residents spot drivers using A4 London Road as "racetrack"The police have been monitoring speeding on a major road in High Wycombe as many residents spot cars exceeding the limits.

Other Regional Press

• Devon bus crisis as nearly 150 staff quit Stagecoach 'over low pay and conditions'Stagecoach - which said the driver shortage was down to Brexit and the pandemic - has been forced to apologise to customers over axed services
• Leeds: Bus franchising not expected until at least 2025A masterplan to improve bus services in West Yorkshire is expected to be submitted to Government within the next two months – but full bus franchising might not happen for up to another five years, regional transport chiefs have claimed.
• Oxford taxi drivers protest against Uber Local pilot with 001Taxi and mini cab drivers in Oxford are infuriated with Uber’s new pilot relationship with taxi company 001 Oxford.
• Have your say on how Oxfordshire's bus services can be improvedYou can now have your say on how to improve the county's bus network and services.
• Oxfordshire has highest electric vehicle uptake in the UK, new data findsNearly 20 per cent of all new cars sold in Oxfordshire are electric, new data shows.
• More buses to Witney and BanburyBUS operator Stagecoach has announced increased morning and evening bus services.
• 'There must be a solution to Dorset town's roundabouts problem'WE HAVE recently read a lot in the local press about the roundabouts in Bridport and what to do about them.

Coach and Bus Week

• National Express plans to enter UK leisure marketNational Express has announced the creation of a new business focusing on the UK holiday and leisure travel market. The operator is set to bring together a number of existing businesses and brands, including Fareham-based Lucketts and Woods Coaches of Leicester, under the single banner of ‘National Express Leisure’ from this August.
• Stagecoach unveils new sustainability strategyStagecoach launched a new long-term sustainability strategy on 23 August with a call for ‘radical behaviour change and incentives to reward the right choices’ to make national government net zero ambitions a reality.
• Irish Minister visits Wrightbus factoryIreland’s Minister for Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs Edwin Poots MLA has visited Wrightbus’ facility in Ballymena to discuss the firm’s plans for a hydrogen economy in Northern Ireland.
• National Disability Strategy a ‘step in right direction’ says Bus UsersBus Users UK says that the Government’s new Disability Strategy, which is designed to improve access to housing, commuting and job opportunities for the millions of people in the UK with disabilities, is a step in the right direction for public transport users.
• Merton bus garage gears up for zero emissionsUK Power Networks has completed work at London’s Merton depot for Go-Ahead London, to enable new electric buses to charge overnight. The delivery team installed new cables to provide additional power at the garage, which will deliver supplies for 17 electric buses operating on route 200 from Mitcham to Raynes Park.
• Stockport bus station set for refurbismentStockport bus station is set to close to passengers from Sunday 29 August as part of a major redevelopment scheme which will deliver a new £120m transport interchange and help to transform the town centre.

New Civil Engineer

• Northern leaders call for full HS2 route to be builtVoices from across Yorkshire and the north east have added to the mounting pressure on the government to commit to the full High Speed 2 (HS2) network.
• Restoring old rail links and creating new routes tabled to improve Lincolnshire connectivityRestoring lost railways, integrating rail and bus routes and proposals for a rail link at the end of the Viking Link interconnector are among suggestions to improve East Lincolnshire’s connectivity in a new Greengauge21 report.
• Restoring old rail links and creating new routes tabled to improve Lincolnshire connectivityRestoring lost railways, integrating rail and bus routes and proposals for a rail link at the end of the Viking Link interconnector are among suggestions to improve East Lincolnshire’s connectivity in a new Greengauge21 report.
• Hammersmith Bridge | DfT asked to correct ‘incomplete’ accusation regarding Motts’ stabilisation planHammersmith & Fulham Council has asked Department for Transport (DfT) under secretary of state Baroness Vere to correct her statement that Mott MacDonald’s stabilisation plan for Hammersmith Bridge is “incomplete”.
• Calls for clarity after DfT bungles HS2 contract pipelineThe Department for Transport (DfT) has come under fire after admitting that procurement details recently published for major chunks of the High Speed 2 (HS2) project were incorrect.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Mellor hosts Shadow Transport Secretary at Rochdale factoryMellor hosted Shadow Transport Secretary Jim McMahon (pictured, left) at its facility in Rochdale earlier in August. As part of his visit, the MP for Oldham West and Royton experienced the manufacturer’s battery-electric Orion E minibus.
• Transdev completes first in-service trials of eCitaro in HarrogateThe first in-service trials of the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eCitaro have been completed by The Harrogate Bus Company.
• Uno continues fleet investment with two more Volvo MCVsHertfordshire operator Uno has invested further in its fleet with the purchase of two Volvo B8RLEs with highly specified MCV Evora bodywork. They complement six such buses that were delivered to Uno in 2018 and will be used on routes across the operator’s home county and north London.
• Welsh Government asked to help restore confidence in bus useA call on the Welsh Government to help to restore the public’s confidence in bus and wider public transport use have been backed by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT). 
• Safeguard becomes 50th operator for Passenger myTripGuildford-based Safeguard Coaches has become the 50th operator to sign up to the myTrip app and website solution from Passenger.
• ‘Pathway to a career in coaches’ among RHA policy prioritiesThe creation of “a clear pathway from education into a career in coaches” is among calls to governments from trade body RHA, which has published its policy direction document for the coach industry. 
• 44-strong Arrival fleet for First York at centre of city’s ZEBRA bidPotential for 44 Arrival battery-electric buses to join the First York fleet has been disclosed in the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) expression of interest (EoI) submitted by City of York Council. It is one of 17 that have progressed to the scheme’s business case preparation stage via its standard mechanism.

Other News Sources

• Gatwick Airport to press ahead with second runway planBut as public consultation launched climate campaigners say proposal to bring emergency runway into regular use is "despicable"