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

Friday, 01 October 2021

BBC News

• Petrol shortage: Waze uses push notifications to track fuel stocksWaze is using push notifications to ask for data on fuel supplies to notify others.
• Petrol driver shortage: No improvement in supplies, say retailersIndustry body, the PRA, says more than a quarter of its members still have no petrol or diesel.

Department for Transport

• Transport Secretary agrees high-level principles with G7 leaders to support international and transatlantic travelSeven principles agreed between G7 leaders to build a long-lasting recovery for the international travel sector.

Financial Times

• Sunak faces the brutal maths of electric vehiclesThe government must recoup the losses of switching away from petrol cars

The Guardian

• Nearly half of UK's independent petrol stations still lack fuelPetrol Retailers Association say fuel is being bought faster than it is getting restocked. Nearly half of all independently owned petrol stations in the UK were still dry or out of one type of fuel on Thursday, as motorists continued to panic buy and soldiers stood by to drive tankers to help with the refuelling effort amid a lack of HGV drivers.

The Scotsman

• ScotRail ticket offices under threat to help fund staff pay increaseSome ScotRail ticket offices could be closed or downgraded to help fund a pay rise for its 5,300 staff, The Scotsman has learned.

The Telegraph

• How far have fares really fallen since the golden age of flying? [subscription]We raided the ticket archives to see how fares have changed over the past 65 years

Times Online

• How e-bikes can help to clean up your business [subscription]Clad in Lycra, riding in all weathers and negotiating tight bends and steep terrain, the small but established cohort are in “cycle heaven”, according to Ian McCulloch, the business’s managing director, who has run a government cycle-to-work scheme for a few years
• Southeastern pension fund liabilities on the line [subscription]After an excoriating attack on Go-Ahead by Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, over breaches of faith, trust and legal obligations, there are questions over whether it will retain its other big London commuter network, GTR, which operates the Thameslink and Southern services. That has led to a near 25 per cent crash in Go-Ahead’s share price and if GTR too is renationalised that will lead to even greater pension liabilities falling on to the taxpayer.

City AM

• Holiday-goers could fork out as much as £105m on airport drop-off fees next yearHoliday-goers leaving the UK could fork out as much as £105m in airport drop-off fees once traveller numbers return to The post Holiday-goers could fork out as much as £105m on airport drop-off fees next year appeared first on CityAM.

Mail Online

• E-scooter riders injured 21 cyclists, 22 people in vehicles and 57 pedestrians in just ONE YEARA staggering 383 riders were injured in accidents last year - and one was killed. This year, Shakur Pinnock, 20, died in June six days after he was involved in a crash with a car in Wolverhampton.

Network Rail

• Transport Minister visits Aberdeen to Central Belt Enhancement ProjectTransport Minister, Graeme Dey visited the team delivering the Aberdeen to Central Belt Enhancement Project and heard first-hand about the next phase of works which is due to commence next month.

Birmingham Post

• Newcastle Airport sees huge revenue drop in tough year for aviationThe airport's 2020 accounts reveal significant losses but bosses say the situation is improving with a number of new and returning flights
• Airbus has signed an 84 plane deal with Alitalia successor airline ITAThe agreement comprises 28 directly purchased aircraft as well as separate agreements for up to 56 leased Airbus planes

Wales Online

• The reason why Swansea Airport has been closed and may not open again until the middle of next monthIt has caused some disruption for businesses which use it
• No improvement in fuel supplies at petrol stations, says industry bodyThe Petrol Retailers Association said over a quarter of its members are still without fuel

Yorkshire Post

• HS2 ministers 'have not been held to account for hugely underestimating costs to taxpayers', say MPsMinisters who signed off low estimates for the costs of HS2 “have not been held to account for their miscalculations at the taxpayers’ expense”, MPs have warned.

Other Regional Press

• Plans for Cambridge congestion charge to fund public transport improvements move forwardThe Greater Cambridge Partnership’s executive board agreed this evening (Thursday, September 30) to move forward with the plans, which include a much-improved bus network, the management of road space to prioritise active travel, and an ongoing funding source to pay for it.
• Transport / At least one tunnel within next decade, transport chairman predicts“I GENUINELY believe at least one tunnel will be built in Shetland within 10 years.”
• Bus plan aims to "transform" public transport in WorcestershireA PLAN to "transform" public transport in Worcestershire has been approved by the County Council.
• North-east rail upgrades on track to start next monthThe next phase of railway upgrades that could slash journey times between Aberdeen and the central belt by more than 20 minutes is due to start next month.
• 'Furlough has been a lifeline for this airport' - Gatwick Airport chief says industry is recovering but is still heavily impacted by pandemicGatwick Airport's chief commercial officer as called the Furlough Scheme, which ends today, a lifeline and was hopefuly the government would extend it for their sector.
• Lifts proposal for the railway stationNew lifts and alterations to some platforms could be coming to Bridlington Railway Station.
• Anger as M2 link road added to 2,000 home planResidents opposing a 2,000-home development have been further upset by a plan to build a link road to the M2 through a much-loved green space.
• Weymouth rail station revamp is approvedTHE £1million revamp for Weymouth rail station has been approved despite being described as “half-bakedâ€� and falling far short of what the town needs.
• Bus services hit across Warwickshire by driver shortagesThey have been hit by Brexit and the DVLA

Bus and Coach Buyer

• Volvo launches BZL electric chassisThe new Volvo BZL Electric is designed for both single and double decker applications with multiple options for bodybuilders.

Coach and Bus Week

• Stagecoach and National Express in merger talksTwo of the UK’s major operators have revealed that they are in talks about a potential merger with a view to streamlining their business operations

New Civil Engineer

• First mile of tunnelling completed on HS2’s Chiltern TunnelsThe first of what will become a fleet 10 tunnel boring machines (TBM) that will work on High Speed 2 (HS2) has completed construction of the mile of tunnel on the Chiltern Tunnels.
• HS2, Brexit and Covid leaves council desperately short of engineersA local authority has revealed that it is struggling to deliver highways construction projects because of a shortage of engineers likened to the national haulier crisis.
• Crossrail opening date to ‘crystalise’ after October blockadeWork to be completed during an October blockade on the Crossrail project will give a better indication of when the railway will be complete and open to the public.

Route One (Bus and Coach)

• Mellor begins repositioning to become ‘major bus scene player’Mellor is to embark on what it calls the next phase of growth that will see it become “a major player on the UK bus scene” through a focus on investment and expansion of its production capacity, and a “market repositioning” in 2022.
• FlixBus resumes international travel and diversifies UK routes furtherFlixBus continues to diversify its UK offering with new domestic routes. September also saw it resume international travel between the UK and France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Transdev CEO calls for DVSA to resolve delays amid driver shortagesTransdev CEO Alex Hornby has aired frustrations and thanked customers for their patience as driver shortages and delays at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continue to affect the industry.
• Go-Ahead’s Wills and former TfL head Brown join NITHC BoardGo-Ahead Group’s Ed Wills and former Transport for London (TfL) Commissioner Mike Brown are among five non-executive appointments to the Board of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHC), which oversees Translink operations in the province.
• Worcester to get country’s ‘most advanced bus shelters’Worcester City Council is the first local authority in the country to place orders for a new kind of bus shelter which replaces traditional aluminium construction with a radical eco-friendly design.
• Freeway defect management app helps to keep buses on the roadFreeway Fleet Systems has developed a software application that is helping to reduce vehicle off road levels and keep buses working.
• Stagecoach proposes motoring reforms ahead of spending reviewRoad pricing, public transport tax credits and a national marketing campaign are among proposals set out in a six-point plan submitted by Stagecoach to the UK government.

Transport Network

• No end in sight for HS2 costs or delays, PAC saysInfluential MPs have told the Department for Transport (DfT) to get its act together on HS2, stating they are ‘increasingly alarmed’ at the lack of direction, decision-making and engagement with the public, which is causing delays, as well as cost overruns.
• New Scottish cycling design guidance releasedThe Scottish Government has published new guidance for cycling infrastructure, covering design and the wider planning context to support better, safer active travel.
• MPs call for metrics and monitoring to prevent white elephantsThe levelling up agenda ‘needs to move beyond rhetoric and on to delivery, requiring targets and metrics to enable Parliament and public to identify success’, MPs have said.

Aviation Industry

• A letter to Robert Courts MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, from the ICCAN CommissionersAs the Independent Commission on Civil Aviaition Noise ceases operations on 30 September 2021, the ICCAN Commissioners have written to MP Robert Courts in order to express what are in their views the priorty areas of work to be undertaken on aviation noise.

Other News Sources

• Plans Unveiled To Rescue Railway LineThe Newport-Gloucester line connects South Wales with the West Country, Midlands and north of England, providing a vital link for passengers.
• New Train Carriages Introduced As Part Of £66m InvestmentNew train carriages have been introduced into NI's rail services for the first time as part of a £66million project to transform railway infrastructure.
• Government must prioritise fuel if situation doesn't improve, says Tory council leaderDavid Fothergill is the Conservative leader of Somerset Council, and also chairs the Local Government Association's Community Wellbeing Board.