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

Saturday, 20 November 2021

BBC News

• Tesla drivers left unable to start their cars after outageThe carmaker's CEO Elon Musk says its app is coming back online after many owners reported an error.
• Belfast's 2022 cruise ship booking sheet 'strong'The 2021 cruising season is over, but Belfast Harbour hopes to get back to pre-Covid levels in 2022.
• The boom in buying a car without ever leaving your sofaCovid changed our shopping habits but will it shift how we make one of our biggest purchases?
• HS2: Grant Shapps balks at betrayal claims over scrapped rail planThe transport secretary says the

Financial Times

• UK logistics boss predicts labour shortage will last well into next yearChief executive of Wincanton says problems caused by ‘perfect storm’ of Brexit and Covid
• Big carmakers struggle to touch Tesla production forecastsVW projected to be only one that could overtake Musk's electric vehicle volumes by 2024
• HS2: slow train to Bradford wrecks the economic caseOnly by adding the full 'Y' network can you get to a benefit-to-cost ratio higher than 1.5:1
• The UK's new rail plan for the north is beyond satireThe government is trumpeting yet another betrayal as a once-in-a-century revolution
• Johnson will U-turn on scaling back HS2, Osborne predictsFormer UK chancellor says pressure will mount on PM to change course ahead of election

The Guardian

• Frustration grows as HS2 derails and 'levelling up' goes off track | LettersReaders react to the scaled-back plans and the broken promises about infrastructure investment in the north of EnglandIntegrated rail plan? It's more like a dog's breakfast. When Grant Shapps blew the whistle to send a train from Okehampton to Exeter this week, he waxed lyrical about the reopening of a branch line that had been closed for 49 years, and told those listening to look out for more exciting developments. Leaving aside the fact that the line has been operating on summer weekends thanks to the dedication of volunteers, the 11 miles of replacement track laid by Network Rail a...
• Government planning'to put HS2 on stilts through Manchester'Andy Burnham demands underground station for new route rather than cheaper series of viaductsSwathes of central Manchester could be blighted by viaducts looming over the homes of thousands of people because the government has refused to fund an underground station in the city centre, Andy Burnham has warned.This week the government said it would build a new surface station in Manchester for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, a partly new line to Leeds via Huddersfield. It will be situated next door to the existing Piccadilly station, which does not have platforms long enough to accommodate HS2...
• Rebirth of the line: Devon joy as rail link reopens after 50-year hiatusOkehampton welcomes revamp of service connecting Dartmoor town to Exeter and beyondIn 1972, the people of Okehampton turned out in force to wish a fond farewell to the Devon moorland town's regular passenger rail service.The mayor, Walter John Passmore, carried a funeral wreath and his wife, Daisy, waved the green flag to signal the final train’s departure, just about managing a sad smile for the cameras. Continue reading...

The Huffington Post

• Grant Shapps Insists Rail Promises Are 'Absolutely Being Fulfilled'

The Independent

• Fuel retailers urged to cut petrol price by 6p a litreThe RAC said prices should reflect a drop in wholesale costs.
• Boris Johnson news - live: Northern rail powers stripped in 'power grab', as PM orders migrant crisis reviewWhitehall doesn't want the north to have a 'strong voice', says Burnham

Times Online

• Final call as Ryanair departs from London stock market [Subscription]Ryanair is pushing ahead with a plan to leave the London stock market after 23 years in the wake of a post-Brexit decline in trading in its UK shares.
• All aboard for the bus that will drive itself at 50mph [Subscription]Passengers in Scotland are due to be carried on a 14-mile route by a self-driving bus from the summer.

Birmingham Post

• Vehicle data company Wejo completes Nasdaq float and secures $225m boostFounder and CEO Richard Barlow will continue to lead the company
• Electric vehicle charging points in Northern Ireland to get major upgradeOperator ESB is rolling out a plan to upgrade the network to faster charging points, some of which can charge multiple cars at one time

Bolton News

• UK drivers face £200 fine and six points under new law changeTransport Secretary Grant Shapps said the change was about
• Drivers to be banned from scrolling through playlists while holding phonesDRIVERS will be banned from scrolling through playlists on mobile phones from next year as part of a government crackdown on road safety.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Northern leaders to discuss Government's 'woefully inadequate' rail planA GROUP of Northern political leaders will discuss the Government's
• Volvo XC40 Recharge Twin Pro offers electrifying accelerationThere's a school of thought that the move to electric vehicles is taking the fun out of motoring and making journeys more tricky amid the emerging phenomenon of 'range anxiety'.

Daily Post (North Wales)

• Angry firms marooned by road landslide face 'nightmare' detours and dwindling incomesOne business owner wants to see a temporary bridge built after discovering road repairs could take several years
• 'Shambolic rail system' attacked as child in a wheelchair forced off packed North Wales trainTransport for Wales criticised as passengers struggle to get on an already packed train at Chester

Northern Echo

• Transport spending per head in London double that of NorthTRANSPORT spending per head in London is more than double that of spending per head in the North East, it has emerged, just 24 hours after the Government's scrapped its flagship rail investment project for the region.

The York Press

• 'Please voice your support for A64 upgrade' before deadline, say MPsA LAST-minute plea for public support for an upgrade of the A64 north-east of York has been made by regional MPs.
• UK drivers face £200 fine and six points under new law changeTransport Secretary Grant Shapps said the change was about

Cambridge News

• A10 safety fears as councillor admits she 'wouldn't want to cross road in the dark'One councillor suggested the Greater Cambridge Partnership should be 'going beyond' just meeting the relevant safety standards.
• Stricter laws for using mobile phones while driving announced for 2022The use of almost all activity on mobile phones will be eliminated in the updated law for next year including changing your music playlist and taking photos
• The major Cambridge cycle schemes which can't go ahead due to lack of funding, officials sayThere are 'more improvement schemes than money available' the Greater Cambridge Partnership join Assembly heard

Reading Evening Post

• Heathrow Airport to be cut off from train and underground networks on Christmas DayEngineering works, including work on the controversial HS2 railway, will curtail services stopping at Heathrow on one of the busiest days of the year at the airport

Other Regional Press

• Is it right to say Oxford is a Cycling City?Cyclist Jake Backus suggests that signs declaring Oxford is a Cycling City need to be carefully considered and outlines additional measures that need to be taken.
• Thousands of drivers to be affected by major law change in mobile phone crackdownLaws will go even further and will result in fines, points and even driving bans
• Network Rail reveal reconstruction works to Nuneaton railway bridgeSpecial permission is needed

Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

• Glasgow transitions to all-electric Tesco home delivery fleetThousands of households across Glasgow will now have their shopping delivered by one of 17 new all-electric Tesco delivery vehicles, contributing to a tangible legacy for Glasgow as the host city for COP26.    This is part of Tesco’s efforts to become net zero in its own operations by 2035 and will see Glasgow become the first city in Scotland to transition to Tesco electric delivery vehicles.   Over the past 18 months, Tesco has significantly grown its home delivery service across Scotland and now delivers to almost 80,000 homes every week.    Jason Tarry, Tesco...
• Freight train capacity doubles to Port of LiverpoolThe government has announced that final works on the £8.3 million Bootle branch rail line upgrade have been completed, delivering a doubling of freight train capacity to and from the Port of Liverpool.   Funded by the Department for Transport, the upgrade allows up to 2 freight trains an hour in each direction, meaning more trains will be able to deliver vital goods to and from the port for import and export, meeting predicted demand for rail freight for the coming decades.   Work on the track along the Bootle line has been a long-term project and it reopened to freight traffic...
• National Highways' contractors cut carbon footprint by 23%Contractors resurfacing a dual carriageway on the National Highways’ network have recycled more than half of the materials from the old road back into the new one - cutting the project’s carbon footprint by 23%.   Some 17,432 tons of material were reused from the layers of road surface and saved from landfill as well as helping to make the A46 Warwick Bypass much smoother and safer for drivers.   A stretch of the busy road had deteriorated to a condition that, following a number of temporary repairs to ensure safety, a full depth reconstruction was needed, digging down al...
• Government announces £96B rail investmentThe biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network has been announced by the government, with £96 billion to deliver faster and better journeys to more people across the North and the Midlands.   Transforming connectivity, the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will transform both east to west and north to south links, building 3 new high-speed lines, improving rail services to and between the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and the North West including: Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will connect Leeds and Manchester in 33 minutes, down from 55 minutes now HS2 Ea...
• Production starts on road-going full-electric Volta Zero vehiclesElectric commercial vehicle manufacturer Volta Trucks has started production of the first road-going ‘Design Verification’ (DV) prototype Volta Zero vehicle at a bespoke facility in Coventry, UK.   The DV prototypes are the first full-electric Volta Zero vehicles to be built in the recently unveiled production-ready design.    A total of 25 vehicles will be manufactured and once completed in January, the fleet will embark on a rigorous testing regime.    This will involve Volta Trucks engineers replicating a wide range of customer usage and delivery cycl...
• Devil in the Integrated Rail Plan detail, says CILTCILT has expressed its disappointment at the decision not to proceed in full with HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. It is also deeply concerned at the absence of critical information in Government’s much delayed Integrated Plan for Rail. CILT says that deferment of the Eastern leg of HS2 and NPR east of the Pennines, if unavoidable, is acceptable - cancellation is not. It is crucial that these options are preserved for the future, when a fully decarbonised transport system with sufficient capacity for all main traffic flows will be essential. Daniel Parker-Klein, Director of Policy and C...

Railnews

• Anger follows publication of Integrated Rail Plan The £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands has been greeted with bitter criticism in the north of England. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the new plan was 'ambitious' and 'deliverable', but Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said: 'The Integrated Rail Plan was a once in a generation opportunity. Properly delivered, it had the potential to be as transformative for rail travel as Stephenson’s Rocket. Instead, they have proposed a service that could have been promoted by Gladstone in the Victorian era.'

Other News Sources

• What could be next for Hereford buses as Yeomans scraps routesA Hereford bus operator's decision to withdraw 10 services from the start of next year has thrown a spanner into plans to increase bus provision in the county.
• Millions needed on cycle lanes not a Hereford bypassWE have had a referendum on the bypass, and it was called the Herefordshire Council election in 2019.
• Heathrow and Gatwick: UK travellers will have to pay to enter EU from next yearThe application form and fee lasts for three years