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

Wednesday, 01 December 2021

BBC News

• Cyclist deaths soar on rural roads in EnglandThe number of cyclists being killed on rural English roads rose sharply over the last year.
• London Underground: Entire Tube line may close, mayor warnsA funding gap of nearly £2bn could send transport services

ITV News

• Union warns compulsory face coverings on trains leaves staff 'seriously exposed' to abuseTransport union the RMT, says making face coverings compulsory again on public transport leaves staff "seriously exposed" to violence and abuse from passengers.

Financial Times

• EasyJet warns of softening demand as Omicron worries consumersFresh travel restrictions to stem spread of new coronavirus variant have dented bookings

The Independent

• Unvaccinated Canadians banned from planes and trains beginning todayCanada’s strict new policy comes into effect two days after the country reported its first cases of the omicron Covid variant

Times Online

• Is musical chairs a prelude to clearing the decks for a new strategy on ferries?Last Thursday the Scottish government set out a crucial decision about the future of Scotland’s troubled west coast ferry services. There was, I am told, no media briefing, no lobby guidance. Instead, the name of the next chairman of David MacBrayne Limited and those of three other new non-executive directors slipped out on the Scottish government’s website as one of eleven new publications that day.

City AM

• Virgin Atlantic: Efforts underway to raise £400m rescue package as Omicron travel fears swirlEfforts are underway to raise millions from Virgin Atlantic shareholders to form a rescue package for Richard Branson’s ailing airline. Branson has been on a charm offensive to get existing shareholders to cough up around £400m in rescue money to save the struggling airline. However, fears that blanket travel curbs across the world could be [...] The post Virgin Atlantic: Efforts underway to raise £400m rescue package as Omicron travel fears swirl appeared first on CityAM.

The Mirror

• MH370 expert 'very confident' he has found crash site in major 'breakthrough'British engineer Richard Godfrey says he has been using new tracking technology in the quest to solve the mystery surrounding Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Birmingham Post

• Northern leaders tell Government of 'disappointment and dismay' over rail plansTransport for the North has called for an urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to discuss the region's rail network
• Millionth Triumph rolls off the production line – with UK manufacturing growing againTriumph ramping up production at UK HQ a couple of years after moving the lion’s share of work to Thailand

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• Naz Shah MP: Rail announcement is a 'shocking betrayal'IT shouldn’t come as a great surprise that the government continues to derail from its own promises and policy objectives, but this latest rail announcement is a shocking betrayal of communities in the north.

Nottingham Evening Post

• 'Further action' planned as Nottingham tram staff reject pay offerFurther action is now planned after Nottingham tram staff rejected a fresh pay offer.

Kent Online

• Plans for a controversial 'flyover' have been ditched.Medway Council has decided to drop the proposals for an overbridge which would have made a new access point onto the Hoo Peninsula as part of a multi-million pound infrastructure improvement programme.

Other Regional Press

• London Underground: Sadiq Khan warns that Tube line could shut foreverA London Underground line could close for good if Transport for London doesn’t get a “proper” bailout in 11 days, Sadiq Khan has warned today.
• First Bus unveils big changes for West Yorkshire services with cashless cards and reduced faresA new Tap On Tap Off payment system will also be introduced
• Wrightbus celebrates unveiling of Hydrogen bus five years agoThe Northern Ireland bus which helped to transform green public transport is celebrating its fifth anniversary this week.
• First Bus unveils big changes for West Yorkshire services with cashless cards and reduced faresA new Tap On Tap Off payment system will also be introduced

New Civil Engineer

• Upgrade to England’s largest motorway junction completeNational Highways has completed works to the largest gyratory roundabout in England that will decrease congestion and improve journey times.
• Concerns raised over abandoned Portishead line electrification costsConcerns have been raised that additional funding to modify tunnels and enable electrification may be needed for the proposed Portishead line.
• Transport for the North demands to see DfT’s technical work underpinning rail cutsNorthern leaders have called on the Department for Transport (DfT) to publish the technical work which led to rail cuts within the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) “as a matter of urgency”.

Rail Advent

• Integrated rail and bus ticket for travel between South Wales and AberystwythPassengers can now travel between South Wales and Aberystwyth with a single ticket, saving both money and time.

Railnews

• Union warning as facemasks become compulsory again Facemasks must be worn on all public transport in Britain from this morning, as the first step towards defending the population from the new omicron variant of Covid-19, which has triggered warnings from the world health community. The RMT, meanwhile, fears that enforcing the new rule could put its members at risk.

News from Europe

• France approves fully autonomous bus for driving on public roads in a European firstA driverless bus in France has become Europe's first vehicle authorised to operate fully autonomously on a public road.