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

Thursday, 02 December 2021

BBC News

• First Scotland to US flights to resume in 2022United Airlines will resume flights from Edinburgh to New York, then to Chicago and Washington DC.
• Coronavirus: Heathrow Airport opens dedicated red list country terminalThe measure will keep passengers arriving from red list destinations away from other travellers.

Financial Times

• Laos to open Chinese-built railway amid fears of Beijing's influenceProject in one of Asia's poorest countries stokes concerns over financial and political risks
• Petrol prices bruise car drivers in US gig economyRide-hailing and delivery app workers turn down customers far away or quit after fuel costs soar
• Helicopter services in rush for electric air taxi futureBlade Air Mobility of New York in $12m deal with Helijet to expand network

The Guardian

• Ministers postponed announcement of fares increase after backlash to rail planExclusive: news of 3.8% rise delayed over reaction to downgraded rail investment in the north, leak showsAn announcement that rail fares will rise by 3.8% in March was postponed by ministers last week after the furious backlash over downgraded government plans for rail investment in the north.The fare rise for England and Wales, not yet publicly confirmed but contained in leaked papers seen by the Guardian, will be the biggest in nine years.

The Independent

• Lumo: one month on, how is the London-Edinburgh newcomer doing?By the time I found my seat, my neighbour was halfway through a substantial meal of the kind that is fine when in a fast food restaurant but whose aroma lingers long aboard public transport. But hey, what a deal: along with him and 44,400 other people, I had managed to grab a sub-£20 bargain for an Edinburgh-London trip during the first month of the UK’s newest train operator.

Times Online

• ScotRail plots e-scooter ban over fire fears [subscription]ScotRail is to decide whether passengers should be allowed to take electric scooters on its trains after reports that one caught fire at a station in London.
• Travel costs may rise after call for pre-flight Covid testing [subscription]However, a leaked paper from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), obtained by the BBC, suggested that pre-departure tests would be beneficial. It also said that the government’s existing policy of tests would “identify significantly fewer cases” than conducting tests five or eight days after their arrival in the UK.

Birmingham Post

• Vauxhall Ellesmere Port owner Stellantis warns of job cuts over electric vehicle costsStellantis confirmed in July a £100m investment into its Ellesmere Port plant
• JCB takes delivery of Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car – as it develops its own hydrogen technology100 engineers working on JCB fuel cells with the recruitment of up to 50 more under way at its Derbyshire plant
• East Midlands Airport passenger numbers still struggling to recover, but strong growth expected from freight'The passenger numbers have been more challenging and slower to recover than we would have hoped'

Daily Post (North Wales)

• New Transport for Wales carriages filmed rolling into town - this is when and where they'll be usedTransport for Wales has come under fire for a lack of capacity on some routes in recent weeks

Yorkshire Post

• Over 36,000 sign petition demanding rethink on Leeds to Manchester high-speed lineA petition signed by more than 36,000 people calling for the Government to build a full new high-speed rail line between Leeds and Manchester via Bradford is being handed into Downing Street today.
• This Leeds train misery shows why HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail downgrades must be reversed – Tom RichmondIF Ministers and officials working from the Department for Transport’s new branch office in Leeds look carefully, they will see why the decision to scrap the eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds – and downgrade Northern Powerhouse Rail – is as shortsighted as the Beeching cuts of the 1960s.
• Proposed site for new station in Yorkshire town that has been without rail link since 1930 revealedCity of York Council’s executive will be asked to select land to the north off Towthorpe Road as the destination for a new station.
• Direct rail route plan to slash 25 minutes between Hull Paragon and Liverpool Lime StreetRail operator TransPennine Express (TPE) is now seeking views on the proposals, which if approved, would mean a change to current Hull Paragon to Manchester Piccadilly and Scarborough to Liverpool Lime Street services.

Hull Daily Mail

• Direct rail service between Hull and Liverpool finally on the cardsA new direct rail service between Hull and Liverpool could be introduced next year.

Other Regional Press

• Passengers using Dorset trains fell amid Covid-19 pandemicPASSENGER numbers were down at Dorset's railway stations last year as more people stayed at home during the coronavirus pandemic, figures show.

British Trams Online

• First bodyshell completed for Tyne and Wear Metro’s new trainsA significant milestone has been reached in the new train fleet for the Tyne and Wear Metro with the very first bodyshell having been completed at Stadler’s factory in Switzerland. One of 46 new trains being built by Stadler as part of a £362 million deal to completely renew the fleet now that the first bodyshell has been completed it paves the way for the seats and other internal features to be installed.

New Civil Engineer

• 31 major road schemes tipped for RIS3 fundingThe Department for Transport (DfT) has begun preparing for the next road investment period. The DfT released a new report yesterday, Planning ahead for the Strategic Road Network, looking ahead to Road Investment Strategy 3 (RIS3), which will cover the period of 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2030.
• Network Rail to build ‘dormouse bridge’ in Lancashire to save endangered speciesEngineers are building a tiny crossing in Lancashire for wild hazel dormice in a bid to save the endangered species from extinction.
• Work begins on new station in Scottish village cut off from rail network 50 years agoPreparatory work is underway ahead of the construction of the new East Linton station in Scotland which will see trains call at the village for the first time in more than half a century.

Trafnidiaeth Cymru [Transport for Wales]

• Brand new TfW trains arrive in WalesA new era of transformed train travel in Wales is being heralded with the arrival of brand-new trains that will provide more capacity and improved services for Transport for Wales passengers.

Other News Sources

• Boris Johnson defends lack of rail spending in Wales with promise of ‘fantastic agenda’ to improve linksAccording to research by Cardiff University, the Welsh Government will receive less money to spend on transport “for decades” thanks to HS2 being designated an England and Wales project – despite not entering Wales at all. The total underspend on Welsh rail as a result amounts to near £5bn.